Deciding to start teaching music lessons can be an intimidating prospect. But there's no need to fret about it. The reality is that if you know how to play music at all, then you already have some understanding of how to teach private music lessons -- even if you're a beginner instructor.
This post will be focused on what to do during music lessons, but we also have a couple of other posts that cover how to start your own music teaching studio and how much you should charge for music lessons.
Your first step is just going to be thinking about how you learned or were taught to play. Use those experiences as a jumping off point for how to structure your lessons. For example, I took violin lessons from 3rd grade through high school with the same teacher, and the lessons followed a specific structure for most of that time.
Of course, the structure of the lessons could very much differ based on...anything really. The style of music, level of the student, or the background of the teacher could all greatly affect the way that lessons are structured.
For example, I haven't taught many lessons, personally. But one student that I did take on briefly was a high school, classical violinist who wanted to start learning jazz improvisation.
So we started the lesson by getting a general feel for his level of proficiency. Then I pulled out a couple of basic jazz tunes to show him what a lead sheet look like. This allowed me to go over the basics of starting to improvise, that he could get started by just finding a backing track on youtube and following the chart, playing scales and arpeggios for each of the chords as he went.
Why did I choose to introduce this student to jazz in this way? Well, I was self-taught in jazz, and that's the way that I got started.
Even if you've never taken a lesson once in your life, you still have experience in learning music. It's important to realize that if you are self-taught, you literally taught yourself how to play music.
In this way, you do actually have lesson experience, but just in a less structured way. So figure out how you taught yourself to play. Consider what elements you learned first, how you applied them to different tunes, songs, or pieces. What do you wish you had learned sooner, or even later?
Once you have those basics laid out, you can start thinking about how they fit together. And you can start to work on what your own lesson structure and personal teaching style look like.
You're obviously going to need to tailor your lessons to students to meet them where they are at. If you're reading this post, I suspect that it's likely that you'll be teaching beginner players. In that case, the basic would be...well...the absolute basics. How do you hold the instrument, finger placement, the first scales, etc.
But the beauty of music is that the building blocks -- the things that we learn during our very first lesson -- are things that we can continue to work on and develop throughout our entire career as musicians.
On violin, the first thing I learned was a g major penta scale (so the first five notes of the scale). Then the full scale. Then arpeggio. Then two octave scale and arpeggio, then three. I learned how to apply vibrato and bow control a and intonation while playing the scale. Then later I learned how to apply modes to the scale, and how to apply it to improvising. And how the scale applies differently in function in different places.
And all of these different components are things that I have worked on in different capacities throughout my musical journey. So even though the G major scale is the most basic thing I could have ever learned, there are ways that it could become a "new basic" at many times over my couple of decades of playing.
You've probably heard that there are different teaching/learning styles, and that everybody has their own preferred style. Some are visual learners. others auditory, etc.
But did you know that there's no concrete evidence behind this concept?
Generally known as “learning styles”, it is the belief that individuals can benefit from receiving information in their preferred format, based on a self-report questionnaire. This belief has much intuitive appeal because individuals are better at some things than others and ultimately there may be a brain basis for these differences. Learning styles promises to optimise education by tailoring materials to match the individual’s preferred mode of sensory information processing.
There are, however, a number of problems with the learning styles approach. First, there is no coherent framework of preferred learning styles. Usually, individuals are categorised into one of three preferred styles of auditory, visual or kinesthetic learners based on self-reports. One study found that there were more than 70 different models of learning styles including among others, “left v right brain,” “holistic v serialists,” “verbalisers v visualisers” and so on. The second problem is that categorising individuals can lead to the assumption of fixed or rigid learning style, which can impair motivation to apply oneself or adapt.
Finally, and most damning, is that there have been systematic studies of the effectiveness of learning styles that have consistently found either no evidence or very weak evidence to support the hypothesis that matching or “meshing” material in the appropriate format to an individual’s learning style is selectively more effective for educational attainment. Students will improve if they think about how they learn but not because material is matched to their supposed learning style. The Educational Endowment Foundation in the UK has concluded that learning styles is “Low impact for very low cost, based on limited evidence”.
You can do more research on the subject if you'd like to, and there's a rabbit hole of interesting reading and videos on the subject. But, the reason I bring it up is to say: you do not need to worry about catering to "learning styles" per se.
Everybody's brain works differently, there's no doubt about that. But don't try to come up with a bunch of variations on how you teach to try and cater to visual learners and auditory learners and whatever other learners you can think of. Because we all learn through all of these ways and more.
Just come up with your lesson strategy, and if a particular technique seems to resonate with them, go down that path with them. Music inherently combines a lot of these anyway. Reading music, listening to excerpts, watching videos on theory, etc, can give a breadth of styles to the teaching.
Without practice, we will not improve. It's really as simple as that. However, I will anecdotally say that many of your students probably will not practice. And you'll be able to tell, but that's okay.
I confess, I did not practice at all outside of my lessons. Although I was in music classes and extracurriculars outside of my lessons that did lead to continuous practice. Just...not for what I was working on in my lessons. The benefit, though, is that I did become very good at sight-reading.
That said, there's no doubt that a good practice regimen will greatly increase the chances of progression over time. There's too much to cover here, but I have another post all about teaching your students how to practice
This is going to be important for younger learners especially, and I will probably write another article focused on this idea. But involving the parent in the student's learning will increase the likelihood of their success.
Start by establishing a clear and open line of communication with parents and guardians. This could be through regular updates via email, a shared online document detailing progress and objectives, or scheduled meetings to discuss their child’s development and any challenges they might be facing. Transparency about goals, achievements, and areas for improvement can help parents support their child's practice at home.
Involving parents in setting up a consistent practice schedule can be beneficial. Guide them on how to create a distraction-free environment that encourages regular practice. Sharing tips on how to be supportive without applying too much pressure is also key. For instance, suggest ways they can listen to their child play, offering encouragement and noting improvements, which reinforces the value of their effort and progress.
Provide parents with resources that can help them understand what their child is learning. This could include simple music theory basics, an overview of the instrument, or even a playlist of pieces their child is working on. Educating parents not only helps them appreciate the complexity and beauty of what their child is learning but also allows them to be more effectively involved in the learning process.
Occasionally inviting parents to sit in on a lesson can be enlightening for them. It offers a firsthand look at the teaching process, how their child is progressing, and how they respond to instruction. This experience can equip parents with insights on how to better support their child's musical journey at home.
Encourage parents to make music a part of home life by playing a variety of genres at home, attending live music events together, or even learning an instrument themselves. This creates a musically rich environment that can boost the student's interest and engagement with music.
Finally, establish a mechanism for parents to provide feedback. Understanding their observations and concerns can offer valuable insights into the student's attitudes, struggles, and areas of interest that might not always be apparent during lessons.