| Author |
Subject |
Betsy
C 
Registered User
(3/26/01 5:59:18 pm)
Reply |
Unprepared for lessons?
I'd like to hear what you all do
about this situation. I know that most, if not all, of you must
struggle with this at times. When you really, really, have not had a
chance to practice much (or at all) before your next lesson, what do
you do? Do you attend your lesson anyway because you know you'll
still get a lot out of it, or do you postpone it because you are so
unprepared?
My cello teacher truly understands when I say
that I have been unable to practice, because he is busy, too. We
have similar things in our lives that seem to take precedence over
cello; sometimes more than others. I really don't like to to cancel
a lesson, but I did for this week because I am tired and have been
swamped with other things. I'm not Superwoman, so I guess I have to
prioritize. I'd appreciate hearing what you all do. Maybe I'll hear
some good advice! Thanks in advance.
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Markse
Registered User
(3/26/01 6:09:50 pm)
Reply |
Re:
Unprepared for lessons?
I take a lesson every other week. I
can usually manage to get in at least a practice session or two over
the two week period. When I've taken lessons weekly, I was often
unprepared. I know that I'm lucky to have a teacher willing to do
the bi-weekly lessons!
BTW, If i'm still not prepared, I go
to the lesson. I always get something out of iT.
|
Ellen
G 
Registered User
(3/26/01 6:20:47 pm)
Reply |
Re:
Unprepared for lessons?
Hey, Betsy. I've done both. It's
harder for me to cancel because the munchkins have their lessons
right after mine.
Lessons like this can go one of two ways.
The better scenario is that they serve as a kick in the pants to get
me playing again. The body at rest stays at rest. Not to imply this
body EVER rests, it's just that it does take an unwelcome rest from
cello playing on occasion, and once you miss one day, it seems a
little too easy to miss a second...
The worse scenario is
that something I was able to play during practice earlier in the
week hopelessly falls apart at lesson time. Then I get the same damn
assignment all over again. I get annoyed at the waste of time and
expense.
I tend to follow the David Sanders, et al advice I
got on the board last season when I was unprepared for orchestra
rehearsal and asked whether I should attend or not. GO!!! The trick
is to not spend time explaining yourself, but play and play hard.
Remember, Betsy, that I'm telling you to do something I myself am
incapable of at times. E
|
TerryM
Registered User
(3/26/01 7:05:01 pm)
Reply |
Re:
Unprepared for lessons?
This often happens to me, but like
you, I have a teacher who is most understanding. I have a job that
entails a fair amount of stress (who doesn't these days) and I often
arrive home from work just before my 8:00pm lesson on Tuesday nights
and I am dead tired. But I go anyway and I have been amazed at how
many times I have had a very good lesson and feel energized
afterward. We always end my lessons by playing duets, for fun, for
sight-reading exercise and for my teacher to coach me in aspects of
chamber playing. This is always a great way to end, as it is
inpiring and it feels good to play with someone who is so much
better. On several occasions I have found myself playing beyond my
normal ability.
Terry
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Bobbie
Registered User
(3/26/01 7:18:21 pm)
Reply |
Re:
Unprepared for lessons?
I've been thinking about this
question because I have an adult student who takes biweekly lessons
who often does not practice much. I do understand, but I wonder how
much of my job is to put a little more pressure on her to practice?
I know that, for myself, I hate to go unprepared to a lesson. When I
have to, as I did last week, there are still plenty of things to
work on. However, I know that my teacher isn't going to just put
something away until next week because I'm not ready. Not being
prepared means I'll spend more time on it at my lesson. For me,
that's a good kind of pressure, and most of the time I find the time
to practice enough.
On the other hand, my student says that
if she doesn't go to lessons, she will quit playing, so she wants to
come even if she can't practice, and I agree with her there. There
are lots of things we can do at a lesson. But I watch her getting
frustrated over little things that she could fix with more practice,
and I don't have any other solution to offer.
|
MaryK
Registered User
(3/26/01 8:41:59 pm)
Reply |
Re:
Unprepared for lessons?
I usually cancelled the lesson.
Could tell several days ahead of time that I wouldn't be prepared,
so didn't want to waste anyone's time or my money and bailed out
early enough not to incur any penalties or the wrath of my teacher.
Also, I found that playing duets w/my teacher at lessons that
weren't going well or I just wasn't up for was a good thing. An
excellent way to try to match my sound to hers, get advice re
fingerings, stylistics, etc., deal w/things that might not pop up
during the course of an "ordinary" lesson.
MaryK
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lblake
Registered User
(3/26/01 9:38:34 pm)
Reply |
Finally, a topic on which I am an expert!!!
