Dear seed, If you have time, you might want to look at "www.woodpecker.com", Harvey Reid's site. Somewhere on the site is a page of advice to students that he gave to them on the first day of class (I think he taught guitar and/or folk music at a university for awhile). I thought it was quite powerful, and I sent it to a few educators I know, and then lost my copy! -- there are other interviews/ essays on the site about the craft of making music, how to keep people's attention while playing in a bar, and all sorts of other stuff. There is also a very interesting book called With Your Own Two Hands about learning how to play the piano -- what makes it interesting is a very detailed discussion about why people won't practice, and the virtues of practicing, and how to pace yourself, etc. A real teaching problem as you know is how to get them to do anything outside of class, and if they do anything, to have the right attitude towards it.

Just random thoughts from a sometime teacher.

Yours, Peter T.