Dave Wirth
I am really on this kick about lesson notes. It's probably my geek heart gushing, or the fact that I wish I was in my student's positions. I wish I had this sort of thing when I was learning guitar. It would have made learning so much easier. How?
It would have saved me energy and time.
Communication takes energy, as does practicing. Most of the people I get to work with have barely enough time to eat a satisfying meal, so it helps them to know exactly what to work on. I've noticed that the better my communication skills get, the faster they learn. I like how doing my lesson notes manages to get the point across. My hope is that when students are at the point of playing songs, they have barely expended energy in remembering what they were were supposed to work on. Hopefully, they simply read their lesson notes and pin-pointed what needed to do. I wish I had that when I was taking lessons.
I'd have a concrete history of the work I did.
I keep on thinking back to all the education I've have in my life, the hours spent learning from another guitar teacher (to be honest these people were saints to put up with me), and I realize that it's all a blur. I have no memory of the struggles I once had, so every time I reach a block, it feels like the very first one I've run into. Guitar still feels frustrating sometimes, probably because mastering it is just about impossible. Perhaps one of the reasons why I wanted to do this was because I could give someone a concrete history of their work and their progress. It wouldn't be a blur for them.
I'd have encouragement outside of my lessons.
Sometimes we learners have a hard time in-between our lessons. We may learn something, but then it's gone a hour after our lesson. For me, few things are as frustrating. I'm a geek about learning, and I want to learn more stuff all the time. I remember all the Argentine Tango classes I've taken, and how quickly I forgot what I learned as quickly as I left the dance hall. It's nice to have a good understanding of what we went over, at least as a reminder, so we can pick up where we left off. That's encouraging.
----
You should click here to read more about online lesson notes.
