_(Custom).jpg){kind=logo}
How to get the most out of your weekly lesson ....
Subscribe to my feed! It’s free, easy to do and makes me happy!
Question:
What makes a guitar teacher happy?
Answer:
Students that practice and come prepared for their lesson.
Sounds easy right? Well, it is a lot harder than that ....
The reality is this - As much as you like music or playing your guitar or bass, sometime life gets in the way of practicing. Or, as I like to say from time to time, "Events conspired against me".
There is work, overtime, home projects, school, ACT test preparation, homework, etc., that all take away from our weekly practice time.
These are all valid reasons for not having the time to practice and being as prepared as you would like for your next lesson. However, many times you will find that you aren't as prepared as you would like because you didn't really understand the material, what you were supposed to practice or you didn't take advantage of the practice time available to you.
With that said, here are a few of my thoughts that will help you get the most out of your lessons at this, or any music studio. They are broken into tips for adult students and tips for parents of students.
Adult Students
1. Understand the material you are going to practice before you leave your lesson.
If you don't understand the material, or what you are expected to do at your next lesson, you can't really hope to just "get it" during the week. When the lesson ends, tell your instructor what you understand your assignment to be. If you can put it in your own words, then you will know what to work on during the week.
2. If possible, practice right after your lesson.
Everything will still be fresh in your memory right after the lesson. In addition, if you completed the first tip (understanding the material) then practicing the material soon after the lesson will lock the exercise in to both your fingers and your brain.
Plus, you will still hear your instructors voice saying ... "keep that thumb behind the neck, use your third finger for the G note, slow down, slow down, slow down!"
3. Strive to improve each practice session.
Your goal is to perform the material perfectly for your instructor at your next lesson. If you cannot perform the material perfectly, you slow your progress and risk not really understanding the material if you move on to something else. Set a goal that for each practice, you will be better than the last practice, with the ultimate goal being having the material "performance ready" by your next lesson.
4. If you don't get it, ask questions.
Let's say you didn't understand what you were supposed to work on for the week (tip 1) or you thought you did, but now, you're not sure if you are doing it right. Rather than practice wrong all week, or worse, not practice the material at all, contact your instructor and ask for a reminder on what you were supposed to do with your lesson material.
Most instructors will have students back to back with little time to talk between lessons (either in person or on the phone). However, email will allow the instructor to type out an response and send it back to you when they finish for the night. Make sure you have your instructors email and don't hesitate to shoot them a question if you are confused on the material.
If your instructor refuses to help in this way, or tries to charge you for out of lesson assistance, you may want to look for another instructor.
5. Practice
This is a no brainer, right? Well, it would seem so, but you often hear students talk about how the week got away from them. Meaning, they put off practice for a few days thinking they would practice later in the week, then something came up that kept them from practicing at all (i.e. a trip, overtime, school play, etc.).
I am a big fan of structure and planning/goals. Plan your practices and then make it a point to stick to it. For example, if you normally practice on Tuesday but you just really would rather not today, make yourself practice for just 10 minutes. My bet is that after 10 minutes, you will stick with it and get your full routine in.
Bottom line, you can do tips 1 - 4 perfectly, but if you slack off on your practice, you will not be ready for your lesson. After all, you should be paying your teacher to teach you new material and not watch you practice the previous week's material, right?
Parent Tips
1. Ask your child to play for you weekly
When you hear your child practicing, stop by and ask them to play something for you. It doesn't matter what it is, just play any tune. If you do this regularly, they will expect it and always (hopefully) have something ready to show you.
This drives their performance behavior. If the only person they ever play for is themselves (during practice) and their instructor (during the lesson), they may not really understand that music is about performance, not just practice. By asking them to play for you, they are performing for someone else.
And above all, be encouraging when they stop playing. This will make them feel good about making music for others!
2. Stay in contact with the guitar instructor
Some of the best students I have are those where the parent takes an active role in their musical education. Part of this role includes talking with the instructor and asking how the child is doing, seeing if there is anything you can do to help at home or expressing concerns (if any) over the child's progress.
