My friend – a professor of applied music – has this thing she says about how people can only play (their instrument) how they are, as a person. Like, if you’re really uptight and trapped in your brain, that’s the way you’re going to play. If you’re really flakey and dreamy but determined (like me) that’s how you play. So lessons are just as much about becoming a more whole person as they are about becoming a more whole musician. It’s a lot like psychotherapy and seems a little fishy to me but is so true, a lot of the time. We express who we are at every turn.