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It seems the real blocker here was carpel tunnel and tendonitis, rather than coming from a poor or non-musical family. Edit: getting downvoted here with no res

It seems the real blocker here was carpel tunnel and tendonitis, rather than coming from a poor or non-musical family. Edit: getting downvoted here with no response, but if you read the article, the only thing the author can point to in terms of the prospective careers falling apart are medical issues, followed by a blanket claim that classical music is run by haughty folks. Not all unwealthy people learn with bad technique.

andrewl 7y ago
Money affects the course a person's life takes after recovery from an illness or injury. I have two friends who started at Ivy League universities about forty years ago. Both got sick and had to leave school. One was from a very poor family, and was the only person in his family to have even begun college. The other was the daughter of a Harvard professor. The one from the poor family started working as he recovered, so he could help support his family, who were supporting him. The daughter of the Harvard professor convalesced in her family's big house in Cambridge. The friend from the poor family never achieved "escape velocity" to get back to college. It was odd that he'd done it the first time. The friend from Cambridge got better and, as was expected, returned to Yale with full family support and backing and the understanding that of course you go to college. Money and social support make it fairly easy for a person to relaunch after a crash.
ratww 7y ago
Being from a rural town means your teacher options are limited. Having a family that is not musical or well-connected to musicians means you won't get recommendations and nobody knows if a teacher is good. Being poor means your teacher options are WAY more limited. You can't blame a four year old in a non-musical family for choosing bad teachers. Btw, that was the main blocker for her being a performer. But she mentions other career paths for musicians, such as composing and teaching. In those careers being rich, well-connected and well located also matter a lot.

andrewl 7y ago

Money affects the course a person's life takes after recovery from an illness or injury. I have two friends who started at Ivy League universities about forty years ago. Both got sick and had to leave school. One was from a very poor family, and was the only person in his family to have even begun college. The other was the daughter of a Harvard professor. The one from the poor family started working as he recovered, so he could help support his family, who were supporting him. The daughter of the Harvard professor convalesced in her family's big house in Cambridge. The friend from the poor family never achieved "escape velocity" to get back to college. It was odd that he'd done it the first time. The friend from Cambridge got better and, as was expected, returned to Yale with full family support and backing and the understanding that of course you go to college. Money and social support make it fairly easy for a person to relaunch after a crash.

ratww 7y ago

Being from a rural town means your teacher options are limited. Having a family that is not musical or well-connected to musicians means you won't get recommendations and nobody knows if a teacher is good. Being poor means your teacher options are WAY more limited. You can't blame a four year old in a non-musical family for choosing bad teachers. Btw, that was the main blocker for her being a performer. But she mentions other career paths for musicians, such as composing and teaching. In those careers being rich, well-connected and well located also matter a lot.