If you stay in the loop with what your child is working on and with the instructors expectations, you can make sure your child stays on target during the week.
If the instructor has concerns over practice time or what is being practiced, you can check in with your child to make sure they're working on lesson material and not playing " Stairway to Heaven" all week.
If you have concerns about your child's progress, the instructor can provide valuable information on possible causes. Sometimes, what the child wants to work on and what the parent wants them to work on are two different things (i.e. Learning Nirvana songs versus learning how to read music). If this is the case, the instructor can get the lessons on a track to meet your expectations while still keeping it fun for the child.
Even if you can't stay for every lesson, stop in on a regular basis and spend a few moments getting/providing feedback on your child's progress.
3. Help your child set and stick to a regular practice schedule.
One of the critical components of a practice routine is a consistent schedule. Too often, we see students that get ready for a lesson by practicing 1-2 hours the night before the lesson.
It never works!
If your child only practices 1-2 days a week, they will not be ready for their lesson.
While we would love to see a student practice every day of the week, it is more likely to see 4-6 days of practice.
As the parent, you know that if a child is left to their own devices, practice would rank somewhere well below playing video games, watching TV, surfing the internet, playing outside and just above eating their broccoli and onions.
You can help by setting a regular practice time and then, just like homework, making them do it. With consistency on your part, this should become a habit after several week.
For the best chances of this working, keep the practice time to 30 minutes or less (depending on the age of the student). As they grow and develop, they will soon have the desire to practice more. At this point, you can focus on tips 1 and 2.
I hope these tips help. For more ideas, or motivation, check out the books below...
guitar guitar lessons music lessons practice ideas practice routine stairway to heaven nirvana music studio guitar teacher
Question:
What makes a guitar teacher happy?
Answer:
Students that practice and come prepared for their lesson.
Sounds easy right? Well, it is a lot harder than that ....
The reality is this - As much as you like music or playing your guitar or bass, sometime life gets in the way of practicing. Or, as I like to say from time to time, "Events conspired against me".
There is work, overtime, home projects, school, ACT test preparation, homework, etc., that all take away from our weekly practice time.
These are all valid reasons for not having the time to practice and being as prepared as you would like for your next lesson. However, many times you will find that you aren't as prepared as you would like because you didn't really understand the material, what you were supposed to practice or you didn't take advantage of the practice time available to you.
With that said, here are a few of my thoughts that will help you get the most out of your lessons at this, or any music studio. They are broken into tips for adult students and tips for parents of students.
Adult Students
1. Understand the material you are going to practice before you leave your lesson.
If you don't understand the material, or what you are expected to do at your next lesson, you can't really hope to just "get it" during the week. When the lesson ends, tell your instructor what you understand your assignment to be. If you can put it in your own words, then you will know what to work on during the week.
2. If possible, practice right after your lesson.
Everything will still be fresh in your memory right after the lesson. In addition, if you completed the first tip (understanding the material) then practicing the material soon after the lesson will lock the exercise in to both your fingers and your brain.
Plus, you will still hear your instructors voice saying ... "keep that thumb behind the neck, use your third finger for the G note, slow down, slow down, slow down!"
3. Strive to improve each practice session.
Your goal is to perform the material perfectly for your instructor at your next lesson. If you cannot perform the material perfectly, you slow your progress and risk not really understanding the material if you move on to something else. Set a goal that for each practice, you will be better than the last practice, with the ultimate goal being having the material "performance ready" by your next lesson.
4. If you don't get it, ask questions.
Let's say you didn't understand what you were supposed to work on for the week (tip 1) or you thought you did, but now, you're not sure if you are doing it right. Rather than practice wrong all week, or worse, not practice the material at all, contact your instructor and ask for a reminder on what you were supposed to do with your lesson material.
