Why music lessons should not be skipped
“I/My son/daughter didn’t practice much this week. Can we cancel this week’s lesson?”
Many private music teachers I know get this one on a regular basis. Private music lessons, especially for beginners, should never be missed, and it comes down to one basic factor: motivation.
You see, when a student hasn’t practiced much, they have done at least one of the following: lost/misunderstood/ forgotten the lesson assignment they are working on, their playing technique has broken down, or they have less reason to practice; therefore, when a student hasn’t practiced, they need the lesson more than ever!
There are some things that I do when a student hasn’t practiced much. For example, if a student has learned a new note, the teacher may have duets that allow students to practice getting the new notes easily. This gets the student practicing the material that they were supposed to practice in their assignment in a different way–which would allow them to increase their skills at the next lesson.
Second, a lesson when a student hasn’t practiced much can be a chance to work on music theory or ear training. Although some high level ensembles claim to incorporate ear training or music theory in the curriculum, and some school music programs teach it, many times I have found such training as being too limited in scope, and usually does not cover all the requirements for music exams or auditions.
Third, and especially with beginners in the early stages of instruction who are also playing in a school music program, they probably are practicing the skills they learned in private lessons in a group situation.
Fourth, with times student practice a limited amount, it can be a chance to return to the fundamentals of playing. Many ttimes has a student developed a problem with their hand shape that the teacher’s wanted to address. Or the student has developed problems with their tone quality, recordings can only do so much, a good teacher model is extremely important, and the teacher can give feedback to how to produce a good tone, for example.
Fifth, professional teachers set a course for progress in order to help the student achieve their goals, such as having a successful audition or exam. When lessons are missed because of lack of practice, the student falls further behind!
Sixth, teachers often do not get paid for missed lessons. It is disrespectful to the teachers to waste their time and not provide adequate compensation for the inconvenience of missing lessons.
Seventh, make-up lessons, which may seem like a solution for the above problem, actually use twice as much time as simply missing a lesson. The student might as well have had two lessons for the price of one at the teacher’s expense.
All these reasons mean that when a student hasn’t practiced, they often lose their interest and motivation in practicing, if they don’t have the lesson, their reason to live for music is diminished further, and if they don’t have a lesson after their diminished desire to practice–well it’s a vicious circle. And so the cycle continues.
Many private music teachers I know get this one on a regular basis. Private music lessons, especially for beginners, should never be missed, and it comes down to one basic factor: motivation.
You see, when a student hasn’t practiced much, they have done at least one of the following: lost/misunderstood/ forgotten the lesson assignment they are working on, their playing technique has broken down, or they have less reason to practice; therefore, when a student hasn’t practiced, they need the lesson more than ever!
There are some things that I do when a student hasn’t practiced much. For example, if a student has learned a new note, the teacher may have duets that allow students to practice getting the new notes easily. This gets the student practicing the material that they were supposed to practice in their assignment in a different way–which would allow them to increase their skills at the next lesson.
Second, a lesson when a student hasn’t practiced much can be a chance to work on music theory or ear training. Although some high level ensembles claim to incorporate ear training or music theory in the curriculum, and some school music programs teach it, many times I have found such training as being too limited in scope, and usually does not cover all the requirements for music exams or auditions.
Third, and especially with beginners in the early stages of instruction who are also playing in a school music program, they probably are practicing the skills they learned in private lessons in a group situation.
Fourth, with times student practice a limited amount, it can be a chance to return to the fundamentals of playing. Many ttimes has a student developed a problem with their hand shape that the teacher’s wanted to address. Or the student has developed problems with their tone quality, recordings can only do so much, a good teacher model is extremely important, and the teacher can give feedback to how to produce a good tone, for example.
Fifth, professional teachers set a course for progress in order to help the student achieve their goals, such as having a successful audition or exam. When lessons are missed because of lack of practice, the student falls further behind!
Sixth, teachers often do not get paid for missed lessons. It is disrespectful to the teachers to waste their time and not provide adequate compensation for the inconvenience of missing lessons.
Seventh, make-up lessons, which may seem like a solution for the above problem, actually use twice as much time as simply missing a lesson. The student might as well have had two lessons for the price of one at the teacher’s expense.
All these reasons mean that when a student hasn’t practiced, they often lose their interest and motivation in practicing, if they don’t have the lesson, their reason to live for music is diminished further, and if they don’t have a lesson after their diminished desire to practice–well it’s a vicious circle. And so the cycle continues.