A flexible template for informal practical music lessons: A Welsh perspective

There is a lack of scholarship on informal private popular music lessons compared with school and conservatoire teaching, and informal private music lessons have been viewed as lacking structure. Instrumental teachers often develop strategies from their own experiences, and there is a paucity of recognition of the processes that underpin teachers’ knowledge. This article brings into focus indicative examples of my own teaching experiences with my current student cohort, focusing on how specific approaches are informed by a general structure, where teaching approaches are tried, tested and developed. The article contributes to literature on informal popular music teaching developed by the likes of Schulman (1987) and Lucy Green (2001). Key benefits identified in adopting a flexible template for guitar lessons include a growth in student confidence positively affecting their progress and engagement with music.

Teachers as Mentors

This chapter explores the important relational role that teachers can play in shaping the musical development of their students. Literature on the mentorship role that teachers can play is used to frame the chapter. A discussion of the importance of caring for students and showing passion for one’s discipline is followed by a description of the author’s personal and professional relationship with one of her childhood private music teachers. The chapter contemplates the nature of the teacher-student relationship, particularly in the context of private music lessons, and offers a description of the maturing of a relationship where the teacher became a coach, and eventually a trusted colleague.

Paik, Nam June (1932–2006)

Nam June Paik was a Korean-born American artist who achieved international notoriety for his destructive, neo-dada activities and visionary, esthetic experiments with electronic media. Born to a wealthy family in Seoul during Japanese colonial rule, Paik took private music lessons throughout his adolescence. After moving to Japan in 1951, he enrolled in the University of Tokyo, where he studied music, esthetics, and art history, graduating with a thesis on the composer Arnold Schoenberg in 1956. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he turned away from the university setting to associate himself with a network of progressive artists such as John Cage and the Fluxus group. While studying in Germany in the late 1950s, Paik began exploring electronic media as an art form. Yet, far from being negative or polemical, Paik’s attitude toward the televisual environment was marked by a radical openness. He explored the esthetic potential of television and video in an all-encompassing way. Paik’s exploration encompassed manipulation of television signals or scan lines, videotape production, television transmission, live satellite telecast, video sculpture, and environment. Yet Paik was by no means naïve or conformist in his approach; instead, he hijacked broadcast signals, redressing one-way communication and rechanneling energy into an alternative mode of communication.

Music Majors' Attitudes Toward Private Lesson Teaching After Graduation

The purpose of this study was to survey current music students across degree programs and levels on their attitudes toward teaching private music lessons. Results showed few differences between undergraduate and graduate students. Across degrees, educators and performers were most alike on statements about wanting to teach, liking the idea of watching students learn, and looking forward to being better teachers themselves. They differed in that educators focused more on correct notes than expressive elements and were more willing to take on students who are less skilled or able, teach improvisation, and focus on music reading skills. Performers hoped for students who were self-motivated. Educators focused less on teaching for money, connecting teaching to their own playing, and saw themselves as less likely to give up teaching to do other things. These data suggest that music majors across degrees and levels see a need for training to teach.

Children's Satisfaction with Private Music Lessons

Feelings of satisfaction are vital to learning because they provide the motivation necessary for children to continue to participate in private music lessons. The aims of this study were to examine factors related to satisfaction with private music lessons from a child's perspective and to develop a reliable, valid, and practical measure of music lesson satisfaction to help improve private music instruction. Factor analysis using a sample of 568 children, ages 9 to 12, yielded the 34-item Music Lesson Satisfaction Scale (MLSS), which loaded onto one unidimensional factor. Enjoyment and practicing seemed to be important to children s music lesson satisfaction, with children indicating that they were generally satisfied with their private music lessons overall. These results support previous music research. The effects of age, gender, and musical instruments on satisfaction are discussed, as are implications for music educators.