Music teachers : Roughly what percentage of your students practice/put in enough.....

[hovishead]

Music teachers : Roughly what percentage of your students practice/put in enough effort between lessons as you want them to?

I was having a conversation with a couple of violin teachers and a flute teacher today (I'm a private teacher) that work in the local school. All three of them were bemoaning the lack of commitment shown by the average child (mainly when it comes to learning something outside of their comfort zone).

The flute teacher reckoned that only maybe 5% were as committed as she was when learning 25 years ago and only 1/3 of her pupils put in a reasonable amount (in her opinion) of effort between lessons.

It made me feel lucky that I teach guitar and can rely on the average kids love of rock/pop music to help motivate them enough to put down the iphone/games controller for more than 20 minutes.

I'd say the great majority of my students do at least some practice between lessons, but only around 50-60% put in as much effort as I'd like them to.

What about you (maybe there are some flute teachers among us)?.

[hovishead]

No flute teachers or guitar teachers even?

[FormerFoodie]

I'm not a guitar teacher, but many, many years ago, I used to teach tennis and my coach and I used to always lament that we never felt the young kids never really wanted to LEARN. They were on the court because their parents made them, or they wanted to put something on their high school resume for their college application resume. What we saw parallels what you're asking for. Most kids don't truly want to learn the way you want them to learn.

That being said, how you approach this question depends on the student. I think the goal of a teaching kids to to make the subject matter fun (first priority) so that they want to continue to learn. Down the road, they may make the leap to really dedicating themselves to the craft. Even if they don't, you'll have succeeded in exposing them to a rich world or developing some foundational blocks they may use elsewhere. It's a really big leap to get a child to want to invest all of their free time in practicing. Some do, but most will not. Success should be considered their willingness to go to a lesson and that they have some desire to learn to play - if not dedicated in the way that you want.

For adults, it's a little different because most of them seek out lessons on their own volition. For them, the issue is likely going to be that they don't have enough time to really dedicate themselves to the craft. Whether the pressures of a career or a family compete with practice time, those are real constraints.

I read your post and I think you're ahead of the game. I feel as a teacher, the goal is to be accessible, provide a fun environment/curriculum to inspire the student - and it seems like you're doing that. If you're lucky, you'll bump into a student who's willing to be put in the blood and sweat. You shouldn't expect that all of them aspire to be the next Tommy Emmanuelle. Just my two cents. I'd love to hear what others say.

[dhalbert]

When I took piano lessons age 6-17 (starting more than 50 years ago), I started out with a large cohort (as measured by the age distribution at the recitals), which dwindled as that cohort aged. I myself did not practice enough, but I did stick with it because I enjoyed it, at least some of the time. I did not take lessons again but I did play from time to time - it was an escape from the pressures of college. And I now appreciate the time spent and how it's helping me with guitar.

I am not sure this is any different than any other group of students for an extracurricular activity. There will be those that excel and work hard and those that won't in that activity. There is a lot of pressure on college-bound kids these days to show that they are well-rounded and do all kinds of extra activities, as a previous poster mentioned. The flute player who does not practice may be much better at or more interested in ice skating or chess or whatever. If they were all the 5% the flute teacher mentioned, we'd have quite a few more flute teachers.

As an adult taking private lessons, I also do not practice enough, and my progress is slow. I may feel a little guilty but I have family and work obligations that limit the time I can spend. My teacher I'm sure would like me to practice more, but he's patient, and he always has something new to share that's worth looking at even if I've made little progress since the last lesson.

[Ciarre]

Also not a teacher, but noticed that when attending college on my parent's dime, I was a C or maybe C+ student. A few years later when I was doing the paying, it was straight As all the way. Amazing...

I have a question for you, though. What's the minimum amount of time you'd want a student to practice between lessons?

[teletaylor]

I see it as a guitar teacher. As with anything, some students pick it up easy and others not so much, but I can make the best progress with those that practice in between lessons. I just want kid to review the lesson every day for 30 mins or so and review other lessons as well as play a a song or two that I give them. I chose 50-60%

As a full time teacher (6th grade) I see similar with homework. Any given assignment sometimes half of the students do not turn it in on time.

[psychojohn]

What constitutes enough ?

[hovishead]

Originally Posted by psychojohn

What constitutes enough ?

I suppose it depends on the teacher's expectations.

I would like my students to practice for at least 30 minutes/5 days a week.

