So you want to know what happens in a lesson?

Most lessons for beginners are around 30 minutes. Once technical and theory elements are being studied and as pieces become more lengthy, many students  find 45 minute or 60 minute lessons preferable. Many adults like to start with lessons of 45 minutes.

So it is important not to be late to arrive or you will be wasting valuable time, and not to be late to leave or you will  be sitting in on too much of someone else's lesson settling in time.  A few minutes early is great as it is quite good to hear another student play a little of their piece for 'an audience'. Usually if you are late there is no chance to add minutes to the end of your lesson as thenext person is due for their lesson to start.

The first few minutes are settling in time as it is important to let go of anything that might get in the way of the learning.

Next is usually a quick five minutes opportunity to talk over what went well in this week's practising, along with any problems encountered.

Most students are working on about 3 current pieces in various stages of completion - notes and rhythm, articulation and dynamics, flow, mood and detail or polishing.  The student plays through each one, there is discussion about many aspects of what level the piece is playing at and one or two points of improvement to work on for the following week or a celebration of the completion of the piece, or a recording of the performance of the piece. Occasionally a professional recording of a piece or excerpt is listened to and discussed.

A genre or musical style is often set as a focus for a term (10 weeks) or semester (6 months). An extra piece might be set for rehearsing and later discussion - often the teacher demonstrates a segment for the student to see a 'live' playing of the technique or style. 

Technical elements are set regularly; scales, exercises, arpeggios. These are gone through if time permits - sometimes as warm ups, sometimes as piece dividers.

Theory is studied so any units completed are gone through to check for understanding. Most of the time there is insufficient time in the practical lesson to complete written work, so units are completed at home before the next lesson.  Not arduous or long, usually quite short.

When a few minutes is available, we explore the collection of music in the studio to find 'gems' for later study.

Notes are written in a notebook which the student gives to the teacher on arrival and takes home with them at the end of the lesson - the teacher writes short 'bullet type' suggestions of ways to improve aspects or section of the current works studied together with items of theory or technique to go over during the week. The student is encouraged to keep a 'wish list' of pieces he or she wishes to eventually learn and this list is consulted when space on the learning programme permits. Hopefully there is always a 'wish list' piece being studied.