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39. Why Great Teachers Do More Than Give Instructions · The Dallas School of Music Minute

• 0:02
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: Hello and welcome to the Dallas School of Music Minute.
• 0:05
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: I'm Dr.
• 0:06
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: Bob Lawrence, Director of the Dallas School of Music.
• 0:09
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: Imagine a student struggling to play a difficult musical passage.
• 0:15
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: The teacher says, Practice it slowly.
• 0:18
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: That's reasonable advice.
• 0:21
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: But what happens when the student practices slowly and continues making the same mistakes?
• 0:28
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: Simply repeating the instruction isn't enough.
• 0:33
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: This is where professional teaching becomes something much more than telling students what to do.
• 0:40
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: A skilled educator must determine why the student is struggling.
• 0:47
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: Is the difficulty rhythmic?
• 0:49
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: Is it a technical problem?
• 0:52
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: Does the student understand the musical structure?
• 0:55
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: Or is the passage simply too demanding at the student's current stage of development?
• 1:03
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: Each possibility requires a different instructional response.
• 1:10
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: At the Dallas School of Music, we believe that professional teaching involves continuous observation, thoughtful diagnosis, appropriate demonstration, and careful adjustment.
• 1:24
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: Sometimes the solution is to isolate a difficult measure.
• 1:30
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: Sometimes it's to introduce a preparatory exercise.
• 1:34
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: And sometimes it's to approach the same musical concept from an entirely different direction.
• 1:42
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: The goal is not simply to correct the mistake.
• 1:46
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: The goal is to help the student understand the problem, recognize the solution, and eventually apply that understanding independently.
• 1:57
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: This is an important distinction.
• 2:00
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: Given instruction tells students what to do.
• 2:05
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: Professional teaching helps them understand how and why to do it.
• 2:11
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: And when students begin recognizing and solving musical problems for themselves, the teacher has accomplished something far more valuable than correcting a single passage.
• 2:24
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: The teacher has helped develop an independent musician.
• 2:30
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: Thanks for spending a minute with me today.
• 2:33
  Dr. Bob Lawrence: Until next time, enjoy the journey as you continue to discover, learn, and play.