The Mind Over Finger Podcast - 159 How to Get the Most Out of Your Lesson

Episode Date: February 17, 2023

In this episode, we continue where we left off in episode 158, discussing the teacher/student relationship, and we turn our attention to the second partner in the musical team: the student and how they can get the most out of their lesson and learning experience.    Reflection - Here are questions to increase your awareness of the topics I cover in the episode: ·         What else can I try? ·         How does this concept work for me? ·         How can I make this work for me? ·         How can I solve this? ·         If I knew how to improve this, what would the solution look like?   DOWNLOAD THE TRANSCRIPT FROM THIS EPISODE HERE   Do you have specific questions for me or my guests you would like answered on the podcast? Share them with me HERE!   Join me for FREE on February 17th for the Deep Practice Model Teacher Training Workshop when you join Practicing for Peak Performance!   Practicing for Peak Performance: Your Step-by-step Roadmap to Optimal Performance! Get you self-paced program HERE and transform how you perform TODAY!   Mind Over Finger Visit MindOverFinger.com for resources on mindful practice and information on how to work with me. Sign up for my newsletter to receive your free guide to a highly productive mindful practice and to get the transcripts of the Mind Over Finger Podcast episodes delivered to your inbox. Join the Join the Mind Over Finger Community  for access to my live videos and to exchange with a community of like-minded musicians. www.mindoverfinger.com https://www.facebook.com/mindoverfinger/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/mindoverfinger https://www.instagram.com/mindoverfinger/   THANK YOU: Most sincere thank you to composer Jim Stephenson who graciously provided the show's musical theme:  Concerto #1 for Trumpet and Chamber Orchestra – Movement 2: Allegro con Brio, performed by Jeffrey Work, trumpet, and the Lake Forest Symphony, conducted by Jim Stephenson. A HUGE thank you to my fantastic producer, Bella Kelly, who makes this podcast as pleasant to listen to as possible for you!

You're listening to The Mind Over Finger Podcast, episode number 159. Welcome to The Mind Over Finger Podcast. Discussions on mindful music making, efficient practice, optimal performance, and building a purposeful life and fulfilling career. I'm your host, violinist, and certified performance and life coach for musicians, Dr. René-Paul Gaultier. Hi, everyone. I hope things are fantastic for you these days. Things are really good here. On the day this episode is released, I'm hosting my special teacher training workshop. As I shared with you in the last episode, this workshop is when I meet with my clients and those of you who

have bought my online course, Practicing for Peak Performance, and we cover in detail how to help students learn, prepare for performance, and grow as musicians. We talk about how to nurture our students, how to teach in a way that fits their needs, and we also talk about how to teach them all of the systems and methods I share in my program, Practicing for Peak Performance. We cover the deep practice model, which is my system to learn and memorize music faster and better, and all of the conditioning exercises for peak performance. If you'd like to join, it's accessible to you for free when you join Practicing for Peak Performance.

You can do that by going to my website, mindoverfinger.com. It's all there. And when you get Practicing for Peak Performance, you get access to this pedagogy training for free. So I do hope you join us. Today on the show, we continue where we left off last time, discussing the teacher-student relationship, and we turn our attention to the second partner in the musical team, the student. And I should specify that for this episode, I'm thinking of

older students, advanced high school and older. Younger than that usually involves a parent or guardian, and the purposes of music education at that age are often vastly different. That's another fascinating topic for sure, but let's keep that for another episode for simplicity's sake. For today, we're going to take the perspective of advanced high school, college, and graduate students, and of course, adult learners. So I think, interestingly enough, a great relationship with a teacher starts with having a lot of personal clarity. That's actually how it works with all the relationships in our lives. So I think the best place to start is with knowing what your goals are. Having been there myself, I realized how easy it is for students to forget

the critical importance of their active participation in the process. It's easy to want to delegate all decision-making to the teachers. It's easy to follow blindly. We think they're the ones in charge. They know best. So we often approach lessons and classes with a passive attitude. We show up ready to take in what is to be offered. But we don't always do the prep work, which is to know what we want, or at least have some idea of what we want and what we're there to learn. Okay, that's not everyone all the time. But if you recognize yourself a little bit there, hear me out. Yes, it's crucial for an open and inquisitive mind to be part of the learning experience, but it's equally important for you to come in a studio or a classroom already possessing

a good sense of what you are looking to get out of your learning experience. So decide what it is you want. Set your goals and keep the reflection going as time goes because your trajectory and your goals might, well actually, will most likely change over time. So keep tuning in with yourself. Keep asking yourself questions. Connect your personal goals to every step of your learning journey. And yes, I'm going to offer some tips and tricks to get the most out of your lessons, but being in touch with yourself is the starting point of all of this. That is your compass. The compass is not outside of you. It's within. You are your own North Star. Now, once you do have a sense of what your vision is, your dream, your purpose, there are several

