Which is more important in the development of a student- the teacher or the environment? Part 2

The importance of personal contact on a regular basis cannot be over stated for the concentrated time given on a one to one basis is fundamental in the concept of private lessons. During a lesson, the instructor is able to listen, evaluate and make recommendations to the student drawing from the instructor’s personal experience. This one on one environment in most cases builds confidence in the student and the knowledge shared can be of great benefit to the student. Private lessons can be a non-threatening encounter where the students problems are observed, analyzed and through carefully planned assignments, improve the student’s musical ability. But how much actual impact do these assignments have on the student?

If the teacher has gained the student’s respect as an educator, these assignments will be prepared to the student’s level of ability. Each assignment is expected to be practiced and through regular practice, improvement should be expected. The weekly routine of lesson, assignment, practice and re-evaluation the following week can in many cases become just that, a routine. Each visit will predictably garner the same amount of success. To the average student, this is expected. But what about the over achieving, self-motivated student. Granted this type of student is not the norm but is the exception. The self-motivated student has higher expectations and because of this mind set, wants more rapid and more obvious improvement from week to week. With a student like this, his/her drive can be from self imposed goals or may come from a more competitive mind set. This student has more impact on the people around him/her than the average student. Having a more self-motivated student in the same environment as average players will most often improve the playing ability of the other students. This is where the debate begins to establish itself. Do students improve because of the efforts of the teacher or does the environment of the student have a greater affect on a player’s musical ability?

Teaching private lessons is a simple matter complicated by the fact that individuals are just that- individuals. Each has his/her own problems. The flip side of that argument is that each student’s problems are very similar to every other students problems and the prescription to the solution is in most cases the same for every student. If a student has range issues, the assignment in most cases is the same, if the mechanical parts are correct in the player (embouchure, mouthpiece placement, pressure issues, etc.) assigning gradual increases in upper register playing is the solution. If the student’s level of finger dexterity is lacking, the assignment of exercises to improve this issue is assigned. But what can an instructor do to motivate more determination to excel which is always present in the overachieving student’s mind. The average student practices the assignment because their instructor has suggested it, an overachieving student practices it because he/she craves it due to the fact that they must succeed in their efforts. The self-motivated student must practice these assignment in order to fill their need to be successful. In many cases the average student practices the assignments in order to please their instructor.

In our next post, I will illustrate the influence of the student’s environment on his/her improvement as a musician.