Susan, this is great information.

If keeping track of the progress is their responsibility (which it is), do you kind of know what's been happening from week to week in their development or do you just take it as they present it and go from there? I tend toward the latter in my approach because I agree with you that it's their responsibility to know where they're level is.

If you see them and they've sped ahead of where you thought they were when you last worked with them then you probably have a good idea of where they are in their level? If the assignment was say to accompany a song with their own arrangement, then they bring in four or five songs doing this, you would then remember that? (A kind of mental documenting)

Do you keep track of the songs they want to learn from week to week or do they refresh your memory by bringing them in to remind you that this is what they've worked on?

Have you catalogued what these "blocks" are so that the information from one student can be transferred to another? Suppose a person has a problem with rhythmic tempo and has a block about it. When you work with this, can that information be used for another student?

I think it's so wonderful that you are generous with your time. They are very fortunate students to have this. Do you find that when you jam with them that your own playing increases and becomes better?

How do you know when the student that you teach becomes ready to play in the band? Or is this just a feeling that it's right?

How would you define musicianship? Here's what I think it is. An ability to take the musical knowledge and incorporate it into a jam to make music together. I think something like this for me takes place even in a solo or duo performance before and audience. I think this is what Pete Seeger had in mind when he developed the "hootenanny" concept.

More questions for you later. What you do sounds great!

Hey Rick, I'd love to hear from you on all of this because you've been at it successfully for years.

Frank