things you can experiment with to maximize the value you get out of each lesson. Here are a few. First, as I encourage teachers to get to know the student in front of them, I will encourage you to be transparent with your teacher about your goals and your vision. Tell them about you. Give them the information that is relevant and might help them support you towards your goals. Keep an ongoing dialogue about those goals and your progress. Your teacher is part of your team. The more you're on the same page, the better for you. So express your needs to them. Let them know how you feel about how things are going now and about what you see as the journey laying ahead for you and be open-minded to their feedback. Once you and your team member

are on the same wavelength, you can start thinking about the nitty-gritty. So let's talk logistics. How fast we progress, and I say we because I'm a lifelong learner and student, so I'll include myself in this. So how fast we progress is often directly proportional to how much care we bring in preparing for the lesson every single week. We provide the raw material and the teachers will do their magic. The better the material, the better the results. A teacher can only offer as much as we're capable to receive. The work we do between lessons is going to determine how much we can absorb and how fast the progress is going to be. First thing you can do to help with this is to plan. Proper planning is key in sustaining consistency. For this, I recommend the use of

a practice journal. When used strategically, a practice journal can help us stay organized, focused, and on track. Your practice journal should be easy and quick to use. That's why I always encourage my students and my clients to adopt a format that matches their personality and their learning style and to keep it to the point. Keep it streamlined. Don't include the things you think you should based on listening to everybody's advice. There are elements you know are helpful for you. Include those and leave the rest. Of course, experiment. Try things. You might pick up some gems, but let go of anything that feels burdensome. I cover this in detail in both my online course, Practicing for Peak Performance, and my group coaching program, The Music Mastery

experience because a tailored practice journal is really helpful. Your practice journal could include things like a list of work to be accomplished, weekly goals and ways to accomplish them, daily goals, time practiced, self-evaluation on motivation, effort, and results, relevant notes and observations, anything that's helpful for you. Now, the second part of planning is the scheduling part. By scheduling your daily practice sessions at the beginning of the week, organizing them in your calendar or your practice journal, and working towards completing the assigned tasks, you can dramatically increase your productivity. Also, by scheduling your practice sessions ahead of time, you're going to increase your chances of practicing at a time when you're alert

and productive, and you're going to avoid many last-minute panic cramming sessions. I hate those. So keep experimenting and find a way to plan and schedule that really works for you. And remember that the best of plans might not always exactly happen as designed, but having one is better than not having one. Oh, and don't forget to plan for time off practicing. We need our rest. So you're organized. Now let's talk about what you can do with what happens in the lessons. One of my favorite analogies for this is grocery shopping. Going to lesson to receive instruction from a teacher is a little bit like going to the grocery store. You go to the store, you fill your cart with items, you pay, and then you bring the food home to eat so you can, you

know, remain alive, healthy, and thriving as a person. But a lot of us are in the habit of casually leaving the bags behind at the cash register after we've paid for it. I've done this and I still do sometimes. I have a full bag of Target or Jules or Trader Joe's and I pay and then I just leave without it. And I also do this at times with lessons or classes I take. Does that sound familiar at all to you? I mean, we're human, so that is bound to happen. No need to shame ourselves or make ourselves feel guilty. But we can strive to be more mindful about looking back and making sure we pick the bag up before we take off. Bring your groceries home.

Do you know what I mean? Have you ever walked in the lesson studio without having put in a real effort to solve the problems or the parameters addressed in the previous lessons? You didn't really work seriously on anything the teacher said last week. You've been there too, right? It's not just me. I'm pretty sure. What you get then is what I call a repeat lesson.

when the teacher has to repeat and explain the same concepts all over again. It's very difficult for a teacher to move forward when lesson after lesson, the same material and the same notions must be revisited, and it makes it hard for you to improve significantly. It's also very discouraging. And I hear you. We usually have all the best intentions in the world, but at the first signs of a stumbling block or whenever something feels slightly uncomfortable

or requires a real effort to accomplish, we revert to the same old bad habits. We have to fight this urge. Really try to apply the suggestions that we were given and see what we can build with it. You pay good money for your lessons. Take full advantage of the knowledge that a teacher is trying to transmit to you. Commit to trying wholeheartedly to implement everything that was given to you in the lesson. Bring your groceries home, take them out of the bags, prepare a fabulous meal, and eat. It starts with being present in the lesson.

Be alert, listen carefully, and actively receive the instruction with an open mind and an eager curiosity. I also ardently recommend you record your lessons, but don't just passively listen to them once at home. Take notes. Writing your own notes is one of the best ways to not just recall the information, but also to process it more deeply and to start assimilating it. When you have notes, consult them often. Take the time to reflect on the concepts that were presented to you in the lesson. Give them some serious thought, experiment, see how they work for you and how they feel for you. Dedicate yourself to understanding the notions, adopting the practice methods and executing the assignments. And for bonus points, revisit notes from preceding weeks

from time to time. Notice if you have solved the problems, improved in some areas, or if you have somewhat stalled in your progress. Any comment that reappears regularly should maybe raise a red flag. If the words bow direction appear in almost every page, lesson after lesson, it's likely a sign that you need to make a more serious effort with your bow direction. Your teacher can talk all day, but it's up to you to internalize the concepts and apply them in your playing. This also allows you to have questions ready for the concepts that you did not quite grasp. That's how you maximize your investment, by investing yourself. What we don't practice well today, we have to practice again and again and again. So invest yourself in applying

