fishonbass -
I can speak as a teacher, having been one for well over 10 years now, as well as a student having been one for over 20.
As was mentioned by jazzbo, communication...wait COMMUNICATION is essential. You seem to have picked up on that
. The hardest student to teach is the one that doesn't ask any questions, that doesn't ask for explanation of new or unfamiliar concepts/ideas. Never feel uncomfortable saying "I didn't get that" or "Can you go over that again, I'm not sure I understood", that's a teacher's JOB, to make sure you "get it". If a teacher ever gets cross with you for asking that kind of question, no matter how many times you do it, get another teacher.
I go so far as to tell my students my home phone number, for two reasons: rescheduling; and so they can call me if they're confused or unsure of something they're working on. I'd rather spend 5-10 minutes on the phone attempting to get something straightened out for a student, than waste half a lesson re-doing something that was misunderstood and worked on for a week or two incorrectly. I make it a point to tell my students this at EVERY lesson, stressing that if there's anything they're unsure of, call, and I'll be very happy to help them get it straight.
Another good idea is to get an inexpensive cassette recorder to bring to your lessons, record EVERYTHING. This will help you as you'll hear the examples that your teacher plays. It can really eliminate confusion and make things go much smoother during your practice sessions to have a tape to refer back to (I know it saved my @$$ numerous times when I was studying...
).
If your teacher hasn't already suggested or insisted (my choice as a teacher) on it, get a good 3-ring binder and fill it with staff paper. Keep ALL your lesson notes there, and any things that you come up with on your own as well. This makes it easy for both yourself and your teacher to refer back to previous work. Also, in the same place, write down any questions or problems you run into inbetween lessons, it's amazing how easily a trouble spot will slip your memory at the lesson. If you have that question/problem on paper right in front of yourself at the lesson, you'll remember to bring it up and that helps the teacher to help you eliminate it.
Of course the biggest thing is to actually PRACTICE at home
. Lessons are for going over what you're working on and learning new stuff to work on. It's amazing how many times I've had students that basically only worked on the "donkey work" I gave them AT THE LESSON
. I've heard hundreds of excuses/rationalizations: "I was too tired after school and took a nap...all week"; "It doesn't really make me play any better to work on it, I did the first week and wasn't any better..."; "All I want to do is learn Green Day (or insert any other band) songs, why do I need to know scales and arpeggios?". Don't be lazy (that's what all those "reasons" above REALLY were), not that I am assuming you will be
.
Lastly, make sure that at least some part of the lesson is about ear training. Hearing intervals, chord types, progression types, that sort of thing. I like to spend about 5 minutes playing "follow the leader", I'll play one note, the student finds it, then I'll play that note and another, the student has to play both, and so on. You'll really appreciate that skill when you try to figure out songs on your own.
By the way I DO NOT transcribe songs for students, I prefer to give them the skills to do that for themselves. I will help them if they get stuck and have shown an effort to figure it out on their own. Transcribing songs for kids is NOT teaching, it's showing, and if you ever get a teacher that does nothing but that, you're throwing away good money. I will use portions of "common" songs to illustrate theory concepts though.
Hope some of this helps....
[Edited by Gard on 09-22-2000 at 12:28 PM]
