Posted by dunelandmusic on February 09, 2004 at 01:40:57:
In Reply to: I have a confession. I HATE TO TEACH posted by Sean Chisham on February 09, 2004 at 00:28:08:
I can relate to the feeling, at a much less level. I lost my job in the music business at the end of June. By August I hooked up with a music store and started doing some teaching. By now, I have 20-30 students.
Most of the kids I have are YOUNG, some as early as 4 years old. They are piano students. I have some 6-8th grade baritone/trombone students. I also have some beginning guitar students.
I'll be the first to say I'm not an expert in anything, at least not by my estimation. Dealing with people and personalities has never been my favorite thing.
Teaching can be mentally wearing. Since most of my kids are true beginners, yes, I'm really teaching and trying to keep them going. Sometimes I feel a big part of teaching is just keeping it interesting enough to keep them going. None of my kids are the next Mozart, as far as I can tell. But there have been some light bulb moments this year that make it worthwhile. And maybe one of the best things teachers can teach is telling kids how to practice and help them realize it takes many repititions sometimes. I can hear kids grown by the 4th time you ask them to play the same passage. But that's how results are achieved.
Sean, you don't have to be a guru and say something profound to help someone. And if you were to stay at it for a longer time, I think you'd find the marginal players would drop out, and your studio would eventually contain only good students. Being hard on kids, in a good way, helps to cut out the weeds from the flowers.
And wanting to perform without teaching is no crime either.