Philosophy Back to HomePage Practice Tips Dealing with Frustration	A music teacher's most important tasks are:      • to establish a positive mentoring relationship      • to get students to appreciate music      • to get them to enjoy playing, rehearsing and performing This involves engaging each student's interest, tapping their passion for music, teaching them to practice effectively, showing them how to set reasonable goals and how to overcome obstacles, developing their understanding of the nature and order of music, fostering fluency in reading music notation, encouraging their creativity and experimentation ... and introducing them to various social and cooperative aspects of music such as playing in bands, orchestras, and recitals. Over the course of such endeavors, as much as possible, it's essential to steer students toward fun, pleasure and meaningful rewards. Despite what students may ultimately achieve musically, a music education should be an enriching experience — one that builds confidence and self-esteem, one that opens them to sensitivity and relaxation, and that stimulates curiosity and creativity. Hopefully their successes with music will help them to pursue their goals in life — and of course, enhance the possibility that they will enjoy playing music throughout their lifetime, whether as an amateur or professional musician. Pleasure is the Key! (Frustration is a Warning Sign.) No matter what their age or level, students need to balance fun and work. Many music students toil away dutifully, devoting countless hours to practice, believing that lots of hard work will inevitably lead to artistic achievements and good musicianship. They think that the harder they work, the faster they'll proceed. The more strenuous their efforts, the more strain they endure, the deeper the reward. It's easy to think that long hours spent struggling invariably produce great accomplishments. Our "work hard" cultural ethic wholeheartedly espouse this view. But this is far from true. Music students need to steer clear of excessive hard work. Not all hard work, of course. Plenty of hard work is required. Everyone understands that. But students should avoid pointless work and needless struggle — the type of effort that fails to improve their musical skills, and produces only frustration and resignation. If a student's practice sessions are frequently frustrating, boring, or nonproductive, and little enjoyment is found, something's seriously amiss. When students practice in this manner, usually they do so unenthusiastically. Eventually they'll tire of the frustration or drudgery. Worse, they may erroneously conclude that, while the pursuit of music looks like fun, in reality it's endlessly boring, unattainable and unrewarding. Everyone encounters significant challenges and in learning new knowledge and new skills. It's not always a cakewalk. But difficulties dissipate quickly in the presence of a patient, intelligent, and effective type of practice. When students take the proper path, they can easily accomplish a great deal in a short time. The result depends on how they practice, on holding a positive frame of mind, and on having attainable goals in mind as they proceed. Indeed students must assume a personal responsibility for maintaining their enthusiasm — no one can do that for them. They should enjoy the majority of their practice time, and so they need to structure their practice to this end. The exception here is the very young -- while they need more attention and positive feddback for their accomplishments and effort, they too should be encouraged and rewarded for practicing independently and productively. Still, most students need guidance in attaining a positive, productive approach to practice. Few know how to do so intuitively. While an instictive or intuitive understanding is the saving grace for students who fail to receive instruction on practicing, it is not essential. Every aspect of this understand can be taught, and the student can see the value of the approach when coached during lessons. Getting the horse to drink is another matter. A skilled music teacher helps students achieve good practice habits by having them practice at their lessons. Rather than sturcturing each lesson as a recital/critique session, the teacher simple asks the student to practice the piece ... and then asks them a number of questions:     • What areas could use improvement?     • What would you do you get better in one such area?     • What would be a good way to acheive this improvement?     • Have you actually improved in the last few minutes of practice?     • If not, what might help?     • Is there something that might work better? Most students need lots of friendly reminders on how to make quick progress. Somethimes they fail to identify the problems. Or their clear on the problem, but fail to use a method that helps them. When guided along to a true accomplishment, even if it's five minutes spent learning a single phrase, they eventually begin to see what works for them. A successful approach begets a more successful approach. An accumulation of achievements and successes naturally elevates the student to a new plateau, to a higher state of self esteem, and to yet another level of fun, enjoyment, and satisfaction. When this occurs, the student comes to recognize that the hours dedicated to practice are a worthwhile investment. Then when the next challenge appears, though it may seem daunting at first blush, the student perceives it as yet another attainable goal. they naturally focus on exploring paths that works, and avoid the dead ends. By pursuing music, people may come to realize that many goals and dreams that seem impossible are often within their grasp ... and they learn to trust in their ability to proceed, even when they realized they must build step by step. The people who achieve a high level of mastery are those who can tolerate being on a plateau for an extended period of time.