The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Recorder Players!
Photo credit: Lisa Scherrer
What are the habits my most upwardly mobile recorder students share?
I often invite my students to engage in self-reflection when it comes to their own learning, and over the years I’ve learned a few things about the habits that help students thrive.
What I find exciting is that all of these things are habits that can be deliberately cultivated by YOU, right now, whether or not you’re studying formally. (I’m working on a few myself!)
So what do highly effective recorder students do?
1) They have a practice routine
Students who are able to make practice a habit, engaging in it for at least a few minutes most days a week to the point where practicing becomes hard NOT to do, make faster progress than those who have to choose to practice every time. Put in bald mathematical terms, practicing 10 minutes 6 days a week is better than practicing 60 minutes one day a week.
2) They develop goals
Developing goals for and with students is part of the work of being a teacher, but I’ve noticed that my most driven students often supplement our jointly generated goals with goals they’ve come up with on their own. Whether it’s playing for a local church service, forming an ensemble, or showing off for their own students, there’s something about the self-generated goal that seems to be extra motivating.
3) They listen….
Upwardly mobile students are have their ears wide open both during and outside of lessons. They listen attentively to their own playing, to my playing, and to our conversation. They are also listening outside of lessons- to other players, other perspectives, other ways of making music. All of this helps them grow
4) …and they talk
Effective students listen deeply; but they also know when it’s time to speak up- telling me they don’t’ understand a particular explanation, for example, or clueing me in to something I could do to help them learn. I especially love when students bring me questions. It means they are actively engaging with the material, and that kind of engagement leads to progress.
5) They get comfortable with discomfort
Learning is change, and change can be uncomfortable. In lessons, I am frequently asking a student to do things that are new and, at least at first, difficult or even scary. Students who can learn to accept feeling uncomfortable, unsure, or incompetent have a major advantage, in that they are more willing to experiment and evolve.
6) They play with others
Playing with others is a fabulous chance for students to implement all the new techniques they are learning in lessons. It is also highly motivating- there’s nothing like wanting to be able to play the bass part in your ensemble to get you to learn to read the clef. I see big benefits to almost every kind of group playing, from casual get-togethers to hour-long chapter meetings to immersive week-long workshops. Alas, this habit is mostly off the table during pandemic times, but I hope that at some point it will be possible to cultivate it again!
7) They treat mistakes as data
Mistakes may feel agonizing iin the moment, but they are, at their core, information. And my most successful students realize this. Rather than becoming upset when you make a mistake, treat it like what it is: incredibly valuable data you can use to help improve your playing. For example, you might be distressed by the small blips and disynchronies that occur between notes when your fingers don’t move exactly at the same time. These are irritating, but they are also real-time, important auditory feedback that, over time, can help you learn to synchronize your movements. And if you embrace them, as opposed to trying to avoid them, your playing will improve faster.