Last January, I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Robert A. Duke give a keynote presentation to a conference of music parents. Something he said has stuck with me: Only a small handful of our students will ever be professional musicians or perform in adulthood. Most will stop regular music study at some point. How do we position this stopping so that it doesn't feel like a failure, either for the student or for us as teachers?
A month or so into the school year is a good time to ask why we do what we do. Is it so that our students will be able to make money playing their instruments? Maybe. More likely it is because we feel like studying an instrument brings all sorts of character-building qualities, like consistency and patience. We also may want our students to have a creative outlet for self-expression, or to understand the structures of the music around them and what makes music 'good'. Veteran cello teacher Brittany Gardner has a wonderful episode of her course "Setting Up An Independent Music Teaching Studio" about finding your vision and mission statement as a teacher.
But Dr. Duke's comment made me think about another reason we invest in children's music education: we are preparing the music audiences of tomorrow. If the training we give our students results in them listening to, attending and supporting music and musicians in the future, then none of our - or their - efforts are ever a failure.
After all, the music performance industry will not thrive unless there are audiences to support it. Not everyone can be on the stage; we need those who pay to be in the audiences. So here are three ways that Duet teachers are training their students to be the audiences of tomorrow and declare victory in their music education:
- Make listening a part of practicing.
There are many ways to do this, from the formal to the informal. "I require my students to listen to at least 10 recordings of a piece before they start playing it," reports violin teacher Sheila W. "We talk about what makes each interpretation different." Other teachers will simply ask in lessons what a student listened to that week, making the conversation about the listening part of the lesson time. "I feel like talking about my students' listening habits and live events they've attended is one of the most valuable things I can do as a teacher," says clarinet teacher Wesley T.
- Plan a studio outing to a live performance.
When I was a young piano student, my teacher would plan an annual summer outing to the Hollywood Bowl to hear a piano concerto performed by a top level pianist. I loved going with my friends, fan girling over the pianist, and comparing notes with my teacher's other students after the concert. My daughter's school class recently attended a symphony performance with her entire school orchestra. One of her friends who had never been to a professional orchestral performance said, "It was the coolest thing I've ever been to." Attending a live music event - especially of non-popular genres like classical or jazz - can be social and joyful.
- Help a student prepare to attend a live musical event on their own.
Perhaps you don't want to organize a studio outing. Sharing the local live music events with your studio families is an easy way to encourage participation outside of their time with you. If you know a student is planning to attend a particular show, work with the student to prepare. Look up the performers, listen to their other recordings, listen to other performances of the piece together or assign that listening to your student.
As teachers, we can sometimes feel that we are wasting time if we do not spend lesson time on playing our instruments. This doesn't have to be true. We are nurturing life-long music lovers, and encouraging life-long attendance at audience of live music events maybe be one of the greatest gifts we can give our students. While your students may not finish all of the books in your piano method or achieve a high degree of proficiency at your instrument, you can always say, "See you at the theater!"
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