The Benefits of a Guest Instructor

This week I would like to talk about the benefits of a guest instructor for lessons. I know teachers always want to be there for their students. Still, sometimes we will have to be away for a variety of reasons, including having gigs and performances, or being sick. Having a guest instructor can be a new and sometimes unexpected experience at first. The staff at MMW all keep notes on what each student works on each lesson.  Therefore, when an instructor is away this allows the guest instructor to continue on with what each student was working on (and oftentimes then some!). Keep an open mind, having another instructor teach your lessons is a great opportunity!

A Different Perspective

It is so important to work with other teachers from time to time. Having a guest instructor means having another teacher with unique ideas.  Also the teacher may provide different learning methods, and strategies. I tell my students to not only prepare for a different perspective but to come ready with questions. The more information my students have about music, the better.

This is a big one for me, having a guest instructor allows you to meet other teachers and members of the Studio Family! It can be easy to think of lessons as being in a vacuum. Still, MMW is a large community of over thirty teachers and staff members.  This community of teachers are all dedicated to helping you get the most out of music and your lessons. Having a guest instructor allows you to meet other teachers.  Whether that be other piano teachers, brass teachers, guitar teachers, and so on. And on the flip side, teachers love meeting more members of the student body! In this way, having a guest teacher fosters an even stronger sense of community at the studio and takes advantage of what MMW is about: family.

Mr. Jacob playing at a gig, performing on stage.

It Allows Teachers to be Performing Musicians

At MMW, all of our instructors are dedicated to teaching, however, it is important to remember that as much as we love teaching, many (if not all) of us are also performing musicians. Having this experience helps us become well-rounded instructors as we have real-world experiences to share in our lessons.

Gigging, performing, and playing is an incredibly important part of being a professional musician, as it allows you to share the music that you have worked hard to create and realize with the rest of the world. I think it is essential to illustrate to students that music can be a career, and there is a professional world outside of playing as a hobby (which is also fantastic). While this is important, the downside to gigging is that the scheduling can be a little chaotic sometimes. But that is just part of being a professional musician and the performing lifestyle sometimes. As much as we can, we prioritize teaching and students, but sometimes performing will overlap with lessons, and in those cases, a guest instructor or reschedule will always be made available.