There is a hierarchy that is easy to develop in our minds. Let’s pick extremes for the sake of ease: a top-tier orchestral conductor (say, Gustavo Dudamel) is a better musician than an elementary music teacher.
Perhaps he is, and perhaps he isn’t. Today I saw a middle-school orchestra teacher demonstrate wizardry with her sixth-grade orchestra. I was blown away by the progress that these students had made, despite first picking up their instruments just a few months ago.
And I am willing to wager that if she and Dudamel traded jobs, he would struggle to get an orchestra of eleven-year-olds to play, but she’d be just fine in front of the L.A. Philharmonic.
Different roles require different skills, but be cautious about assigning ranking. Is one better than another, or just different?