Coming To Your Lesson Prepared.

You wouldn’t show up to football practice without a helmet, right? And I assume you wouldn’t head to the mall without your wallet…

Not a chance.

In the same way, it is extremely important to come to your music lessons prepared. “But whyyy,” you ask, dreading the scolding that typically comes from teachers or bosses. Fear not! Below are some reasons/helpful suggestions that will make your lesson experience even MORE fun.

Numero Uno…

The importance of being prepared:
The biggest reason one should come to their music lessons prepared is to not waste time! Let’s face it, your piano, voice, guitar, drum, saxaphone, etc, etc, lessons aren’t free. The last thing you want to do is spend half of the time you pay for, repeating what you did last week, simply b/c you didn’t come prepared.

The lesson itself will go much more smoothly if everything is in place. Consider it a cool puzzle, and your preparedness is the missing piece that you can’t find in the box, under the couch, etc. You also know how frustrating it is when you can’t find that piece, and we all love the feeling of completing a good puzzle. (Don’t lie, you know you do too).

Your attitude will be so much better when you are prepared/seeing your progress, and even better you won’t have the sinking feeling that comes when you’re about to tell your teacher you didn’t practice 😮

What does it mean to be prepared:

materials:
Have any materials that you use for your lesson with you…like notebooks, sheet music, blank paper, mp3 players, & let’s not forget your instrument. Yes, multiple students of mine have forgotten their guitar for their guitar lesson. I mean, that is basically the same as swinging at a baseball without a bat (ouch), or catering a party and forgetting THE FOOD (we all know the hangry feeling —> hungry + angry).

You don’t want to spend your lesson printing off sheets, digging up songs that should be ready to go, etc.

homework:
I realize this word carries a lot of meaning & that everyone dreads their ‘homework’. Let’s be real, though…practicing awesome songs by awesome artists (including yourself) has to be the best homework assignment ever. You’re welcome 🙂

Basically, this means, have your lesson from the previous week mastered before you walk in the door. Your lesson is either 30 minutes or an hour long, I imagine; having roughly 84 waking hours each week, you can squeeze in enough time to have that material down by your next lesson. (see our previous blogs on practicing & scheduling practice time by Matt & Tony)

It’s frustrating & a waste of time to spend your lesson relearning what you did the previous week. If you come to your instructor saying “Check THIS out,” you can build on what you’re learning and progress faster than you can imagine, which is much more fun. Again, we all like fun, right?

attitude:
I’ve had a lot of students carry in things that detract from their learning experience. Granted, sometimes these things are unavoidable; however, most of the time it’s as simple as making the choice to let music be an escape from whatever annoyances or issues life can bring. Again, this will make your lesson more productive & more exciting for you & your instructor.

So, to put a nice bow on things, remember, to save time, money, and have FUN:

Bring your materials.

Have your (awesome) homework done.

Smile! …because your hobby is the coolest, & it also happens to be a great stress reliever, improves brain function, increases test scores, etc, etc.

Check, check, check, and check.