Create a sense of achievement from the very first lesson. It should be possible to help beginners play at least part of a familiar tune. Ideally, we want them to go home and say to a parent: ‘Listen, I can play xxxxxxx!’
Turn lessons into truly musical experiences. Provide a recognisable musical context for their efforts from the very beginning. Often, the first exercises they play will be sustained or repeated notes and will have little intrinsic musical interest. However, these could become inner parts of a more complex piece, which can be played on a piano/keyboard or recorded beforehand. Either way, students are more likely to feel as though they really are making music.
Familiarise yourself with a notation programme and DAW. This enables you to create exercises and accompaniments while keeping things organised. Remember: whatever you create this year will be available next year, and the next.
Save accompaniment tracks to your phone/tablet (with a shortcut for ease and speed of access). Use these in lessons, having taken along a Bluetooth speaker.
Postpone music reading until some fluency has been achieved. Learning notation and the basics of technique simultaneously can delay fluency and the sensation of music-making. It may also discourage. Associating letter names with fingerings is helpful, but not their position on the stave – yet.
Use imitation and improvisation before notation. This will help students produce musical results (especially if given a musical context, as suggested above) while developing fluency, aural awareness and creativity.
Include interesting rhythms. Beginners can copy and reproduce rhythms even if these can’t yet be read. Music in minims and crotchets can become uninteresting, unlike ‘catchy’, syncopated, rhythms or the more familiar styles these represent. When beginners realise that they can play the kind of music that means something to them, their enthusiasm is reinvigorated.
Provide an audible pulse, integrated into an appealing accompaniment pattern. Keyboards with auto rhythms are great for this. Aim for continuity by keeping the pulse going when you need to explain something. This keeps everyone ‘on their toes’ and helps maintain concentration and attentiveness.
Tackle new pieces in sections. We memorise all kinds of sequential information in chunks, so applying this principle when approaching a new piece makes effective learning more likely. An 8-bar melody can be broken down into four 2-bar sections and rehearsed in the order A, B, A+B, C, D, C+D and then, finally, A+B+C+D.
Remember that repetition is essential – even after the students have ‘got it right’. It ensures that techniques become automatic. Repeating something will not be ‘boring’ if relevant feedback is provided and students are encouraged to listen and self-assess while playing.
Move on before perfection is achieved. There will be countless pieces that can be used to achieve particular learning objectives, so keep things fresh by moving on before restlessness sets in.
Practise ‘the practice’. Ensure students know what to do in between lessons, why they should do it, and demonstrate this. Rehearsing the work to be done will create a far better chance of achieving the desired outcome and generating a sense of achievement. Supplement this with diaries, logs or online resources.
Watch your language! Bear in mind that ‘practise’ has several negative connotations: chore, drudgery, boredom, and so on. Try asking your students to ‘play’ instead.
Look for something to praise when giving feedback, and mention this first. Then, apply the sandwich rule: positive comment – ‘awareness’ instruction – positive comment. Remember, too, that nonverbal communication is far more immediate and emotive than verbal, so an enthusiastic tone of voice with congruent body language is essential.
Make sure that all students in group lessons are 100% included and engaged. If you need to hear one person play alone, give the others a related task. This can be a simple accompaniment using classroom percussion, or peer assessment based on simple criteria.
Prepare for varying rates of progress. Create parts of varying difficulty so that students who progress quicker can be appropriately challenged, while those who need more time can take it.
Further reading
Green, B., with Gallwey, W.T. (1987) The Inner Game of Music. Pan.
Priest, P. (1989) ‘Playing by Ear: its nature and application to instrumental learning’, BJME, 6/02.
Odam, G. (2021) The Sounding Symbol: Music Education in Action. Nelson Thornes.
Hallam, S. (2010) ‘The Power of Music: its impact on the intellectual, social and personal development of children and young people, IJME, 28/03.