I am rarely well-prepared, I
sometimes haven't even removed my cello from its case since the
previous lesson (i.e. last week - shhhhh). But I still go, I try not
to explain myself... I just try to play. Even if I have practiced
every day, I might play terribly in my lesson. So, I've learned that
doesn't matter, and there's so much for me to still get out of my
lessons.... my teacher has so much to offer. I've played some of my
best lessons without being at all prepared. And even when I know I'm
playing my very best - really doing exceedingly well - he still has
plenty to point out. 
I find the result is not that I learn slowly - I probably
only learn marginally more slowly than I would if I were very
well-prepared. Instead, the result is that I advance slowly. My
muscles learn slowly. My mind doesn't, though.
Even if I
haven't practiced all week, I HAVE thought about all the things my
teacher said (well, most of them), and I'm always amazed at how much
you really can learn just visualizing and thinking things through.
Maybe it's just the way I learn... hmm... I dunno.
But, I'm
with anyone who says, "GO ANYWAY!" Lessons are GREAT!
|
DoDahlberg
Registered User
(3/27/01 5:59:03 am)
Reply |
Re:
Unprepared for lessons?
I think this has a lot to do with
the chemistry you have with your teacher, how busy the teacher is,
and how much patience he/she with students who come unprepared. Some
teachers may be easy going and get some good work done anyway;
others, though, may feel you are wasting their time, they could have
booked a make-up lesson with someone else, or they are simply not
interested in spending an hour with someone who didn't do their
homework.
I'm of the mind that if you make a commitment to
take lessons from someone and schedule time with this person, you
have some obligation to practice in the interim. The best teachers
make a commitment to you too, plan ahead - as in have a program for
advancement. They block out time in their lives for you and that fee
they charge is often part of their livelihood. To have someone
cancel for lack of practice might feel something like this: I had a
job this Friday but because that person isn't ready, I'm not getting
paid.
Information in the other replies proves that there is
no black and white answer to this question. It might not be a bad
idea to talk about it with your teacher and ask what they prefer you
do. If they think you should cancel, how much notice do they want,
etc.
I stopped taking lessons a while ago because I wasn't
prepared. With orchestra work, I didn't have time for lesson
material too. My teacher and I tried to use the orchestra material
for lessons but it didn't work. He was just showing me fingerings
for fast passages; something I could do myself. It turned into
coaching which is not what I was after.
Dorie
Edited by: DoDahlberg
at: 3/27/01 5:59:03 am
|
MsCheryl
.gif)
Registered User
(3/27/01 7:42:23 am)
Reply |
a
teacher's point of view
It was very interesting to me to
read these posts from the other side of the question. I usually
don't mind if a student comes to a lesson unprepared once in a
while. It's week after week that gets tedious. Saying the same
things over and over is boring for teacher and student. Most of my
adult students are great about finding some time to prepare, and
yes, duets are great when time has been sparse. What is a problem,
however, is the student who cancels for not preparing and does not
pay for the lesson. As Dorie said, this is our livelihood and we
depend on the income for food, bills, etc. We set aside that time
for the student - it could be used for another student, or a
rehearsal, or even a part-time job - but it has been alotted for the
student. For the student to cancel and not pay would be like an
employer calling one morning and saying "We don't have enough for
you to fill in all your time today, so don't bother coming in - and
we will dock today's pay and benefits. " Not a very pleasant
thought.
|
DWThomas
Registered User
(3/27/01 7:49:17 am)
Reply |
Re:
Unprepared for lessons?
Like lblake, I haven't found a great
deal of correlation between quantity of practice and a "successful"
lesson. Sometimes even what might be described as a coached practice
can be a very productive 45 minutes.
Since my lessons are set
up thru a school and paid by the quarter, I can't really even save
money by not going.
Some weeks are certainly better than
others. All said, lately I manage to get some practice in each week.
It's sometimes rather unfocussed -- like playing one piece thru in
five minutes before I leave for work in the morning, then doing
twenty to forty minutes the next evening, then missing an entire
day, etc.
(I can play some stuff better this month than I
could last, that's all I ask! 
)
Dave
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TerryM
Registered User
(3/27/01 8:05:03 am)
Reply |
Re:
Unprepared for lessons?
Like Dave, I pre-pay for my lessons,
but on a semester basis. My teacher was having difficulty with a lot
of cancellations, mostly by adult students and was in danger of not
having enough income from our Tuesday night group. He comes from out
of town two nights a week to give lessons here and so it is
important that he gets a full showing (i.e. full pay) of students.
He allows for one makeup night a semester for missed lessons, but if
you miss more you do not get a refund. I think this is only fair and
I do not miss lessons unless I am out of town on business or
something similar. Not going because I have not had time to practice
and not having to pay for a missed lesson does not cut it in my
book. Teachers who do not have some kind of discipline around this
area are going to lose income and the incentive to teach adult
students.
Terry
|
JanJan2
Registered User
(3/27/01 8:41:26 am)
Reply |
What
timing!
