In a typical music lesson scenario, a student arrives, tunes his or her instrument, sits down, opens a book, plays the material assigned from the last lesson; the teacher critiques, offers pointers on technique (or not), and makes the next assignment. There may be instruction in music reading relevant to the material they are working on. Teaching methods are aimed toward meeting certain goals and standards. The vast majority of lessons are all about learning repertoire and how to play it to the teacher’s satisfaction. Of course, repertoire at increasing levels of challenge teaches skill.

Music teachers may be academy-trained or may be professional performers (in any genre) who also teach, and in either case some are good teachers, some are terrible, and some are in between, no matter how well trained they are. Some are quite flexible and creative, but many more are formulaic. Students can have rather unpleasant experiences. Often, the more painful the teacher’s own learning experience was, the more inflexible they are. They have a huge investment in that method being correct; after all, all that pain had to be for something, right?

In the teach-learn relationship there tends to be too much focus on the teaching end rather than the learning end. If the pupil can meet the teacher’s expectations, all is good. If the pupil cannot, the pupil is considered to be at fault and must face the drudgery of being forced to adhere to the method or is rejected as “not suitable.”  We fault the pupil, not the teacher.  Even when the learner is making an effort, we still assume that every student must adapt to the way the information is presented or be left behind.  Where is the sense of that?  Ignoring the learning part of the teach-learn dynamic, by ignoring the real goal  –  which is finding a way for the student learn what they hope to learn  –  is leaving a lot of potential talent untapped.  The key is that each person learns a different way, and there is no wrong way.

What every new musician wants to know is how to learn. Not just this tune and that tune and this technique. But any tune and many techniques. Of course we have to teach responsible skills, and of course students want repertoire. But we can offer so much more. A truly great teacher can offer instruction that gives a student wings to fly on their own.

First, helping a student feel successful and building up self-esteem is perhaps the most important thing we can do. And we can show them how to observe, to focus, to practice effectively, to access information, to experiment, to be creative, to improvise, compose, play with other musicians, perform well, and even how to surpass the teacher’s skills if possible. We can give them a foundation for the confidence and ability to be turned loose in the world of music and discover what makes a true musician. Every bird raises its chicks to leave the nest one day.

We can teach to a student’s strengths. Observe what their best method of learning is rather than teaching only from our method: you may be a tactile learner but the student may be a visual learner; you may be an aural learner but your student may be a spatial one. As teachers it’s our responsibility to know and use all the ways of learning.

Here are just a few horizon-expanding things we can consider offering our students:

• Teach basic music theory. Not the kind that’s done on a blackboard, but the kind that relates directly to their instrument and their music. Teach it without paper first! Music theory isn’t about how to read music; music-reading is just an outgrowth of theory. Theory is about how music is structured: relationships between notes (frequencies) and how they interact with each other and with beat and rhythm and tempo and how to use those essential structures to create music or to understand how others create it.
• Teach more than one technique/method. There’s always more than one equally right way. Focus on whichever one is best suited to the individual.
• Encourage the student to listen to others’ interpretations of each piece they learn. This will show them that interpretive freedom is up to the player.
• Encourage them to know each tune’s history, and its lyrics if it is a song. The proliferation of online information makes this easy. It gives a perspective on how the tune can be interpreted and the meaning of its title (which is not always what it appears to be).
• Encourage the student to learn the deep cultural aspects, uses and nuances of the genre they are learning. Music cannot be understood when it is devoid of its cultural “clothing”.
• Encourage students to create their own arrangements. Teach them basic theory so they can!
• Show them how to create musically emotive statements, as opposed to just the dots and bars on the page, so they can play expressively.
• Encourage the student to learn to sing or hum the melody before learning to play it. This greatly enhances retention of the music.
• Encourage memorization. This enhances expressive possibility.
• Teach them how to practice effectively.
• Teach them to understand rhythm and to develop a physical sense of it in several esperiential ways: movement, counting, vocalizing, etc.
• Teach the importance of breathing!
• Encourage experimentation, improvisation and creativity.
• Teach them how to compose their own music.
• Provide opportunities for every student to play with other musicians.
• Provide performance opportunities and teach stage skills.
• Encourage every student to seek out more than one teacher and to absorb what they can successfully use from each.

No one knows everything, so no teacher can offer everything. But you can offer the tools that will open the door to your students to the potential of unlimited learning.