Practicing
“I didn’t have time to practice this week; I had a birthday party/sports event to go to.” “I didn’t get much practicing done; it was really busy at work/school.” “I can only practice at my grandma’s house, ‘cause she has a piano. She lives in Spokane.” “I left my music at Dad’s/work/my boyfriend’s place, so I couldn’t practice.” Every music teacher I’ve ever known has heard all of these, and a hundred more. From child, teenaged and adult students, from parents and grandparents of students… there are always a million reasons why a student didn’t practice. To be honest, all those excuses don’t bother me too much. At least they demonstrate an acknowledge-ment that practicing should be happening, even though it didn’t. The ones that shock me are the students who seem to feel that having to practice at home is a failure by the teacher, somehow. As though the half-hour or hour-long lesson, once a week, (as long as nothing else comes up) should be enough to show ...