Beyond Teaching the Notes

The reality of being a music teacher involves so much more than teaching the notes. In my experience, being in lessons for almost 20 years now (wowza!), the most memorable and effective learning experiences I have had are with those teachers that had taken the extra effort to check in with things in my life outside of piano or voice. It often came as a relief to chat about school or things going on in my personal life in between my voice or piano lesson. It made me feel refreshed knowing my teacher(s) valued knowing what else was going on in my life.

Now on the other side of lessons as the teacher, I find it makes the lesson go much more smoothly when I take the time to talk to my students, even for a few moments, asking them how they are outside of music. It increases their motivation and confidence when they see that I am taking them seriously and valuing the other things they have going on in their lives.

In an article from the Journal of Research in Music Education, called, “Children's Satisfaction with Private Music Lessons,” the author describes how important it is for students to feel satisfaction from their music lessons in order to continue to be motivated. What I feel goes hand in hand with satisfaction in regard to technique is satisfaction with the experience as a whole, including the relationship between student and teacher. If the student feels comfortable with the teacher, they will be more likely to excel in their instrument.

What motivates you during a lesson? Have you had the opportunity to talk about things non-music related with your teacher? How has that effected your experience?