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Q. for other teachers: How do I keep a student motivated?


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Posted

One of my students has particular trouble staying motivated. When I ask him if he's practiced what I gave him last time he says he 'just can't get into it'. He's a bright kid and learns fast, but this is a chronic problem which is holding him back. Is there anything I can do to make him organised and focused?

 

I've shown him loads of riffs, chord progressions and scales, etc. hoping he would begin to work out other songs/riffs for himself using what I've shown him. Unfortunately, when he does practice, he only covers what we've done in lesson time when I feel he should by now be training his ear by listening and figuring things out for himself. But he seems listless and unwilling to attempt this.

 

What can I do to get him more interested in the learning process? I'm afraid he'll give up soon if I don't do something.

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Posted

if under 18 talk to his folks, if they're footin the bill

let him direct a lesson or two- ie bring in material he wants to learn, or questions he has

get him to perform in front of others. maybe make playing a gig or an open mic a goal for him or something.

failing that, just keep teaching him. give him stuff that he can come back to if and when he does get some motivation.

peace

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Posted
Originally posted by lazaraga


get him to perform in front of others. maybe make playing a gig or an open mic a goal for him or something.



:thu: who cares if your teaching him all these cool riffs and licks. When can he apply them!!??

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Posted
Originally posted by red|dragon



:thu:
who cares if your teaching him all these cool riffs and licks. When can he apply them!!??

This kid is nowhere near self-confident enough to play in front of others. He's still awkward playing in front of me.

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Posted

I've had this same issue with students before. Often with kids in high school they have so many other activities they really don't have time and practicing guitar always seems to be lowest priority.

In the case of low motivation I ask the student to bring a couple songs they like to a lesson to learn once in a while.

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Posted

I've played a whole lot of payed gigs in my life (mainly the past two years) and I still feel very awkward playing in front of my teacher.

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Posted

Originally posted by Rocinante

This kid is nowhere near self-confident enough to play in front of others. He's still awkward playing in front of me.

 

 

then who cares, he's just a kid. he obviously isn't really that into guitar, maybe the IMAGE of guitar, but not dedicated. so then look at the profit opportunity. teach him what he wants to know, complement him, just make him happy. if you guys do the same god damn thing every lesson, who cares, as long as he is happy and comes back for another lesson.

 

the people who are actually dedicated to guitar, those are the ones you should invest extra time in, spend the day before planning the lesson, work hard at it, develop a structure. why waist your time with someone who doesnt care?

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Posted

I don't know if there's alot you can do. It's hard to get students to love music so much that they want to dedicate their time to practicing their instrument. But here are a few ideas:

One thing you might try is getting him to keep a practice journal - something to get him to think about practicing on a regular basis, even if only in modest amounts (15-30 minutes a day.) A beginner can improve alot by putting in 30 minutes every day.

There is also the tough love approach - not all students respond to this approach though.But most people want approval from others, so try to be less "nice' in the lessons if their performance is unsatisfactory. Sometimes this can be good motivation for students to practice, but if they improve, be sure to compliment them on their progress.

You can also give them something VERY specific to work on for next time. Such as mm. 1- 8 in a specific piece of music, or being able to play a certain scale at MM=80. When you narrow things down, it allows them to focus more.

If you teach guitar in high school or college, you can use the consequence of a poor grade in order to motivate them; of course, most guitar teachers don't have this option.

It can be a beautiful thing when a student is eager and the teacher is dedicated, but not every situation can be like this. I'm still learning not to take it personally when a student underperforms - it goes with the job.

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Posted

Originally posted by red|dragon

why waist your time with someone who doesnt care?

 

 

Well, because that's what teachers do, every day of their lives. Do you think secondary school teachers go "well, he isn't paying any attention to this subject, so I'm not going to care?". Sure, private teaching is a different thing, because they're paying for an extra-curricular education that is generally seen as non-essential. From a lot of teachers' perspective, however (like mine) music education is very important, and the teaching of music is a responsibility that needs to be understood. If a student is clearly capable and keeps turning up to lessons, it's important to try your best to reach him and to do your best to inspire in him the love of music that you have. There's only so much you can do, sure, but you have to try, or else why be a teacher? I can think of easier ways to earn money.

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Posted

What kind of music does he like? Maybe snag a couple riffs and chords from his favorite songs and then try and intergrate scales and stuff using his music as examples.

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Posted

I ask them if they really like to play the guitar, and if so, why aren't taking time to practice, because it just doesn't make sense, and then I call them a poser and tell them what a worthless no good lazy POS they are, and if they aren't willing to practice on their lessons, I take them over by the paper cutter and prepare to lop off their fingers, unless they agree to take their lessons seriously and practice them until they've mastered each weeks lesson, because that paper cutter ain't going nowhere and if they show up for their next lesson and they don't know the last lesson, well I gave them a chance, what more can I do? That little show of encouragement, along with my necklace of human fingers has never failed to motivate them to practice. According to their parents, some of those kids have begun to spend every waking hour they have just to practice their lessons and its astounding to them, as they've never witnessed such dedication in their kids before, and surely maybe I could also help motivate them to do well in school, too.;):D

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Posted
Originally posted by red|dragon



then who cares, he's just a kid. he obviously isn't really that into guitar, maybe the IMAGE of guitar, but not dedicated. so then look at the profit opportunity. teach him what he wants to know, complement him, just make him happy. if you guys do the same god damn thing every lesson, who cares, as long as he is happy and comes back for another lesson.


the people who are actually dedicated to guitar, those are the ones you should invest extra time in, spend the day before planning the lesson, work hard at it, develop a structure. why waist your time with someone who doesnt care?



That's a great attitude to have if you like to starve to death.
Unfortunately, as you are a testament to this fact of life, the majority of people who want to play guitar are lacking in some of the ingredients that must all be together in the same person for them to be adept at it. Talent, motivation, boundless determination and many other commendable human attributes of character and breeding are needed for a person to excell as a musician. Motivation and determination without talent is a sad thing indeed, but talent without motivation is a crime.:freak:

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Posted

Heck, I'm 40 and I have a tough time being motivated. Sometimes the passion just isn't there anymore.

A few things to try, if it's a 30 minute private lesson, see if he and another student (at about the same level) may be interested in doing a combined 1 hour session. Teach them how to play together. Playing with someone other than his teacher may give him a bit of inspiration about why he wants to play.

Find out what he likes about music. When he listens to a song, what about it inspires him to play? Maybe he's really meant to be a bass player or a drummer.......or a music critic. :D


Music is a really wierd thing. Too me, music is a group activity consisting of players and listeners. When you spend the majority of time sitting in your room playing to yourself, it's really easy to become BORED with it. You're missing that whole interaction thing.

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Posted

Nevermind the nonsense about doing "what he's into" or catering to his likes.

Give him heroin. Tell him he doesn't get any more until he plays his lessons correctly.

Humans have devolved. We're sheeple now, not people. Motivation is no more difficult then sheep herding.

-W

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Posted
Originally posted by starsnuffer


Give him heroin. Tell him he doesn't get any more until he plays his lessons correctly.




This has seemed to work for countless musicians over the years.

:idea:

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