Marking Your Music

THINGS YOUR TEACHER DOES NOT WANT TO HEAR YOU SAY IN YOUR LESSON:


“I’m sorry.”

Missing a note or playing an incorrect rhythm is nothing to apologize for. It’s the teacher’s job to help you realize your mistakes and give you guidance as to how to correct them; it’s your job to correct them. There’s no blame or guilt involved!

“I just played this perfectly in the practice room.”

You need to be able to play well when someone is listening. Your lesson is a performance situation for an audience of one. Listen to yourself in the practice room as though an audience is present, and you may find that you listen in a different way.

“Oh, I do that wrong every time.”

You are practicing doing something wrong if you do it more than once. A professional approach is to try and never make the same mistake twice. Mark a correction for what you did incorrectly, and be specific. For example, if you miss an accidental, write in the accidental. If you miss-read a low note, write in the letter name of the note. Write neatly, directly above or below the note in question.