You would think so according to some students, who after a couple of lessons think we should be showing them the musical equivalent of making a light bulb float.
However, it’s really important to observe how quickly our new students expect to progress.
As we are so immersed and familiar with the learning process we are in a very different mind-set to our beginner students.
A new student recently asked me ‘do you have any students who can just do it?’ – meaning just magically play the instrument like pulling a row of handkerchiefs from an empty hat.
The answer is ‘no!’ Even the most gifted student still has to learn and play regularly.
It’s good for students to understand that learning an instrument well involves a carefully thought out series of stages that build and add to each other to make a strong and fluent player.
Each part of the musical process, like learning ever more complex magic tricks, gives us a rewarding sense of achievement.
However, a student is heading for disappointment if their learning doesn’t match up to preconceived ideas. It’s a terrible shame if a student is doing well but doesn’t think they are due to an incorrect illusion.
So it’s good to tell it how it actually is. Talk to prospective students about what’s normal to expect in the first and following stages of development.
Then they’ll have a more realistic idea of what to expect in the various stages of learning their new instrument – from making their first card rise from the pack to making a coin disappear and finally making that lightbulb float!