Which
tutor book you use for beginners depends on a few things. If you are teaching through an established
programme, the book may have been decided upon by someone else. If you are teaching a particular method (e.g.
Suzuki) then you will use the materials designed for that style. However, if you are trying to decide on a
tutor book for private students you may want to take the following into
account.
Which
books seem to be popular? Why are they
popular? Ask other teachers of your
instrument which books they use and why.
The answers may be that the book progresses in a very logical manner,
the explanations are clear, there are fun or interesting graphics to motivate
or inspire young players. The book may
include interesting or popular songs, there might be theory or quiz pages which
make it more interactive, or the book is paced well for beginners. There might be a good blend of technical
exercises and songs.
If you
still have the book you learned from, drag it out from the box in your parents’
garage. Looking through it with
teacher’s eyes, what do you notice? Does
it look dated? Are the songs
interesting? Does it look dated? Does
the text feel outdated? Who is the book
pitched at: young children, older beginners, adults or is it quite general?
See if
you can get hold of three or four different tutor books for your instrument and
compare them. When I did this, I made a
list of what I liked and didn’t like about each one. Overall, one stood out, but there were still
features that I thought other books did better.
Maybe if you find one book you mostly like, you can supplement it with
ideas from the other books.[1]
It’s
also worth remembering that each student has different needs and the book that
suits this student won’t necessarily suit that student. When you start teaching it’s just as
important that you are comfortable with a book, so maybe all your students
could use the same book, just until you’re into the flow to best make progress
on your instrument.
[1] Remembering, of course, that
photocopying is not only generally illegal, but that you are denying the author
their income.
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