Teaching is a great responsibility, and our students rely on us to do it properly. Here are some techniques and skills involved in teaching that, when used effectively, can massively improve outcomes for teaching and learning. It takes more than just being able to play an instrument well — it requires more than a good memory or common sense. To make it even harder, very few jazz musicians or teachers receive any structured or formal training in pedagogy, and even fewer have experience in jazz. With this in mind, here is a short video with three tips for teachers.
The tips in this video are applicable to all teachers and should be familiar to anyone who has studied education, though the focus here is specifically on jazz teaching.
The three techniques covered are constructive feedback, lesson planning across short, medium, and long-term timescales, and purposeful pacing.
If you are a student or a parent, these are among the basic things you should expect from your teacher. Good teaching doesn’t follow a rigid formula and will vary from teacher to teacher — but if you aren’t seeing evidence of these things over time, that might indicate a problem.
For a more detailed look at all three techniques, read the full article: Tips for Teaching Better Music Lessons.
