This ‘Learn Music Faster’ series of posts highlights things my best students do that contributes towards their success. There are no secret formulae or magic tricks. Learning to play well still requires hard work, dedication and above all, practice. However, my students who do these things seem to improve quicker than the others.
Keep handouts and bring them to subsequent lessons
I give handouts to my students so they have a record of the chord shapes, scales, rhythms, songs and other things we cover during lessons. If that student comes to their next lesson and hasn’t brought the handouts back with them it’s almost always a sign that they will progress slower than other pupils.
This isn’t because of the lesson itself. I have copies of all the handouts so we can always refer to my copies in the lesson. It’s more an indication of the student’s attitude and preparation around lessons and learning in general. It doesn’t mean they’re bad students, they just don’t learn as quickly as those who have kept track of their learning materials and brought them back to future lessons.
Organise notes and handouts and learning materials
Closely related to the point above about keeping handouts, the students who learn fastest tend to be those who keep their handouts and other learning material oganised. When a student turns up to a lesson with their handout filed into a folder, clearly organised and easy to find any given sheet they might need, that’s a pretty surefire indication they’re going to learn quickly.
The exact organisation method isn’t important. Some organise by date, others by topic or subject area. The point is that they’ve thought about the material and structured it so that whenever they need to refer to something they can find it easily.
Previously on Learn Music Faster – Take Notes
