How To Become A Good Music Teacher

Here are a few top tips on how to become a good music teacher . . .

In previous posts, we provided guidance on how you might go about becoming a Music Teacher. Even if you followed our advice word for word, it wouldn’t guarantee that you would become a good music teacher. In this post, we are going to focus on what it takes to achieve this.  

PASSION  Music is a difficult industry to make a living from. Without passion for your craft, you will struggle to develop a successful career within any field of music. As mentioned previously, we strongly believe that a teacher with a passion for music gets better results from their students. Passion is infectious in the classroom. It enables a teacher to connect with their students because it demonstrates the same enthusiasm and happiness that they feel when making music. Most subjects involve certain topics that seem boring but a good teacher will find a way to make these topics interesting, harnessing their passion to make the subject seem relevant and appealing.

GOOD COMMUNICATION.  We can’t stress enough how important good communication is in the world of teaching. Good teachers are approachable, friendly and easy to talk to. A student should feel at ease to discuss their concerns and a teacher should be open to allow this to happen. If a teacher says they are going to do something, for example, email out grades or learning resources on a certain day, it is important that they stick to their word. If, for some reason it can’t be done, then the students should be informed about it. Students will quickly lose trust and respect if the teacher is unreliable with their practices. 

KNOWLEDGE A good music teacher will be a source of knowledge that their students can tap into. Whether they are proficient on an instrument, have had success as a music producer or held a position within an established music company; these are all helpful experiences those in their class can learn from. It also helps to be open minded to different genres and approaches to the creative process, as well as keeping an eye on recent musical trends so they can make their lesson content relevant to all groups.

IDENTIFYING STUDENTS POTENTIAL Musical talent can manifest itself in many ways. A good music teacher should be able to identify each individual’s potential (even if the student does not) and encourage them to explore ways to find the musical discipline that they enjoy most or take most naturally to. This could be in a performance setting as an instrumentalist/vocalist or behind the scenes in the studio as a producer/engineer.   PATIENCE  Patience is a virtue. This couldn’t be more relevant when it comes to learning music. As with most skills, developing and refining them takes time. It would be unrealistic to expect a student to become accomplished at any musical discipline in a short space of time, so a good music teacher will always be patient, allowing the student to learn at their own pace, while still providing assistance, advice and constructive criticism when needed. 

ORGANISATION & PREPARATION  A good music teacher is an organised music teacher. Behind every lesson is a well thought lesson plan that caters for all learning styles and addresses all eventualities. If the lesson plan is not achieving the expected results, or the students are becoming de-motivated, a good music teacher will quickly identify this and be flexible enough to adapt to a plan B without wasting valuable class time. The best music teachers combine good preparation with an ability to keep calm and think on their feet, finding alternative activities for their students in all circumstances.

This post just describes a few things that contribute towards becoming a good music teacher, giving you an idea of what it takes to become one.

For more information, visit our course page http://www.cmsounds.com/courses/music-leader-training-programme-ptlls

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