The Teacher

Abstract

Most accomplished musicians can readily identify music teachers whose encouragement and instruction were instrumental in their skill development. Just as musicians must acquire a diverse set of skills to be succeed as performers, music teachers must develop their own range of specialized skills to be successful. Psychological research offers no support to the old saying that “Those can, do; those who can’t, teach.” Rather, those who can teach well typically do possess a skill set that is that differs from that of other musicians. This chapter explores the variety of factors that influence how effective musicians’ instructional efforts are. It explains the importance of building respectful relationships with students, planning instruction around specific learning objectives, and deliberately teaching generalizable music concepts. The chapter encourages teachers to support learner autonomy as to empower their students to have musically rich lives beyond the confines of their educational experience.