I have a lesson tonight, my first in
6 weeks thanks to schedule problems and blizzards. And I'm
embarassed to say that yes, I'm not sufficiently prepared!! But I
will go anyway, as I always do. (Only once have I canned a lesson
for this reason.)
My experience has been that the connection
between my practice and my "performance" at the lesson is not
consistant. So many times I've had something sounding really solid
at home for the week prior to my lesson, only to butcher it for my
teacher. And the reverse has also happened when I've totally
surprised myself at a lesson.
But this whole topic brings up
another question. Are we "performing" at a lesson? Or, are we
practicing in front of someone else? I remember my piano teacher
years ago stopping me once when I was obviously nervous (sweating,
shaking, ect.) and she kindly and loving said "You're not preforming
for me here." What she was saying, and succeeded in doing, was to
allow myself the freedom to make the inevitable mistakes. If we
don't allow ourselves to mess up, how will our teacher know where to
focus his/her attention?
I'm fortunate that my teacher is
very understanding and is aware of other things in my life that
often keep me from putting in the amount of practice I'd like. If I
show up and I honestly am not prepared, I'll tell her at the start,
and we'll usually end up spending a considerable amount of time on
an aspect of technique - vibrato, bowing, shifing, hand shapes,
tone, etc - and less on repertoire. Tonight I need to ask her about
some tricky spots in a Beethoven trio I started working on 6 weeks
ago, just after my last lesson. So, that will probably take up most
of our time.
On the other hand, every so often she asks me
about my goals and what I want to do with my cello. Then she tells
me how much time I need to be putting in to accomplish it. She
leaves it up to me - if I really want to be able to play
such-and-such a piece, I know what it will take.
Well, those
are my thoughts on the subject. Great question,
Betsy!
Janet
|
Ellen
G
Registered User
(3/27/01 9:04:49 am)
Reply |
Never
occurred to me...
It never occurred to me not to pay
for the lesson. If I have reserved the time, it has been kept open
for me, it's prevented the taking of another student, why wouldn't I
pay for it? All the more reason to attend a lesson, knowing you're
paying for it whether you get it or not.
This has never been
about money, to my mind, but rather emotions, attention span, brain
clutter. There have actually been times where I have been unable to
focus on music for even one hour because my brain was so concerned
about other places I needed to be, or things I needed to be doing.
It's a curse, to be sure, and one I am trying to work through as I
"get older." I just knew that throwing in one more activity I felt
overwhelmed by would contribute to temporary sinking into failure
mode. It's not a frequent occurrence, thankfully.
|
ruthann
Registered User
(3/27/01 9:53:02 am)
Reply |
Re:
Unprepared for lessons?
I think you should go anyway. And if
you find that your lessons are not useful, then stop taking lessons.
I know life is busy and we can't always find the time to practice.
If this period in your life is too busy to include the cello, then
take a break. I'm quite sure the teacher doesn't enjoy a student who
comes to lesson chronically unprepared. Every once in a while is
fine, understandable, but when it gets to be a habit, the lesson
becomes a waste of time for both of you. As a teacher, I don't like
it when a student cancels because they aren't prepared. I've already
blocked the time out for them. Most likely I've already thought
about what we will work on during the lesson. An unprepared student
is somewhat better than an absent one. At least we can try to work
on something, but it still shoots my lesson plans to
pieces.
Hmmm. I think I'm venting. I have a high school
student that is driving me nuts. She frequentlt cancels - too much
homework, not feeling well - and sometimes comes unprepared. She
doesn't like the etudes. I think she just wants to blow through the
Suzuki books as fast as she can. I'm trying to lay a good technical
foundation for her. I don't think I'm winning. On the other hand,
she is a very nice girl, with a very supportive family, and when she
does practice her lesson music, really good things happen. She was
scheduled for a lesson yesterday, but left me a message that she's
too busy to take a lesson until after Easter. It's very
frustrating.
cello_suttonr@hotmail.com
|
bridge
Registered User
(3/27/01 10:56:14 am)
Reply |
Re:
Unprepared for lessons?
I know this doesn't really answer
the question . . . but, I'm pretty much always at least somewhat
prepared for my lessons. At it's worst, I'll at least spend all of
my time (if it's not much) on one simple thing. Also, since I'm
usually prepared for my lesson, on the occasions that I'm not, I
might have some general questions saved up that I don't normally
have time to ask. Things like position, or projection, or musicality
or something.
I have a full time job, married with a wife who
has a busy schedule and a two and half year old. So it's not always
easy. However, when my wife has been on call, and I'm a "single
parent", I wonder how people can do that ALL the time. I'm trying to
apply the "one day a time" thing to my life as well as cello. For
example, occasionally I go home for lunch and practice for fifteen
minutes, eat a bowl of cereal and run back to work.
