Five Goals for Adult Music Students

Adult students bring unique perspectives and dedication to their music education.  While children are often praised for their quickness to learn, the maturity, self-awareness, and focus that adults bring to their craft give them distinct advantages.  Adult students also tend to face common obstacles to learning, but none that can’t be overcome with proper guidance.  Here are some objectives that many adult students would benefit from setting for the New Year:

1. Commit to 15 minutes of daily practice

Many adults make the mistake of setting overly-ambitious goals for practice time.  They aim to practice an hour every day, and when they have to work late one week (or a kid is sick, or the car breaks down, etc.), they give up on their plan and don't even touch the guitar. 

Setting reasonable expectations for practice time is key to enjoying your relationship with music.  Fifteen minutes of practice is infinitely better than no practice at all.  In fact, fifteen minutes a day for a beginning guitar student can go a long way.  Be up front with your teacher about your time constraints so that she can set attainable weekly objectives for you.  Make a reasonable practice plan, stick to it as religiously as possible, and if you get off track, don't be hard on yourself!  Just get back on track as soon as you can.  

2. Be kinder to yourself.  

Adults can be heart-breakingly hard on themselves.  They spend hours practicing a piece, improve dramatically between classes, and warm up with several near-perfect run-throughs.  In class a few minutes later, they stumble over a minor error in the first phrase, frustration sets in, the piece falls apart, and so does their confidence.  Similarly, adult students can be unduly hard on themselves for not practicing enough, getting nervous during class, or progressing more slowly than they think they ‘should.’

Many adult students have children of their own.  Some are teachers or counselors, professionally trained in helping others learn and/or solve problems.  Although I’m certain these adult students are kind and patient with their children/students/clients, they are cruel to themselves. Suppose this sounds like you; cultivate your inner dialogue carefully.  If you wouldn’t say something to a child/student/client, don’t say it to yourself as you play your instrument.  

Remember that playing music is a physical skill as well as an intellectual and artistic one.  Having long ago mastered tasks like shoe-tying and cursive writing, many adults have forgotten what it’s like to learn a new manual skill.  They expect that just because they understand a concept intellectually (recognizing a written note as ‘A,’ for example, and knowing where it is on the fretboard), they should be able to force their hands into instant compliance.  But just because you understand how a sport works, you wouldn’t expect to become an expert skier or tennis player in a year.  Why should a musical instrument be any different?  

Playing a musical instrument demands the coordination of an array of skills, and none comes automatically.  A seemingly elementary task like keeping your place on a page while you glance down at your hands can take years to become second nature.  

Your teacher remembers what it’s like to learn music and has personally overcome many of the challenges you’ll face - technical, musical, and psychological.  There’s nothing inherently bad about mistakes, plateaus, or performance anxiety -- they’re just information about how we need to grow as musicians. 

3. Share your music with someone, somehow

Lessonface is hosting two online open-mic nights in January, and I’ve already written about all the benefits of preparing for and participating in such a performance.  If you can’t make it to the open mics, any other sort of performance will do the trick!  You can play at a local worship service, organize a low-key recital for the extended family during the holidays, or play for an old friend over video chat.  If the idea of playing for a live audience (even your friendly Lessonface peers) makes you break out in a cold sweat, no worries!  Sharing your music can be as simple as recording a voice memo of a piece you enjoy playing and sending it to a family member. 

4.  Get perspective

Private lessons are great, as you get individualized attention in the areas where you most need guidance.  It’s harder to get from private lessons is an accurate perspective on the nature of progress.  Many adult music students listen only to the playing of their teacher and well-known artists.  If they compare their own playing to that of professionals, they are bound to be disappointed.  Progress in music is gradual and punctuated by frustrations and setbacks.  Any professional will affirm that they were in your shoes once and that their expertise is the fruit of years of perseverance.  But it’s hard to feel comforted by words alone.  Interacting with musical peers reassures you that you’re not alone in the struggles you face, and they can provide fresh perspectives on how to resolve frustrations.  Listening to your peers’ playing will expose you to music beyond your typical repertoire, help you form realistic expectations for the near future.  You may even find that you have insights you can offer to less-experienced players.  Here are some ways to get a healthy perspective on your playing:

    •    Take a group class.  Lessonface has already announced over twenty new group classes beginning January and February.  They span a variety of instruments, genres, and levels.  If you don’t see one geared to your interests yet, they’ll be announcing more soon.  

    •    Attend local student recitals.  If your hometown’s college or university has a music program, you can likely attend student recitals for free.  Make a point to attend performances of various skill levels, from first-year music students to graduating seniors.  

    •    Participate in Lessonface’s forum, which is open to all Lessonface students and teachers.  You can ask questions, start discussions, offer expertise and advice, and share your experiences.

    •    Watch one of Lessonface’s open mic nights.  Even if you don’t want to play, you’ll get a sense of how differently everyone learns and approaches music. You’ll see some students who have been playing for a few months, and others for many years.  All have unique strengths and weaknesses, and all have improved immensely since they’ve started. 

    •    Peruse YouTube.  There are plenty of music students of all levels who are not in the least bit shy about sharing their playing with the world.  If you’re working through a popular method book on your instrument, search a piece you’re learning, and see what other students have uploaded!  


5. Record yourself

Recording yourself is motivating, exposing, sometimes uncomfortable, and always enlightening.  Flute and saxophone teacher Lígia Silva explains, ‘We can be our own teachers when we record ourselves. We can spot simple mistakes and correct them right away instead of repeating them until the next lesson. We learn how we sound from the outside.’  

Our minds and ears tend to fill in gaps while we're playing, bridging the divide between our intentions and outputs. Sometimes we think we're playing smoothly or dynamically when really things are choppy and flat.  In other cases, memories of frustration can make us think we sound worse than we really do. Sometimes we get a bit tense in parts that used to derail us, and we think the tension is audible as an error, but really everything is cleaner than we realize. Recording helps us reflect objectively on our playing.  

Recording a piece is also a great way to prepare for a performance.  Playing in front of a microphone can put you a bit on edge, which is good practice for stage nerves. Furthermore, if it takes you twenty attempts to get a clean take of a passage in a recording, you would probably have difficulties with it on stage, too. Learn from your recording difficulties and spend more time on your trouble spots. 

Thoughts, comments, or questions?  Are there other goals that just about any adult student would benefit from?  Please share them here in Lessonface’s forum!

Originally published 12/28/2019

Related forum posts and articles -- feel free to jump in with questions and comments!

• On learning from your mistakes and recording yourself 
• Tracking your progress
• Effective goal-setting
• Advice for adult beginners