Benefits of Having a Support Network in Music and the Arts

Hi everyone,

In today's post I'm going to talk about the benefits of having a support network in music and in the arts.

Having a support network when you are learning a new art form is vital, as it will enable you to grow in whatever area of the arts you are learning and developing in. Your support network could be friends, family, private tutors, school and college teachers, professors, and also other people who are already working in that profession.

General Support

General support is mainly given through friends and family, and they will be able to support on your journey exploring your chosen art form. They might also give you suggestions on how you could improve in that art form, and to make it better than what it already is. With it being friends and family they might not understand that particular form of art that you art that you are working on, so what you could do is have a just a general conversation explaining what your chosen art form is and give them as much information that you think they may need to gain a basic understanding. The more you develop and the more knowledge that you gain, the more information you give your support network and they will hopefully understand even better what it is that you are trying to achieve on your artistic journey. You never know, but they might even want to join you on your journey!

Tutor Support

This is really important, as this is where the magic happens; as your tutors will be able to get the best out of you and help you to achieve what it is that you want to achieve. You might decide that you would like to work on your grades in either music, drama or dance; working towards getting a place at university, drama/ dance school, or a music conservatoire; or maybe even a diploma if university isn't for you. Whatever it is that you want to achieve your tutors will be able to help you, and give you loads of advice along the way. It won't happen straight away, but it will happen in periods of short bursts.

Local Support

This is more community based support and this could be through performing at an event either in person or online, showcasing your art to the public, dance competitions or just doing a performance based exam. Whatever it is that your doing, the general public like to see and hear new things. When you feel confident enough, all I can say is "Get out there, and experience it at least once", and see what you think. This is also how you can adapt and change your approach, and to also start to experiment within your art form. From my personal experience at performing in my towns local Jam Night everyone I met and spoke to during the Jam Night sessions were really supportive and so encouraging. I was also the only player there without an amp, so I was also one of the quietest players. But, what was strange the whole room always went really quiet when I was performing; and I don't think it happened with anyone else.

Constructive Criticism

Constructive criticism can be given by absolutely anyone, but it has to be given in approachable manner. Also, by having some form constructive criticism helps you to grow and develop as an artist. It might enable you to change the way that you practice your musical instrument, try a different approach to a dance technique that you could be struggling with, developing a new colour palette for your art, maybe swapping out different art materials and see what outcome you get, trying something that your not familiar with such as editing. Constructive criticism should give you something to think about, and how you can improve on it; and it should always have a little bit negativity in there. But it should be mixture of both positive and negative aspects; plus ways that you can improve through a variety of different approaches.