I hope
I'm not coming off as self righteous. I'm just trying to give some
ideas that this sort of busy person uses.
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jekerry
Registered User
(3/27/01 12:06:02 pm)
Reply |
always
go
I always go since my teacher gets
paid when I go. But I'm always honest and if I don't feel I've got
in enough practice I suggest we work on something like bowing or
fingerings for a new piece. There is always something to
do!
Jane
|
RobertaJill
Registered User
(3/27/01 12:08:34 pm)
Reply |
Re:
Unprepared for lessons?
Hmm, the timing of this message is
very appropriate -- I had a lesson yesterday and was concerned that
I was not prepared. A busy week, etc etc. I DID practice maybe 3
times. I showed up at my lesson late, distressing my teacher (sorry
sorry sorry -- couldn't get away from work) but then we had a VERY
good lesson. I was one of those kids who sightread her way through 9
years of lessons. Now, as an adult student, I am finding practice
time more useful, in that I have a clearer notion of what it is I am
working on -- not just the piece but slides, etc. It was, however,
VERY apparent during the lesson what I had practiced and what I
hadn't. And I got good advice and instruction during the lesson.
Both the teacher and I left feeling OK about the lesson. So I would
say 1) go anyway, 2) I agree with an earlier message that says it
all depends on your relationship with your teacher. I think it is
important, especially on this b-board, to recognize that we are both
students AND adults. Approaching my lessons by reminding myself that
I am in fact an adult makes me more confident both in my playing and
in my relationship with my teacher. But I certainly believe we are
responsible financially for the time the teacher reserves for
us.
Roberta
|
Bobbie
Registered User
(3/27/01 1:43:59 pm)
Reply |
Re:
Unprepared for lessons?
I have to agree with Ruthann. It is
very frustrating to have a lesson planned and have the student come
with the last lesson untouched or worse, not to come at all. Chronic
unpreparedness is not fair to anyone. It's important to set
priorities. If practicing isn't a priority, I think you should make
that clear at the beginning and give the teacher the option of
choosing to teach you anyway, or not. For me, when I teach, I am
giving up time that I could be practicing or relaxing after a long
day at work. Look at it this way-- how would you feel if your
teacher called you and said, "I am cancelling your lesson because I
was too busy this week to prepare for it?" Or said, "I didn't have
time to think about your lesson so I'm just going to give you last
week's lesson again this week?"
I feel justified in saying
that because, on the other side of the issue, as a student, I do
find time to practice. When I am unprepared it is never that I
haven't touched the cello, but that I haven't had enough time to
learn the lesson completely. When I was a single parent with two
kids at home that meant getting up early to practice and not
watching television and sometimes giving up social activities to
practice. It is easier now the kids are gone but it still requires
dedicating time to practice. If this sounds holier than thou, I'm
sorry.
|
Betsy
C
Registered User
(3/27/01 4:30:40 pm)
Reply |
Re:
Unprepared for lessons?
Wow, I have gotten more than I even
expected! Thanks for pointing out SO many diverse points of view. I
don't want to be unfair to myself, but I REALLY do not want to be
unfair to my teacher, because I know just what a gem he is. Thanks,
folks! What I really felt comforted about was the fact that you all
knew exactly how it felt to be in my shoes. Reason # 1001 to love
the Cellists By Night board!
|
DoDahlberg
Moderator
(3/27/01 7:09:20 pm)
Reply |
Performing at lessons
First, I have to tell you this:
Earlier this afternoon I wrote a rather substantial reply,
accidently hit the back button and lost the whole thing! Wanted to
really scream.
Now that I've regained my
composure...
Someone had said something here about performing
for lessons - I wish I could reread it but I can't remember who
wrote it. I remember thinking when I read it that when we're
learning/practicing something new there is often a period of
deconstruction. After a first read-through, we start to apply new
techniques. Often things fall apart before they come back together.
Teachers know this and don't mind hearing and seeing something fall
to pieces if learning is taking place. What we think is a
frustrating mess can prove we've really been working on something
and not that we're unprepared and under practiced.
AND! as a
PS to this! I just ran spell check and it erased 1/2 this reply! I'm
finished now.
Dorie
Edited by: DoDahlberg
at: 3/27/01 7:09:20 pm
|
TerryM
Registered User
(3/27/01 9:38:01 pm)
Reply |
Problems with Posting
Dorie, I have found the same thing
happening to posts when I use the back button and or spell check.
What I have taken to doing is to highlight the text by holding down
the left mouse button, then, while the cursor is on the highlighted
area, click the right mouse button, then click on the copy function
when it appears in the small menu. This will put a copy in memory so
that you can repaste it back into the reply window, using the right
mouse button again, just in case your message goes off to cyber
heaven, while you are moving about. This procedure has saved many
posts for me. I contacted the ezboard people and they told me they
were working on this bug, but that was months ago.
Terry
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