Posted by Alan Herold - IMHO! on February 10, 2000 at 00:28:13:
In Reply to: If you are a private teacher PleaseRead posted by A Student on February 09, 2000 at 21:41:48:
Dear Student,
I teach with a positive attitude and a positive philosophy. I also don’t push my students unless their goals require that I do. It is my job to show them what to practice to make them better musicians. I lead the horse to water so to speak. I don’t feel it is my job to motivate my students in a false manner. I prefer to get them excited about music by experiencing music, not my pathetic banter. The parents or students pay cash money for the lessons and that is false motivation enough. Every single one of my students earns exactly what they get, and they know it. If I compliment them, they’ve EARNED it and they feel VERY proud of themselves. I have some extremely successful students, and that is not by any means a feather in my cap. All I did was show them what and how to practice. They did ALL the work and earn all the rewards. Getting an “A” from me means diddly poop when they’re sitting last chair. Getting a “C” and a kick in the butt from me gets me a thank you when they hit the high note, win the challenge at school, or sit first chair at state.
I have time to teach students who work hard whether playing an instrument comes easily to them or not. I have time to teach my learning disabled student who might actually get something out of his lesson this week for a change - he really is passionate about playing the trombone, but God Bless him for trying, he can't hardly play the thing. I even have time to teach the kids who are so busy with all that they are involved in that they may practice their horns once or twice a week, as long as I feel they’re giving it the time they can. I do not have time for students who want me to feed them false compliments or give them the gift of a good grade. I always act nice to the students I teach, whether they deserve it or not. If they don't deserve to be treated nicely and/or they don't want to work then I will discontinue the lessons. My time is worth more than the money. Most every teacher feels that way… just ask around.
One last thing – if I gave you an “A” in your lesson today and told you that you sounded great when in fact you stunk, how would you feel when you waltzed into band class and blew chunks on your playing test in front of God and everybody? We’d both be humiliated.