The wrong teacher does too! The place of a music teacher is such a powerful and important role, especially in the life of the young people we are often working with. Music is such a powerful element, far from just an auditory experience or physical exercise, it’s a spiritual process and speaks deeply for and to us. When teaching music you are instructing on deeper matters and these often come out in lessons. The right teacher knows how to handle this, the existential angst of “I’m not good enough” or “I can’t” and likewise the joy that comes from success, from reaching flow state, from performance. The right teacher celebrates these moments and understands their gravity.

The wrong teacher misses these, the wrong teacher skims over the importance and doesn’t reach out to assist when their student is stuck. Helping in a way that moves forward and does not drive them further down. Bad music instruction, guidance and apathy is at the heart of many failed musician stories, the teacher who misread the situation or misunderstood the way to move forward which ultimately left the student leaving music altogether. What a responsibility it is. It’s not easy, but it can’t be understated. 

Music is a powerful element and should be handled with care and communicated with grace.