I always expect them to complete the small goals that I give them each week (it could be an 8 bar phrase from a song - it could be a whole song -depends on the difficulty).

I don't overload my students with work but I want them to come back doing certain things better.

I think as a teacher you develop a knack of knowing how much effort an individual has put in between lessons. Of course - ability varies from person to person - but it's very easy to tell when someone hasn't picked up the guitar much since the last lesson.

[mtsusean]

here's the short list of people you can't lie to because they will know the truth

- your accountant
- your dentist
- your music teacher

[ljguitar]

Hi hh...

I'll answer your question this way…
Almost all the serious students practice between lessons because they are motivated - and I work hard between lessons preparing to keep them motivated.

And almost no students who are taking lessons because they are being forced to take them practice, and it's rare to ever see them motivated. It's one reason why I stopped teaching beginners (parents put pressure on kids to learn and blame teachers when they don't learn).

Also another 'slacking-off' point (when students slack off) is when they don't understand why they are being forced to learn things they see no application of.

When we are doing scales and etudes, I try to frame them and keep them in a musical context and we do lots of duet-ed exercises to demonstrate how these concepts apply to actual music.

A rare occurrence (twice I can think of) was people who took lessons because they said they wanted to get better, but actually just wanted social interaction (talked through lessons more than played and rarely practiced).

[Mtn Man]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

I'll answer your question this way…
Almost all the serious students practice between lessons because they are motivated - and I work hard between lessons preparing to keep them motivated.

Great answer. Motivation needs to begin with the student, but can be encouraged and fed by the teacher. Motivation is a flame, and requires fuel to keep burning. A good teacher knows how to provide the right fuel, how much, and when. This varies by student so it really requires skill and sensitivity on the part of the teacher. The best teacher in the world can’t build a fire if there’s no spark to work with...

[Woodstock School Of Music]

Originally Posted by mtsusean

here's the short list of people you can't lie to because they will know the truth

- your accountant
- your dentist
- your music teacher

Lol the truth. I always tell my students I know within 2 minutes how much you practiced

[ljguitar]

Music teachers : Roughly what percentage of your students practice/put in enough effort between lessons as you want them to?

Hi all...

As I thought about this more, it's not about what I want for the student, but what the student wants for him/herself.

I don't know their schedule, home life, school or work involvements (nor in most cases do I want to). They want to get better, and I want to get better and together we struggle to design a plan to make that happen.

And 'better' means different things to different players/teachers. If they show up having not practiced, since my lessons are at least 90 minutes long, we practice the previously non-practiced material for 90 minutes (or more).

They grow, and I get paid...

[scottishrogue]

I've been trying to teach guitar to my grandson, so I know how frustrating it is when they show up time after time...unprepared.

I was happy when he first indicated he would like it if I could teach him. Because I'm self-taught, and not an actual "teacher" per se, I purchased several instructional videos, so I could develop a lesson plan for him. I also provided a pamphlet about the guitar, showing chords, explaining the different parts of the guitar, and some information about reading music.

I also burned a DVD, so he could refer back to it when he practiced. I also gave him one of my Martin guitars to use. He's 17, and is involved in many activities. He works part time as a barista at the coffeehouse near his home. In addition, he is involved in thespian activities, and shows a real talent for the performing arts, having earned his black belt in Tae Kwan Do.

He is still working through the sore fingers phase. I know he is not putting in the time and effort required to develop calluses, but still, I try to be positive. I recently converted one of my concert size guitars, for nylon strings, with the hope he would practice more, which I gave to him. Because he has no amp, and I'm hoping that will provide the motivation he lacks. Time will tell...but now, it's up to him to make the commitment, if he wants to really learn to play the guitar.

Glen

[u38cg]

Most students don't apply themselves seriously until something sparks a fire in them. That spark can be anything - a close-up experience with a great musician, a kind word from a beloved relative, a moment of personal achievement, a book or movie, a realisation that they can compete with their peers, a member of the favoured sex, or (as in my case) a serious catastrophe in their personal life.

If the student has had the spark lit before they got to you, you're set; the rest of the time, you're treading water until that spark is lit. You can help it along a bit - give them access and ideas to things that might interest them, steer them towards social opportunities, but one day, if they last long enough, they'll come in and you will know they've put the hours in.

Up to that point, I think, you can lecture all you like about routine and practice length and structure and technique. Until they reach that point, you're just treading water. And to be honest, I think that's fine. Help them, steer them, but don't beat yourself up because you can't light that fire for them.