Joy vs. Achievement

If you talk to almost any beginning music teacher, they will tell you that one of their goals for their students is to foster a "love of music," or "enjoy music" or any variation thereof. I certainly agree with this and would really like for all of my students to take away a real love of music and the violin/viola. One thing I struggle with, however, is how to balance the enjoyment factor with the very real and sometimes tedious work it takes to get posture, bow hold, intonation, rhythm, etc.. exactly right. I do think that enjoyment is ultimately more important than technique (if a student quits because they aren't enjoying lessons, it doesn't matter how beautiful their bow hold is). However, so much of what is truly fun about violin playing such as: playing in an orchestra, or chamber group, attending summer music camps, or playing really interesting and great music, comes only after mastering a fairly high level of technique. This doesn't mean that their isn't joy in playing Twinkle or Go Tell Aunt Rhody, just that to be truly hooked on violin playing often takes experiencing what is truly possible on the violin.
I had a conversation once with a colleague in which we both expressed that we wished every student would stick it out long enough to get through, at a minimum, Suzuki book 4 level. It is at this level that I think students really start to get a glimpse at what is possible on the violin/viola. By this time they generally can do vibrato, they understand the basics of shifting (and know that they can shift up the fingerboard to find more notes, make passages easier, and change tone colors), and are starting to use more complex bowing techniques and off the string strokes. While there is, of course, a world of playing that is far above the level of book 4, at this level they at least have a glimpse at what is ahead and can decide whether or not it is for them. This is also the point at which they have probably played long enough not to lose everything if they quit and want to go back to playing later. They can also possibly play in the 2nd violins of the lower level amateur orchestras, thus making it more likely that they will continue playing and enjoying music.
At the other end of the achievement spectrum are the students who have been bitten by the violin/viola bug and are passionate about achieving their musical goals. I worry about these students in a different way. Having been in this category myself, I know how easy it is to get caught up in the competition aspect of playing at a high level. To be so focused on the next Youth Orchestra, All-State, Concerto Competition, etc... that their is no time to truly enjoy playing and practicing. It is also very easy for more fundamental practice (Scales, etudes, truly polishing pieces in their entirety (not just the 1st few pages or 1st movements)) that long-term technical and musical development suffers (replaced by reams of youth orchestra parts to learn).
Something that I, and I think many teachers, struggle with is how to balance helping students achieve at a high level, without squashing the joy and passion that led them to choose the violin in the first place. Most of the students who truly wish to play at a very high level will often push themselves to achieve and seem to accept the grunt work as simply part of the process (and some even enjoy it). It is the students just below this level, who have the potential to be high achievers, but haven't yet been "bitten by the violin bug" and truly inspired to achieve that can be the most difficult to teach. These students seem don't seem to understand the work it takes to achieve at a high level or haven't really been exposed to higher level playing enough to know what is "out there" in terms of musical opportunities. Hardest for me, are the students who have ambitious playing aspirations, but their parents remain indifferent to their interest and force them to focus on schoolwork or sports instead of music.
Most of the students I have had who are driven to achieve on their own, are the ones who are exposed to, or seek out high level playing. I find that especially the students who attend summer music camps (just day camps are enough) seem to see a higher level of playing from students at or around their age, which can often inspire them to achieve more. Students who frequently seek out performances on youtube (or better yet live performances) also seem more inspired to achieve. I am always looking for ways to encourage students in this area, and may need to find more ways to bring these experiences to lessons, such as watching clips together, or spending a bit of time demonstrating more advanced repertoire.