Teaching is such a difficult thing to do well. It involves at least two personalities working on very long term developments.
Make sure your students know exactly what to practice and how many times to do it. We at Left Coast Horn Playing require our students to practice their lessons every day. At the end of each lesson the student as a completed Practice Plan. We provide Sample Practice Plans here.
Be positive positive positive! Horn playing is such a mental game every negative experience can have a long term effect. Be supportive and as fun as you can be while guiding your students to improvement.
Focus on what works! Most embouchure problems can be solved by working on breathing. Moving an embouchure around when the breathing causes the throat to be tense is practically worthless!
Teach your students to count. They won't get it on their own and 99.99% of school and youth organizations don't require it. Drum it into them! But what an advantage as a player to have a rhythmic framework for their playing.
Make sure your students know how to conduct. They should at least be able to do a preparation beat and conduct the basic 2, 3, and 4 patterns. How can you play in an ensemble without understanding what the conductor is doing?
Try to get your students to see their shortcomings just as details to work on rather than a personal statement about themselves. If you ask any horn player they will tell there are one or two things they worry about all the time, whether it's tonguing or endurance problems or whatever. Give them a plan on how to work the problem so it becomes just another technical detail rather than a matter of self worth.
If a student doesn't inhale properly stop them! Don't let them set themselves up for problems before they even start playing! You have to be their cheerleader and your cheer must be 'sit up straight and take a deep low breath!' You must be relentless or they will descend into all sorts of problems.
You can teach well even if you are not a fine player but there is no substitute for sitting next to a good player and hearing what it really should sound like. For the student it gets rid of some of the misimpressions, like good players don't miss notes or have a fuzzy sound or need to warm up, etc. And of course it gives the student an example of how to play and reinforces that we actually do what we preach.
We recommend no more than 3 important points for the student to remember from the lesson. At the end of the lesson recap in plain language exactly what you want the student to do. Handing them a proper Practice Plan and saying 'this week I want you to focus on tonguing cleanly, keeping your left hand in the correct position and increasing the speed of your scales' will have the student leaving knowing exactly what to practice.
Play for your students! Nothing teaches them what to do like sitting next to a competent player who shows them how to get it done.
Make sure your students know exactly what to practice and how many times to do it. We at Left Coast Horn Playing require our students to practice their lessons every day. At the end of each lesson the student as a completed Practice Plan. We provide Sample Practice Plans here.
Be positive positive positive! Horn playing is such a mental game every negative experience can have a long term effect. Be supportive and as fun as you can be while guiding your students to improvement.
Focus on what works! Most embouchure problems can be solved by working on breathing. Moving an embouchure around when the breathing causes the throat to be tense is practically worthless!
Teach your students to count. They won't get it on their own and 99.99% of school and youth organizations don't require it. Drum it into them! But what an advantage as a player to have a rhythmic framework for their playing.
Make sure your students know how to conduct. They should at least be able to do a preparation beat and conduct the basic 2, 3, and 4 patterns. How can you play in an ensemble without understanding what the conductor is doing?
Try to get your students to see their shortcomings just as details to work on rather than a personal statement about themselves. If you ask any horn player they will tell there are one or two things they worry about all the time, whether it's tonguing or endurance problems or whatever. Give them a plan on how to work the problem so it becomes just another technical detail rather than a matter of self worth.
If a student doesn't inhale properly stop them! Don't let them set themselves up for problems before they even start playing! You have to be their cheerleader and your cheer must be 'sit up straight and take a deep low breath!' You must be relentless or they will descend into all sorts of problems.
You can teach well even if you are not a fine player but there is no substitute for sitting next to a good player and hearing what it really should sound like. For the student it gets rid of some of the misimpressions, like good players don't miss notes or have a fuzzy sound or need to warm up, etc. And of course it gives the student an example of how to play and reinforces that we actually do what we preach.
We recommend no more than 3 important points for the student to remember from the lesson. At the end of the lesson recap in plain language exactly what you want the student to do. Handing them a proper Practice Plan and saying 'this week I want you to focus on tonguing cleanly, keeping your left hand in the correct position and increasing the speed of your scales' will have the student leaving knowing exactly what to practice.
Play for your students! Nothing teaches them what to do like sitting next to a competent player who shows them how to get it done.