Most instructors will have students back to back with little time to talk between lessons (either in person or on the phone). However, email will allow the instructor to type out an response and send it back to you when they finish for the night. Make sure you have your instructors email and don't hesitate to shoot them a question if you are confused on the material.
If your instructor refuses to help in this way, or tries to charge you for out of lesson assistance, you may want to look for another instructor.
5. Practice
This is a no brainer, right? Well, it would seem so, but you often hear students talk about how the week got away from them. Meaning, they put off practice for a few days thinking they would practice later in the week, then something came up that kept them from practicing at all (i.e. a trip, overtime, school play, etc.).
I am a big fan of structure and planning/goals. Plan your practices and then make it a point to stick to it. For example, if you normally practice on Tuesday but you just really would rather not today, make yourself practice for just 10 minutes. My bet is that after 10 minutes, you will stick with it and get your full routine in.
Bottom line, you can do tips 1 - 4 perfectly, but if you slack off on your practice, you will not be ready for your lesson. After all, you should be paying your teacher to teach you new material and not watch you practice the previous week's material, right?
Parent Tips
1. Ask your child to play for you weekly
When you hear your child practicing, stop by and ask them to play something for you. It doesn't matter what it is, just play any tune. If you do this regularly, they will expect it and always (hopefully) have something ready to show you.
This drives their performance behavior. If the only person they ever play for is themselves (during practice) and their instructor (during the lesson), they may not really understand that music is about performance, not just practice. By asking them to play for you, they are performing for someone else.
And above all, be encouraging when they stop playing. This will make them feel good about making music for others!
2. Stay in contact with the guitar instructor
Some of the best students I have are those where the parent takes an active role in their musical education. Part of this role includes talking with the instructor and asking how the child is doing, seeing if there is anything you can do to help at home or expressing concerns (if any) over the child's progress.
If you stay in the loop with what your child is working on and with the instructors expectations, you can make sure your child stays on target during the week.
If the instructor has concerns over practice time or what is being practiced, you can check in with your child to make sure they're working on lesson material and not playing " Stairway to Heaven" all week.
If you have concerns about your child's progress, the instructor can provide valuable information on possible causes. Sometimes, what the child wants to work on and what the parent wants them to work on are two different things (i.e. Learning Nirvana songs versus learning how to read music). If this is the case, the instructor can get the lessons on a track to meet your expectations while still keeping it fun for the child.
Even if you can't stay for every lesson, stop in on a regular basis and spend a few moments getting/providing feedback on your child's progress.
3. Help your child set and stick to a regular practice schedule.
One of the critical components of a practice routine is a consistent schedule. Too often, we see students that get ready for a lesson by practicing 1-2 hours the night before the lesson.
It never works!
If your child only practices 1-2 days a week, they will not be ready for their lesson.
While we would love to see a student practice every day of the week, it is more likely to see 4-6 days of practice.
As the parent, you know that if a child is left to their own devices, practice would rank somewhere well below playing video games, watching TV, surfing the internet, playing outside and just above eating their broccoli and onions.
You can help by setting a regular practice time and then, just like homework, making them do it. With consistency on your part, this should become a habit after several week.
For the best chances of this working, keep the practice time to 30 minutes or less (depending on the age of the student). As they grow and develop, they will soon have the desire to practice more. At this point, you can focus on tips 1 and 2.
I hope these tips help. For more ideas, or motivation, check out the books below...
guitar guitar lessons music lessons practice ideas practice routine stairway to heaven nirvana music studio guitar teacher
Trackbacks
-
3 Feb 2008
Thorny Path of Guitar Exercise wrote:
Great, This is now on my Thorny Path. -
23 Jan 2008
Thorny Path of Guitar Exercise wrote:
Great, This is now on my Thorny Path.
I like your writing and bookmarked your blog. I think I will use this page as referrence for my blog, if you dont mind.
Reply to this
Blues guitar lessons is without a doubt one of the most entertaining forms of guitar to learn and play.If you want to learn how to play the guitar, you may already know and understand that you will have to practice to learn to play the guitar well.
Reply to this