About Half-Hour Lessons

This length of lesson is ideal for students who are either under 15 years old, or are enjoying a more casual level of commitment to learning and improving. An experienced instructor will have this 30-minute time slot down to a science, in regard to how economical we are with our time.

The general format is:

• 30% of the lesson is spent on any current music, technique, or goal.

• Another 30% is spent on introducing a new piece of music, or a new technique.

• 25% is spent working on good practice habits, and discussing the music itself. I consider it a failure as a teacher if a student comes to a lesson and isn't provided an opportunity to experience music. Students must learn how to "jam" with others, and I model that in lessons constantly.

• The remaining 15% is used to tie up loose ends in our discussions, mark our notes for the day in a practice journal, and to quickly fill parents in on what we are doing in lessons.

All this to say this is merely a rough guide, as each student has different goals and different needs that need to be met in the lesson.