Because it's nearing the end of the year, I've been thumbing through the journal I keep regarding my students. I got engrossed enough to do a quick read of the ones I've kept since I exited the bar world, and started teaching a little over 12 years ago. It's not a progress report or about who learned their G chord in record time, but something to remind me how my approach worked (or didn't) with individual people. Although there is a certain amount of overlapping, the ways I've tried to help people get enjoyment from an instrument certainly have been all over the map. Probably comes from my experiences with teachers, both musical AND academic when I was in my teens. I seemed to have always hooked up with gray unexcitable men and women who not only "went by the book" but probably never questioned whether "it" was the right or only book.
I remember substituting for a friend once who taught at a "mom and pop" music store. Before being ushered into one of the tiny cubicles in the basement, I was handed a Mel Bay book on scales. "This is what we use", said the owner-lady, "your first student is on lesson 7". Despite my occasional emotional outbursts on Mudcat, I'm pretty polite in person, so I didn't say to her "This boring crap? What does the student WANT to play? Who do they listen to? Do they have a clue who Mel Bay is? Do YOU?" And perhaps, to me, most importantly, "Do you REALLY care if this young person has music as a close friend for the rest of their life?" A totally unfair and basically snotty reaction (I have those a lot), 'cause of course the woman was trying to run a business, and the kids were customers, and they paid in advance, and that's the way the world works. It was hardly her concern that her substitute music teacher had a "Johnny Appleseed" complex.
I've kept in touch with many ex students over the years and it gives me such a kick when I'm told how music is such a big part of their lives. Quite a few have released recordings, and in my narrow outlook on the world that's worth far more than the extra bucks I'd have made keeping sessions to a half hour on the dot.
While reading the journals I thought I'd probably find that the 20 or 30 out of 300 or so who were blessed with absolute natural talent and learned more in a couple of hours than most in 3 months, would have made the most progress over the years. Completely wrong. Most of those drifted into other hobbies and interests. 'Course they've always GOT the music, but the passion for it didn't last. The ones who've really kept it up are the ones who got into playing with others, and became part of a music COMMUNITY. Not one of my student-friends who've recorded albums was in that list of "instant" players...but every one of them were people who had found (made) the time to practice, and one day realised that it wasn't "practice" anymore, it was fun!
When I was a kid trying to play some little ditty on the piano, that apparently Mozart had composed while still in the womb, I figured you had to have "natural talent" for all this to work...and I sure didn't! It wasn't til many years later (and after reading much silliness about Mozart's genius being an argument for re-incarnation) that I found out his dad worked the little bugger like a slave. Naturally talented or not, the kid DID the work to become good. Anyway it occurred to me today that my job with my students is more to make that "work" fun, than just about anything else.

If any catters have any teaching tips to share, I would welcome them...or horror stories, cause they're fun too.

Rick