Why?
The music workshop was a success, well, that is from my mind, maybe another person found the experience unnecessary, but I learned a lot, met friends I never had, and discussed, details of the music that will make my teaching of music successful.
Of the session, which took an entire afternoon, I took in the keyword -why?
As music trainers, we jump to the decision that the learner wants to learn, and that is just about it. The workshop taught me that before I commit a student for training sessions, I need to have them answer the question -why?
By brainstorming, I learned that there are other pertinent reasons which would push someone to study music. Some learners want music to be their hobby — when they are stressed out, they can play music and feel comforted. Others want to make music their career — they want to use music to make money (as their teacher, Lol). Others want to play music in church and experience the beauty that comes with worship when the instruments are played right. Yet others want to pass an exam — to have a certification that they are music students (it makes the curriculum vitae more appealing), and then some are moving out of the country — and must have music certification.
When viewed from this angle, the teacher is well prepared to train the learner to achieve the goal they have in mind. The training will capture the essentials that resonate with the learners’ objectives.
Psychologically tuning a teacher to help a learner pass an exam after music training is a very vital approach, and which will make the teacher emphasize some of the key aspects that underlie the goal to be realized.
On the other hand, a teacher teaching a learner to learn a musical instrument for their hobby will be less pressed to focus on theory, but will capture the most basic theoretical aspects that will help the learner to play well
The question -why — is not limited to the teacher scenario only. Everyone has a goal that they intend to achieve. In the preliminary stages, one should answer the question of why conclusively. The answers they have will set the pace for success. One will be less likely to divert and give up their quest.
Profound success can be realized just by answering one question — why?
