Remember the kid I told you about a few posts ago? The one who was “learning Riptide” and couldn’t tell me what it was teaching him? This is the post about what his teacher should have done instead. The third letter of the ADVANCE method is Validate. It’s the step that turns a song intoContinueContinue reading “The Step Most Music Teachers Skip — and Why We Refuse To”
Tag Archives: Behind the Studio
Why I Started JAM Camp
I built JAM Camp because I kept watching kids hit a wall I couldn’t get them through in a 30-minute lesson. Here’s the longer version of that story — and the pattern I kept seeing in teenagers that finally made me do something about it.
Why the Best Music Students Eventually Stop Asking What to Play Next
A few weeks ago, a student walked into her lesson with a list. Not a request. A list. Some Broadway numbers she wanted to learn on piano. A folk song she’d been singing at home that she wanted to figure out on ukulele. A classical choir part she was working on at school that sheContinueContinue reading “Why the Best Music Students Eventually Stop Asking What to Play Next”
What We Learn About You Before Your First Lesson Even Starts
Most music studios know two things about you before your first lesson: Your name. And what you want to play. That’s it. That’s the data. From there, the teacher opens a method book or pulls up a song, and the lessons begin. We do it differently. By the time you walk into your first lessonContinueContinue reading “What We Learn About You Before Your First Lesson Even Starts”
How I Actually Teach: An Introduction to the ADVANCE Method
A few months ago, I was chatting with one of my kid’s friends after school. He takes lessons somewhere — not with us — and I asked him what he was working on. “I’m learning Riptide,” he said. Great song. So I asked him a follow-up: what is Riptide teaching you? He blinked at me.ContinueContinue reading “How I Actually Teach: An Introduction to the ADVANCE Method”