MY TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

At the beginning of my music career, I had no idea I would be standing where I am today. With all my past teachers’ and professors’ help, I have been given the opportunity to stand in their shoes and take on the role of teacher. Teaching to me has always been about positive environment, setting attainable goals, and recognition of achievement. I believe that a student’s love for music will be ever-growing and last a lifetime due to these three concepts framing their private lessons.

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    A positive environment has been an ideal setting for me to grow and prosper. I appreciate when my teachers give me positive feedback and create an atmosphere that makes me feel safe to express myself through my playing. I strive to provide this exact environment to my students as well. An atmosphere where music is not just a class we study for, but a form of communication and expression. One way I like to approach this concept is by encouraging students to create a story to go along with the musical ideas being presented in their music. By doing this, students will be able to portray clear, melodic lines, but also convey this story in their own musical language and develop their own concept of musical expression. This type of comforting atmosphere has helped me to convey these feelings for someone who not only agrees with my ideas, but also adds them and provides feedback on them.

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    Another concept I have used is setting attainable goals. By creating attainable goals, students are able to not only reach said goals, but achieve a sense of self-discipline and accountability. Each day, I will help students map out their practice sessions so that by the next lesson, their goals will have been met and lessons can focus more on what happens next. My teachers always gave me a weekly goal of technique and repertoire assignments and wrote them down in my lesson books, which I find very helpful as both a student and teacher.

    Recognition is a concept that goes along with goal setting. Getting recognized for your achievements is something I always cared deeply about. Having my achievements recognized by my teachers gives me motivation to continue playing music and setting more goals for myself. Whether that recognition is positive feedback or an award, being recognized for the efforts one puts into their craft or art is what keeps us going. Without positive reinforcement, lessons would almost feel robotic and demoralizing, like there is no purpose. By achieving these goals, ultimately we want to be able to perform and receive the recognition for the work we have put into our music. For younger or beginner students, that could mean sticker charts or playing fun songs at the end of lessons. For older or more advanced students, that could mean positive affirmations from the teacher or audience, or even auditioning for competitions. 

    I feel it is my responsibility to not only tell students, but show them how music can benefit their everyday lives and help them develop learning skills they will carry with them forever. Through working in a positive environment, setting goals, and positive recognition, students will be able to not only come to a lesson with prepared music, but show excitement and enthusiasm about playing. I can show students that music is about self-expression just as much as any other concept and achieve my main goal as a teacher.