The role of mentors

The milestone aspect of it has come about as a result of a shift in my mindset.  After studying music education in college, along with saxophone performance, I received a certificate to teach public school music to grades 5-12 in the State of Michigan.  This was a certificate that I never used.  At the time, I thought that it would be possible to both teach and play music on the side.

By the time I graduated, however, I had concluded that for me this was simply not possible.  It was clear that the role of school band director, regardless of the level s/he was teaching, was one that demanded a greater time commitment than a simple 9-5 job would typically require. 

Plus, my first love was actually making music (read: gigging), not teaching.

I did, in fact, teach a series of private saxophone students for about 6 months after college.  This was a situation that was handed to me by a colleague who was moving out of state.  He had set up a saxophone “studio” of sorts, teaching a series of high school students after school, once a week, in back-to-back lessons.  I quickly tired of the lack of commitment of many of the students, several of whom would either skip out of lessons without advance notice or show up for them unprepared.  It grew old trying to collect money for lessons that were never given (as per our agreement that they were still financially obligated if I was not given 24 hours’ notice of cancelation).

So, I made a vow that I was through teaching.

Or, so I thought.

Several years passed, and an opportunity presented itself when a friend of a friend reached out to me on social media.  She asked if I knew where her husband might acquire a saxophone and if I knew anyone who could give him private lessons.

As it turned out, yes on both counts.  I referred her to a local saxophone shop to select an instrument.  And then, I volunteered myself to give him lessons.

This was significant on multiple accounts.  First, as mentioned, I had not taught for several years.  Second, he was an adult student, an age group that was new to me.  And third, he had never played the saxophone before.  I had never taught a student who was totally beginning from scratch.

Enter the challenge.

After so many years off from teaching, and given my inexperience with beginning (adult) students, I have found it to be a learning experience for both of us.  It has forced me to find new ways to explain things that, for me, are now second nature. It has also forced me to recall some of my music education studies, particularly regarding setting appropriate goals and expectations.

Having received instruction in college on several instruments in addition to the saxophone, including flute, clarinet, oboe, French horn, trumpet, piano, guitar, cello, and violin, I have been trying to implement some of the methods used by my instructors.  For example, the Suzuki method that was employed to instruct us on violin and cello (a method of instrumental instruction predicated on ear training, focusing on learning simple melodies and passages by ear first before applying musical notation) has been particularly useful.

Indeed, thinking back on my own beginning efforts on saxophone, I have concluded that ear training was conspicuously missing from my instruction.  I now feel that it is essential to any kind of music making- to be able to recognize a pitch, then duplicate it by singing, and then duplicate it on the piano and/or another instrument.  It is of vital importance in the development of all musical skills, whether it be playing in tune, developing a good sound, being able to transpose, etc.

Our lessons have also served as a reminder to me of some precepts that I have long held to be true.  One: I believe that anyone can develop his or her musical proficiency.  I am not necessarily speaking of achieving totally mastery.  But, one can certainly improve one’s skills.  I emphatically refute the notion of a tin ear, implying that people are somehow “tone deaf.” 

Our lessons have further reminded me of something that I hold to be true about the best teachers; namely, that the most effective instructors have multiple ways of explaining the same concept.  This, too, is of the utmost importance as students learn in different ways and at different rates. 

I think about this often; the idea that if a student does not understand a concept that a teacher presents, is that a reflection of the student’s capacity to learn or a reflection of the way that the teacher presented the concept?   Both?  Neither?  Most likely, it depends on the student, the teacher, and the concept being presented.

We all have different gifts and aptitudes.  Some can assimilate new musical concepts very quickly.  Some have innate gifts like perfect pitch, or a photographic memory (or, as in the case of bassist Jaco Pastorius, both!).  Some have great finger dexterity.  Some have amazing breath control. 

It is up to the teacher to determine just what gifts the student may or may not possess, and then, based on the student’s musical goals, to help him or her develop a musical skill set that helps achieve these goals.  This will look different for every student.   

But, to dismiss some students as being “unteachable” does them a great disservice.  They may not all be prodigies or virtuosos.  But, their skills can certainly be improved.