What are your private lessons like?

[thequietwriter]

I'm starting college in a few weeks, so I have yet to have a private lesson. I have met my cello professor, though.

What is your lesson like? Do you have a specific routine that you follow every week? (For instance, my old teacher would always start out with scales, then exercises, then whatever piece I was working on.) Do you love your metronome? lol  

[Azzy-licious]

I've been taking private lessons since the fall
to help prepare me for my audition (which was in February)
and to help me keep up to speed with the choir group once I reach college.

We do have a specific routine. We start off with warm ups--
usually some easy ones to get my voice going.
Then we move into others where I have to work more on focus, pitch, breathing, etc.
Then we move into whatever piece I'm working on.
If I sing through it well enough (after a few lessons and practice, of course), I earn new music.
Usually, I get to sightread this and if I like it, it becomes another piece to work on.

"I can keep time with no metronome, no metronome, no metronome."
No, but really. We don't use a metronome at my voice lesson.
In orchestra we did, and in marching band we did, but not voice lessons.
☮♥♫


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[Sionja]

Well, since I'm a voice major, I'm sure my lesson set up is going to be different from yours, but for what it's worth, I'll put it below anyway.

0-20min: Warm-ups, vocalises, etc. I'm usually warmed up before the lesson, so it's mostly just to hear where my voice is still having glaringly obvious problems.

20-30min: Talk about rep, what we'll be working on that day, what performances are coming up. Might work a bit on music.

30-60min: Accompanist comes in, run through music, critiqued.

Most of the legwork is done outside of lessons - my lesson has really just become a fine-tuning session, whether it's tuning my music or my technique or whatever. I never learn music in my lesson - it's my own responsibility to learn it once it's been assigned. I get most of my music assigned in bulk (we usually pick out the six required pieces at the beginning of the semester or the end, for next semester), and I usually have three or four mostly learned by the next lesson. Research and everything else is done outside of lessons; I also have coachings each week with my accompanist for a half hour, as additional time to work on music or ensemble issues.  

[Gjornia X]

Azzy-licious

"I can keep time with no metronome, no metronome, no metronome."

I heart that song.

as an instrumentalist my private lessons vary. I only played scales when I was studying them, now it's more of an expected thing (that i'm practicing them on my own time). However, if my intonation is particularly bad (which only happens when i haven't practiced all week and try to flub it the day of) then my teacher makes me go through the circle of fifths or a single scale practicing bow division ( xp )

usually the lesson begins with an etude that was given as assignment followed by current pieces that i'm working on. My teacher brings so much more to our time than rote technical tutelage. She incorporates her knowledge of anatomy, music history, theory, and the vivid imagery of personal recounts in them too. Those things make my lesson worth while, and has helped me to approach music in a different way than I had prior.  

[QueenElizabethJane]

I think you will find that your lessons will have a natural structure to them. You'll begin with warmups (obviously) and yes, scales. My teacher likes to change up my scales with little exercises that I have to memorize. Basically - your teacher will access you and accurately help you improve in any of your weak areas.

You can practice pieces or play themed pieces. The holidays are coming up and I always get Christmas music biggrin . No matter what your goal is, always remember to have fun  

[suki owl]

I never play scales in lessons. My teacher gave me an exercise sheet with what I should start off with everyday (hanon, czerny, scales, 3rds, 6ths, 10ths, octaves, chromatic, arpeggios, some etudes, and the list goes on...) The only time we work on hanon or some type of exercise like that is if he is showing me a technique for a piece I am working on and we need to apply to an exercise I already have memorized.

At lessons it seems like we talk for almost half the time. He knows I can play so sometimes what I need is to learn about music history, theory (we spend quite a bit of time on this), or talk about how I feel while playing or performing...very different things there.
But I usually start out playing through a piece and then he'll have his comments on either a technique I need to use and try different methods for what works for me. Or he'll give me a very interesting lecture on theory or history that is relevant to what I'm playing.  

[Eziana Altaire]

My teacher kind of has the sense of humor of a clever college kid, he's in his late thirties with a huge ego and playing to back it up. Lessons are kind of ridiculous sometimes haha smile But he pushes me to push myself, he instills this non-threatening pressure to suck it up and try to be the best. He expects a lot from me and in turn it makes me expect a lot from myself. When I do well consistently he comments, but he rarely compliments--afterall you wouldn't want to pay someone to tell you all the things you already are good at, that would be a waste of time.

Remember that private teachers are there to help and ask TONS of questions. Relax. Learn your etudes. wink  

[AyumiGosu17]

Okay, I have two different teachers. My bassoon instructor is a master, really. He explains the bassoon so quickly and so thoroughly, it gets confusing. I actually have to tell him to slow down and break it down sometimes. He's really laid back, though. Half the time we don't even have lessons, we just laugh about any new news or rumors or we'll exchange stupid videos on youtube!

My vocal instructor is a different story. Every time I get a new piece, I have to take it home, break it down into phrases and sections based on how the melody runs and corresponds, translate AND paraphrase, memorize the general meaning of the lyrics, determine the mood, and start learning the melody on an open constant vowel. It's expected that I have the entire melody down and start memorizing it by the second lesson on it. The most pieces I have had to learn in a semester has been six.

She's really demanding and pushy. The end of my first year, she also told me, "By the way, opera auditions are next week. What piece are you doing?" I stared at her like, "What?" "You are going to audition. Now, what are you doing?" Ugh. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate it because I have found out that doing the operas is a once-in-a-lifetime brilliant experience. But yeah... The worst lesson ever was when I showed up late, I was getting pneumonia, I got snappy at her demands, and she threw me into a wall. No joke. I am terrified of this woman.  

[Kea of doom]

Haven't been in lessons for a little while (curses!) but I've always really enjoyed them. My voice lessons are the usual - a few vocalises (although I do come warmed up, so it's just for technical practice and whatnot), and then run through pieces until we run out of time (which, doing it as a secondary means I only get half hour lessons, which suckkkks!) We usually discuss the things I need to work on and what strategies I can practice with during the week, and maybe if I need to bring in another piece for next week. And all the business-y stuff like what I have to prepare for board exams or whatever is coming up.

Comp lessons though... that's a different story! They are magical. Really. It's like having an hour-long conversation with a compositional GOD (well, professor, but they are way more experienced than I am) where all you do is go through a creative process and think about all the ways you can be effective with music. My lessons often include a lot of listening and working with various different pieces to see how other composers achieve a goal. Plus talking about all the technical considerations like the acoustics and just what the instruments are best at. It's very informative - makes me feel like I know so much about how music is made. And I think I'm given a lot more creative liberty in my comp lessons, so I can kind of go with what I like and what my style is, rather than doing what my teachers think is necessarily the best.