Why Take Private Music Lessons in this Digital World?

I have this concern that people think they can replace one-on-one private instruction with some asynchronous video series, or some famous person's online masterclass. I don’t mean to say that it is bad that these “courses in a can” exist, but it should not replace regular music lessons that provide many advantages to a musician’s development. Especially young musicians!

I am aware that there are special circumstances and some people have gotten really good at music thanks to the internet. However, in general, traditional lessons are still relevant and important.

l feel it is worthwhile to share few reasons why one-on-one lessons with a qualified professional musician provide critical and valuable substance that pre-recorded online videos with famous people really cannot.

1. Discipline

I believe that: before mastering a discipline one must master discipline itself!

This sort of discipline isn’t the inspiration or motivation you can find in a self-help book. It’s discipline acquired through experience. Sometimes we think we need to buy new products or we absolutely must view some videos that claim to have some "secret fairy dust" information that will help us improve, while the reality is we just need to step up our discipline.

One-on-one private lessons go a long way in the formation of good habits: without an actual instructor to correct the student, their practicing could actually become the reinforcement of bad habits! During live assessment, a teacher can correct a student at the best time: right after it happens.

In the words of Vesemir: “Never train alone! It only imbeds your errors!”

Nerd alert!
Ok, moving on...

2. Lesson plans tailored to the individual

In the face of technology, we need to remember that people are not hard drives and we do not learn the way a computer learns: by simply inputting information.

Private lessons offer goal oriented planning and pacing.  As opposed to the randomness on the internet, a teacher creates a path for the student to succeed!

Sometimes students lose their way in the endless rabbit hole of cool things on the internet that they lose an appreciation of where they are in their own personal musical journey. Maybe instead of staring at a screen, they should be practicing the basics like scales and rudiments. Good private lesson teachers keep that discipline in check.

In addition, I think people have a tendency to focus on the flashy stuff. YouTube is just full of people showing the most technically challenging things they can possibly do. It's cool, but it is not really conducive to learning.

Learning from the internet can often be like drinking from a fire-hose, it just doesn't work.  A teacher can act as a filter, ensuring the student gets the right information at the right time.  A teacher can also make adjustments along way;  Inevitably some students will struggle with certain concepts and skill sets.  Students that can handle accelerated learning can move through material faster, and students that need to take more time on something can get that too.

3. Meta knowledge

This is a bit cerebral.

Meta knowledge is thinking about your own knowledge and being aware of your own knowledge is key to self improvement. Everyone has blind spots, and the problem with blind spots is the only way you can be aware of them is for someone else to reveal them to you.

In private lessons, I consistently check in on how the student is thinking about something. “What do you focus on when you play this?” “How are you counting during this passage?” “What volume do you think you are playing?”

There's a concept in Alexander Technique I read about called "faulty sensory perception" which is that our feelings are not as accurate as a mirror and definitely not as accurate as a professional teacher.

I might be stating the obvious, but the biggest difference between private lessons and learning from YouTube is the personal investment from the teacher. Private lesson teachers are motivated to help their students play and perform at their very best.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes on this topic from Sophocles: "The ideal condition would be that people should be right by instinct; but since we are all too likely to go astray, the reasonable thing is to learn from those who teach." 

Thanks for reading!

ZJ