There have been many studies to demonstrate the benefits of how learning music affects the brain. Learning a musical instrument can lead to greater levels of patience and discipline, increased confidence, improved motor skills, and the list goes on.
This creates the question: Should you learn more than one instrument? Some think that learning two instruments at once would be confusing or too much to handle.
There are many ways to organize a music lesson. There are some key components though that occur at most lessons. These include scales/technique, songs that are being worked on, new material, theory, downtime and often sight-reading and ear-training activities.
Some teachers start each lesson with technique – I don’t always do that. I tend to fit it in between songs. For many students, technique isn’t always fun to play, but it’s necessary. The technique exercises strengthen our fingers, help our hands move confidently around the keyboard, and encourage speed.
For my students, I try to have 3-4 songs going at a time. One song that is fairly new, one that is getting close to being “finished” and 1-2 between those two! This gives a variety of levels of difficulty. The new song is generally the hardest. We don’t know it well enough to even hum it, it’s slow, and it doesn’t sound like much yet! The song that’s close to being finished is generally the easiest to practice. It’s comfortable, we can hum it, and we know when we are playing things correctly (or not!). The songs in the middle are just that. There are some parts that we know and still some new parts to learn.
New material can come in a couple different forms. Generally it’s the new parts of the songs. Sometimes it’s the addition of musical details – staccato, dynamics, other articulation. Either way it can be challenging! Sometimes I bring some completely different music to the lessons. This we call the “fun” stuff. It’s generally easier than the usual music so students get more immediate gratification – the song is finished quicker! This year, many of my students have learned Hallowe’en songs – something different to mix things up a little!
Theory is an important part of lessons. In the early years, it reinforces note recognition and timing, as well as dynamics and articulation. There are lots of books out there, but I prefer individual sheets. I used them to help with anything that is confusing or needs working on. I enjoy searching out themed sheets to use! It makes it seem more fun!
Downtime is a surprisingly important part of the lesson. Most students need a few minutes in between songs or after every couple of songs to give their brains a small break. Sometimes it’s chatting about what’s happening in their world, sometimes it can be a music game. Other times, it looks like playing their instrument creatively. For example, listening to how the piano sounds with the pedal down, playing high or low notes, or making “mystery” chords.
Last is sight-reading (working on reading unfamiliar music so students can strengthen their note-reading skills) and ear-training (connecting what we see on the music to how we hear it). Both are extremely important for building a musical foundation.
Each lesson generally follows a predictable format so students know what to expect each lesson. We fit a lot into those lessons every week. We aim to have fun as much as possible while working hard.
As always, lessons are tailored to the particular students’ strengths and needs to ensure a positive and rewarding musical experience! If you or someone you know would benefit from music lessons, you can learn more here.
Written by Tamara Leszner-Rovet
In general, I have found that the key to long term progress, success, and enjoyment of playing an instrument is intrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation refers to behaviour that is driven by internal rewards. The motivation to engage in a behaviour arises from within the individual because there are natural rewards associated with it. In other words, students practice because they want to progress (similar to playing sports, where there is a motivation to practice in order to develop the strength and skills to progress). In my experience, students who want to practice their instrument and continue to progress are the ones who reap the most benefits and rewards for themselves, and are more likely to continue lessons long-term.
Extrinsic motivation typically doesn’t work well as a long term solution. Rewards such as candy, toys, etc. may not be effective when it comes to music practicing. This is not to say that they won’t work in the short term, but often they satiate and eventually are no longer motivating. The point is that practicing equates to further progress, which is motivation in itself. While rewards may not be an optimal long-term way to motivate, positive reinforcement (strengthening an action with praising words, a pat on the back, performing for others, etc.) can help to further encourage growth and skills to develop intrinsic motivation.
