6 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Clarinet Lessons
Have you ever felt like you had a really great lesson but then don’t remember what you learned by your next practice session?
Lessons. We've all had them ... and many of us still have them! How do you make the most out of your clarinet lessons? Here are a few thoughts!
- Keep a notebook of post-lesson thoughts and write in it ASAP! In fact, try not to schedule anything 30 after a lesson if you can! Go back through the lesson, reinforce learning and highlight the takeaways. They’ll be helpful and you’ll love having them later.
- Practice on lesson day - you’ll remember more! Researchers say reviewing something within 8 hours allows you to retain almost all of the learning!
- Be proactive and prepared. Come with and ask questions! Don’t suffer through being confused - we don’t know any teachers that don’t love questions!
- Be coachable. This means listening well (not playing over the teacher’s talking), adapting quickly, and being open and receptive to ideas. It can also mean having your own goals. Having an idea of what you want to achieve helps the teacher better help you!
- Get your reeds in order before the lesson - don’t be trying 5 or 6 at the start! Unless it’s a reed-focused lesson, you’ll throw away precious lesson minutes trying to find the ‘one’.
- Never give disclaimers before you play a scale, etude, excerpt, piece… or anything! Use your lesson as a performance opportunity. Yes, you can talk about your struggles afterwards, but don’t give a bunch of excuses before you play a note!
- Remember that everyone wants the best outcome. Even when your teacher seems harsh or overly-critical don’t take it personally - they want the best for you! Try to find the outcome that their criticism points towards.
If you have a lesson coming up, we hope it goes well!
