Your comments would be great on this one. It’s about the tension between parental expectations and student interest.
For kids to have instrumental music in their lives, they do best with music lessons. But some kids who love music and want to learn it are not ready to focus and dedicate themselves to serious practice. Meanwhile, parents find themselves paying good money for lessons without necessarily seeing their kids practice at home. And there’s the rub! Parents are naturally looking for value for their money, while kids may enjoy lessons but not always do their “homework.”
At what age do you think kids can be expected to really focus? How do you handle the disparity that can easily occur between parental expectations and kids reality? Can music lessons work out if regarded as similar to a dance or gymnastics class? In such classes, although it would be nice if students practiced between classes, they are primarily expected to attend class and make progress there.
I know a top-notch musician who never practiced when he was a kid, but he did enjoy lessons, and eventually found that he really wanted to take it to another level. I have heard that Yo-Yo Ma’s parents wouldn’t allow him to practice more than 10 minutes a day for a while, which developed in him a hunger to play more.
Some students get into practicing in fits and starts, sometimes relating to an upcoming event, or to a piece of music they especially like. One beginner student I have seemed to plug along dully, to the point where I wondered why she was doing it, until I found out about her passion for Lord of the Rings, and when we worked on music from a track of her LotR CD, she really got going.
Many teachers use clearly defined method books that spell out lessons and fulfill the expectations of parents and students with clear measures of progress. This is probably the most common expectation of music students: that it is basically an extracurricular extension of school, with regular appointments and homework.
Tell us a little about how you handle the various learning styles of students, and the evolving interests and expectations of students and parents. Can you tell us a story about how you overcame parental or student concerns about the value of their lessons, and got the student going happily ever after, or happily for a good while? I look forward to your comments at the end of this post!
I have a couple parents who seem to be living vicariously through their children, and it's apparent the student doesn't really care to much about being there.
Then there are the type A personality students who expect nothing less than perfection from themselves. I'm of the opinion that this is one of those traits that can't be taught. My 3 year old daughter is a perfectionist, while my 5 year old is not.
We all have students we know don't practice. I think after working with the student for a year or so and realizing this, our lesson time is probably most effective when we take the focus off nagging the student to practice and just learning music.
I will be curious to read other comments. I'll bet this is a topic a lot of people will have opinions about!
by Stengel99 — Fri Feb 29, 2008 @ 7:36 am
I have different lesson strategies depending on the instrument.
The piano student is told to play the lesson material three times a day, unlike the old school of practicing thirty minutes or an hour daily. This old school rule makes the student feel like he/she is serving time. The three times a day has worked well with the child student as well as the adult student.
On the other hand, bass and guitar students are told the same thing, but advised that the most important thing is that they play their instrument until their fingers get sore, as they need to build callouses on their fingers. If they just want to play chords, that is fine as long as they play until the fingers are sore. If they miss a day, it is like starting over to build the callouses. Until their fingers are in shape, the notes played by the fingers do not sound nearly as well.
Most students do practice, but sometimes they do not get as serious over the practice until they get over the hump and start actually amking music. At that time they can't practice enough.
Great topic which all teachers have in common. All of us use different methods in handling this part of instruction.
by Ronnie Currey — Sat Mar 1, 2008 @ 1:47 pm
by Michelle — Tue Mar 4, 2008 @ 12:49 pm
by Michelle — Tue Mar 4, 2008 @ 12:52 pm
Last year I added a section in my policy statement that reads "students are expected to be prepared for their lesson" and I can say that most of this new crop come prepared in all age groups. If a student seems to be developing a habit of being unprepared, I talk to the parent. I was so tired of the parent who says the student would rather play with her dolls, computer or whatever like they have no say in what the child will do in his or her free time! I'm so happy now and really enjoying my teaching days again!
by Cindy — Mon Mar 17, 2008 @ 11:02 pm
I tell my singing students and their parents on the first lesson that they need to bring music that they would like to work on, simply because I feel they will work harder if they are passionate about the music they are studying. I also tell them that I figure they are paying for the lessons, so they will get out of them what they want to get out of them, and that it is up to to student to make progress. I vow that I will do everything I can to help them succeed and explain the concepts to them over and over again if they need me to, but I let them know that it is mostly up to them.
I did have a mother of an exceptionally talented student call me last week and ask if I could tell the girl how much she needed to be practicing. She had told her mother "I don't need to practice out loud, I practice in my head."
While thinking about what you should be doing is one thing, doing it is another. I record each of my student's lessons on CDs so they can take them home and download them on their ipods or pop it in the CD player, or whatever. That way, they have no excuse not to practice. I know they have something to practice with.
Usually I tell them that they need to go over their CD once every day or at least 3-5 days per week. I also remind them that if they want to get better, they have to practice, but it is up to them as far as how far they go. This seems to motivate the ones who really want it, and the ones that don't, don't change.
by Aimee — Tue Mar 18, 2008 @ 11:50 am
by romanaround — Tue Apr 8, 2008 @ 9:43 am
by romanaround — Tue Apr 8, 2008 @ 9:54 am