the teachings and in leaving behind the old ineffective methods and the bad habits. Another hugely, maybe the most important element in maximizing your learning experience is your own curiosity and determination in seeking the answers. Once a teacher explains a principle, it's up to us, the students, to internalize it through diligent work and concentrated reflection. It's through this personal exploration, by asking questions, by experimenting with technical and musical ideas, by exploring possibilities, that we give ourselves the best chances to not only understand the concepts transmitted by our teacher, but to fully integrate and absorb them and make them our own. You've heard it, seek and you shall find. By being assiduous and consistent, you can figure

anything out. And this will be one of the most significant catalysts of growth for you. The student who walks in the lesson knowing what they are in search of will very often find it. And this goes well beyond the walls of the music studios. Deep learners have a thirst to understand and explore any given field they are invested in. By remaining curious, enthusiastic, and motivated to fill in the gaps in your knowledge or skills, you're going to greatly increase your chances of growth and fulfillment. in any field you choose. It's also a lot more fun. So get curious and set your intention to adopt a problem-solving mindset. And the last advice I have for you today to help you make the best out

of your lessons is to encourage you to go all in when you play for your teacher. Of course, an important part of the lesson is to teach you how to practice more efficiently. But your teacher is not there to watch you practice or worse, sight read your material on the spot. They're there to hear what you have prepared and to help you take it to the next level. Remember, we bring in the raw material and they work with what we bring. So when you're there in front of them, treat it as a performance. When you start playing, it's showtime. And by the way, when I say perform, I don't mean it should be performance ready. It's all about your attitude about it. You perform in the state the material is in right now with all of your convincing energy. Three things are

very helpful here. Number one, be prepared to perform all assigned material. Your teacher assigns specific exercises and repertoire very carefully. Everything is part of a big master plan. So try to work on everything that is assigned to you. Now, if you have a reservation about what is assigned, if you feel like it's too much or not enough, or you don't really see how that's relevant to your goals, you absolutely should bring this up with your teacher. As I said at the beginning of the episode, your teacher is on your team and team members need to communicate with each other. In doubt, always ask for clarification. Okay, number two, perform everything as beautifully as you can, always. Treat every single element as repertoire, long tones, scales,

technical work, etudes, all of it. Play them with the proper form, beautiful tone, and with as much musicality as you can. After all, you practice technique so you can play beautiful music. Approach technique that way too. Don't ever forget that you're making art every time you're producing a sound. And number three, it's a performance. So play without stopping. You don't want the performance to be the first time you perform a piece without stopping. Your lesson is the perfect place to gauge your progress and strengthen your performance muscle. It's the safe testing ground for you to experience all of the feelings and all the thoughts. See it as performance training. So play your repertoire as if it were concert, audition, or jury day, and you're going to have

a clear idea of the current state of affairs. Also, playing without stopping is something we have to practice. Lesson time is a great personal testing ground for that. No stopping, no apologies. Just have fun and keep on playing. Your teacher wants to hear a performance of what you can do right now. So experiment, explore, and enjoy. Then keep an open mind to all the guidance and insight offered and bring your groceries home. So to sum it up, tune into yourself and have a clear idea of what your goals are. Establish good communication with your teacher. Plan your work. Schedule your practice. Reflect on and apply the information you receive in the lesson. get curious and adopt a problem-solving mindset at home

and go all in when you play in your lessons and keep those powerful questions nearby through the various stages of lesson prep during the week. What else can I try? How does this concept work for me? How can I make this work for me? How can I solve this? If I knew how to improve this,

what would the solution look like trust yourself with the answers and have a lot of fun experimenting and playing around all right this is what i have for you this week if you enjoyed this episode please share with anyone you think could benefit and for more info on all of this and to access the teacher training workshop for free join practicing for peak performance today by going to mindoverfinger.com. The training goes live at 10 a.m. on February 17th and the replay and handout will be available indefinitely. Much love going your way and have a great week. Thank you guys so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Mind Over Finger podcast. If this content was helpful for you, please share with everyone you think could benefit

from it. Take a screenshot, share on social media and tag me. I'm mind over finger everywhere. So reach out, send me a DM and let me know how this content helped you. Let's keep the conversation going. As always, I have all the information related to this episode in the show notes. You can find them via your podcast app or by visiting mindoverfinger.com, where you can also find more free resources on efficient practice and performance preparation, links to sign up to my free workshops, and information on how to work with me. Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to receive your free guide to a productive mindful practice, transcripts from the Mind Over Finger podcast episodes delivered to your inbox every week, and more. also join the mind over finger facebook community my private group for access to my live videos and to exchange with a community of like-minded musicians so make sure you're subscribed to the podcast and if you have specific questions for me or my guests that you would like answered

in an episode share them with me using the link in the show notes or send me a dm on instagram or Facebook. That's it for today. Again, thank you and à bientôt.