More than any one concrete skill, more than any particular song or style or technique, here’s what I want my students to leave being able to do.
Talk music.
I want them to be able to “get the joke” – to be able see the big picture, understand what a musician is trying to communicate, to see how to get from here to there in a new musical situation.
This is how I assess musicians – how well they talk music. And this is what I want my students to leave being able to do.