Adult Students beliefs and expectations; do/don’t

When adult students come to me for lessons, they all are at different level in terms of musical technical development. They also have accumulated some bad habits and some believes. Here I will address some of them.

1. Youtube lessons– often student will take lessons from me, and will continue to use questionable sites on internet promising fast learning. Why? You are not learning faster, you are postponing the process. Too many teachers are not good for structured education of any subject. However, there are some videos of high skilled music professionals, enjoy these. Go for the very high quality, always!
2. One on one virtual lessons are bad, and you can’t learn—this all depends on the skills of the teacher who gives the lessons. My personal view– watch if your teacher is teaching with the same accuracy as in person. If teacher finds things to correct in hands position, in the musical shaping of your music, if they work on technique…. then most likely you have a good teacher who knows what to do.
3. You need to feel like a school student again—NOO! Adult students /teacher dynamics are different when it comes to adults learning. Don’t let be treated as a school boy! Practice for your own pleasure and learning, not for the teacher!
4. Goals–most of the adult students have some idea of what they want to achieve. Good teacher can clearly see if this is possible or not and give you a reality check. Appreciate this honesty, it is rare nowadays, as everyone is promising everything for no time and effort. Sometimes a patience is needed to get there, so don’t feel discouraged.
5. Just put your fingers down and move them, how difficult it cold be— don’t fall for this nonsense on internet. Playing an instrument is more than moving fingers in correct order.
6. I don’t like the warm ups (technique section of the lesson). Well, you would not like hand injury either, so just do it as your teacher guides.
7. Memorizing–most students (age does not matter) get stressed when it comes to trying to memorize music. It is one of the best brain exercises, because is very complex, so just do it. Keep these brain problems away! Keep memorizing music to preserve your youthful brain!
8. Obsession with practicing–most adults feel very responsible for their practice, it is a great thing, but please, do not obsess. Some things in the technique just need time, over-practicing will not help. Correct timing and patience is what you need.
9. Passion about music–this is the best part. Most of the adult students are very passionate about music. They often bring music they want to play well. This is fantastic. Just, please, listen to your teacher, if he suggests it is a bit early for this score, get easier version, or wait. You want to enjoy practice and music, you want to experience progress, not to struggle endlessly with above your level challenges which most likely you won’t overcome.
10. Learning an instrument well is a long journey–don’t stress over each lesson, it is a ride, enjoy each new sound, each new piece, each little improvement. Music is a big universe, even professional musicians are on a long ride. There is always something more to learn and explore!!

© Dr. Nelly Matova, Matova Music School 2025