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Teaching by Travel Brochure
(14 Oct 02)
What to do...
What to do about this situation? If you are a student, take a serious look at two things: your progress (think in terms of months), and your teacher. (I am assuming you are practicing and doing what your teacher tells you to do). Ask yourself these questions:
1. Do I feel comfortable asking my teacher ANY question, no matter how stupid? Do I get the feeling the teacher gets annoyed with me if I do ask a stupid question (of course, there is no such thing as a stupid question, except the one you DON'T ask.)
2. Do I feel like my teacher is constantly checking to make sure I am paying attention, and to make sure I understand? (Sometimes a student THINKS they understand, but I know they don't!)
3. Do I feel like my teacher will BEND OVER BACKWARDS to make me understand something? Does my teacher try a hundred ways to explain something UNTIL I GET IT! Or until we decide I need further background in a particular area before I CAN understand a certain point.
Now if you are a teacher, it's very easy. Just be the kind of teacher who would get a YES on every one of those questions if your students answered them.
Teachers, NEVER ASSUME ANYTHING! Here is an example of a time when I became aware of an assumption I was making in teaching, an assumption that explained why a lot of students weren't making progress with things they were working on. In my own practicing, right from the beginning, I got in the habit of taking small sections of things, a measure of two, and doing them over and over, while watching my fingers.
One day, I realized that my students never watched their fingers while practicing, and so they had no idea what their fingers were really doing, and therefore no ability to change a bad habit, because they didn't know they had a bad habit. Well, needless to say, I immediately declared it "National Finger Watching Month" for my students!
Don't assume your student is even LISTENING to you when you speak. Often, they are not. And THAT must be addressed, before the subject you are trying to communicate is addressed. Often, a student is busy having an emotional reaction to something that just occurred in the lesson, so they are not listening from the part of their mind they need to be listening from in order to "get" what you are saying.
Being able to sense this in a student, and bring them to the right place, is an art in itself. Develop the ability to "jump inside" the student. Experience what is going on in the lesson from THEIR viewpoint. For instance, do you want to experience how weird it feels for an inexperienced left hand to fret a guitar? Just play yours using the right hand to fret! That's what it feels like in the beginning, and did for us to, but we forget.
Don't send your students a "travel brochure" when they are asking how to get from where they are to where you are. Go find where they are, and lead them out!
Copyright 2000 by Jamie Andreas. All Rights Reserved.
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The Principles Of Correct Practice For Guitar by Jamie Andreas, continues to bring the highest acclaim, world renowned as The International Bible For Guitarists. With a straight forward writing style, her tried and true, result oriented guitar book powerfully reveals the correct practice methods, taking the student from the beginning stages to the highest levels of virtuosity. Get 10 free things you can do right now to become a better guitarist! Visit GuitarPrinciples.com
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