What makes individual students succeed?

It’s astonishing to write, but at this point I’ve been teaching recorder for 16 years.  During that time, I’ve taught long-term students and short-term students, absolute beginners and professional musicians, five-year-olds and 85-year-olds and a whole lot in between.

Every student makes progress- but some of them grow by leaps and bounds.  And I can safely say that there is one variable that powerfully predicts whether a student is going to stick with the instrument and blossom, or let his interest wither.

First, a caveat: As a teacher, I consider your progress my responsibility.  If you’re not practicing, it’s my job to figure out what motivates you to practice and help you develop the skills you need to set and meet practice goals.  My job doesn’t end when I close the door to my teaching studio or shut down my computer after an online lesson.

Nevertheless, despite my best efforts, some students blaze forward while others sputter. And yes, some of that is due to differences in drive or investment or experience or inclination. 

But there’s one question I can ask an incoming student that can let me know, in just a few words, the likelihood of that student turning up for lessons next year:

Do you play with others?

The recorder is a sociable instrument.  Most of the time, hearing one recorder on its own is not particularly exciting.  But playing recorder in concert with other instruments, and especially with other recorders, can be magical. 

We humans are sociable, too.  We like to belong to communities, and a community centered on music is a pretty wonderful place to be.  I’ve seen amazing things in the recorder communities I’ve interacted with: people helping one another, and playing music with one another, through sickness and health, joy and sorrow.

Do you play with others?

If a student says yes, it means she has a built-in laboratory in which to try out the new skills she’s learning.  It means she has built-in feedback: She and her playing partners, will be able to see –and hear- the progress she’s made.  And it means she has a built in motivator, a setting to inspire her to work toward her goals and set new ones.

If a student says no, it means I will have to work harder to help that student find meaningful ways to measure her progress, enjoy her playing, and find the motivation to practice.  Sometimes I succeed- particularly when I find ways to connect the student with other players!  Sometimes I don’t.

Do you play with others?

I do.  I hope you do, too.  Making music with others is motivation and laboratory and feedback rolled into one.  And more than that, greater than that, it's a joy.