One of the things I enjoy and love about private music instruction is the process of learning how others learn. Everyone is different when it come to learning- some are best at sitting in a classroom full of people, some work best in solitude. Some are book learners, some are interactive learners. The challenge as a tutor/private instructor is to figure out how to engage each student in the best way, to keep them motivated to advance their knowledge of whatever subject they are focusing on. When you achieve this, it’s the best feeling in the world, for both the teacher and the student! Every teacher lives to see that ‘aha!’ moment in those they teach. Here are a couple of mine:
I recently discovered an app that has really helped my younger students in their guitar/piano studies. Yousician, available for Android and iOS devices, allows the student to follow scrolling on-screen notes using their own instrument. The app gives you feedback on which notes are right and wrong, and features a very interactive guide that helps the student, whether an adult or a child, keep proper fingerings and technique. In my findings, this app is really good for very active younger ones.
Mr. Caine has been a student of mine for a few months now, and he loves to play the piano. For him, he learns at such a fast rate, that it is very difficult for him to sit still, which creates boredom and lack of interest very quickly. We were going through a basic instructional booklet, which I found wasn’t helping him very much. He was struggling with wanting to learn the notes in the left hand, especially. Then, this happened. I introduced him to the Yousician app, and everything changed. Any mistake he made, he wanted to go back and perfect. He was suddenly eager to learn the notes and identify them as quickly as possible. Just watch the improvement he made in literally 15 minutes. Keep in mind, before this, he didn’t even want to use his left hand, let alone identify the notes.
This is just one of the many examples I will be posting in the near future. Keep checking back for more information!
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