Not Everyone Will Find Everything Easy

One of the hardest lessons for me to learn as a new teacher was that sometimes students struggle with thing that I find easy.

I can’t remember learning to read music.  Not (and don’t be smart here) because it was such a long time ago (although, tbh, it was).  But, because right from the beginning, reading music just made sense.  My teacher at primary school explained the stave and time values, and from there, it just seemed obvious to me.

It wasn’t until I started teaching that I realised some people find reading music really hard.  I had to think about the process of music reading, and how to best explain it.  This, I think, has made me a better teacher.

Remember, if you’ve got to the stage of your musical career where you’re considering teaching it, then you’re probably pretty good at music.  Music is now instinctive for you and, yes, while I do realise you’ve put in a heck of a lot of time and effort, you’ve also probably got quite a bit of natural aptitude for it.  

Not every kid you teach will have that aptitude, but that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a musical education.  Your job as their teacher is to be able to explain the processes of music-making to them – even the process you thing are super obvious.