055 - Begin Again: The Case for Experimentation in Your Music Teaching

What does the beginning of a New Year signify for you? What kind of season do you find yourself in these days?

I recognized recently that I am in a season of learning.

Of course, I am still actively teaching five days a week, but at the same time, I'm reflecting, jotting down stories and realizations at the end of the teaching day—things I'd like to do differently next time or things I didn't plan but observed or participated in that ended up teaching me something as well as my student.

I'm reading and incorporating a few new teaching approaches and testing them out in particular lessons. I'm studying new repertoire and brushing up on my music history to share with my intermediate students this semester. I'm also embracing being a beginner in something outside of music.

This season is marked by experimentation—that desire to try something new, play with it, and study the results. How does it work? How does it feel? What are the benefits and challenges? What will I do differently next time?

Here are four ways I'm embracing experimentation in my music teaching this season.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

A Piano Teacher's Legacy (Richard Chronister)

The Perfect Wrong Note: Learning to Trust Your Musical Self (William Westney)

18 Books to Read This Year (2023 Book List)

Book List for Musicians (2023 Edition)

Art Shop

Blackwing Pencils

Ep. 051 - The Pokémon Piano Lesson

Rhythm Keeper, Vol. I (Musikal Husky, Steve Aho & Samantha Steitz)

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