You’ve decided to take lessons and have found a teacher you want to work with. Enjoy the journey!
Let’s take a look from the teacher’s perspective.
You give 2 dozen private lessons a week. Some of those students will want to be superstars, but most of them won’t. Some of them will just want to survive the lesson with their spirits intact. There will be advanced and less advanced students. You have to decide how difficult to make the lessons for each student. You have to decide how hard to drive them and what to expect from them. None of your students will tell you; many simply don't know.
If you have a student that is unsure and you drive them hard, they may stand up to the challenge or they may resign themselves to failure. If they want the challenge and you don’t give it to them they will be bored.
So help your teacher out and tell them what you want. If you don’t know you can tell them that too. It’s ok not to know. We all know the answer to the question how much should I practice? It all depends on how good you want to be. Now combine diligent practice with a good teacher and you have a recipe for many happy days playing the horn.
If you are only going to take the instrument out of the case for lessons and rehearsals, you will not have fun and productive lessons if the teacher expects you to be practicing every day.
If you want intense lessons and are willing to do what it takes, tell you teacher that you want to play the best jobs in town then move to a bigger town and get those jobs. If they have a good job tell them you want to take it away from them. If you are in high school you could say that you want to go to the best music school on a full scholarship. Be prepared for your teacher to start piling it on and getting out the whip. Hooray!
Bring a list of questions or techniques or music you want to work on. You should feel free to discuss any aspect of playing with your teacher. Ask questions. Ask what it should feel like, what your hands should be doing, how to work on your timing. Don't be afraid. Ask lots of questions!
If you play in an ensemble, bring your concert music and have your teacher help you prepare. If you have an audition, make sure your teacher knows and helps you get ready.
If you need to warm up to play well, warm up before the lesson. It’s your time and money wasting if you spend it getting ready to play during your lesson time.
Different teachers describe things in very different ways and have very different practice routine, theories and personalities. If you don’t get what you want from one teacher, find another.
Let’s take a look from the teacher’s perspective.
You give 2 dozen private lessons a week. Some of those students will want to be superstars, but most of them won’t. Some of them will just want to survive the lesson with their spirits intact. There will be advanced and less advanced students. You have to decide how difficult to make the lessons for each student. You have to decide how hard to drive them and what to expect from them. None of your students will tell you; many simply don't know.
If you have a student that is unsure and you drive them hard, they may stand up to the challenge or they may resign themselves to failure. If they want the challenge and you don’t give it to them they will be bored.
So help your teacher out and tell them what you want. If you don’t know you can tell them that too. It’s ok not to know. We all know the answer to the question how much should I practice? It all depends on how good you want to be. Now combine diligent practice with a good teacher and you have a recipe for many happy days playing the horn.
If you are only going to take the instrument out of the case for lessons and rehearsals, you will not have fun and productive lessons if the teacher expects you to be practicing every day.
If you want intense lessons and are willing to do what it takes, tell you teacher that you want to play the best jobs in town then move to a bigger town and get those jobs. If they have a good job tell them you want to take it away from them. If you are in high school you could say that you want to go to the best music school on a full scholarship. Be prepared for your teacher to start piling it on and getting out the whip. Hooray!
Bring a list of questions or techniques or music you want to work on. You should feel free to discuss any aspect of playing with your teacher. Ask questions. Ask what it should feel like, what your hands should be doing, how to work on your timing. Don't be afraid. Ask lots of questions!
If you play in an ensemble, bring your concert music and have your teacher help you prepare. If you have an audition, make sure your teacher knows and helps you get ready.
If you need to warm up to play well, warm up before the lesson. It’s your time and money wasting if you spend it getting ready to play during your lesson time.
Different teachers describe things in very different ways and have very different practice routine, theories and personalities. If you don’t get what you want from one teacher, find another.
