Diagnosis

In my observation of instrumental teachers, I often see one of three levels in action: diagnosis, fixing, and process-building.

Diagnosis is when a teacher simply identifies problems. “That’s out of tune.” “Your articulation is too uniform.” “Your phrasing is flat.” Although it’s important to pinpoint areas of growth, this level of teaching does little to teach students how and why they should solve the identified problems.

Fixing is when a teacher diagnoses a problem, and then tells a student how to fix it. “That note is out of tune. Play it a little higher.” Although this fixes the issue in the moment, this level of teaching does little to help the student generalize and understand how to make decisions in new situations.

Process-building is when a teacher provides a student with the information and context they need to diagnose and fix problems themselves, and recognize and fix similar problems in the future. “When thinking about intonation, keep in mind your context. You are playing the major third of a chord, not doubled by any fixed instruments like piano. So, you have flexibility to tune in Just Intonation, and your third should to be low relative to an Equal-Temperament tuning.”

This level of teaching gives students a process by which to take their knowledge and apply it to new situations. It builds truly independent learners who can grow outside of the confines of the school-teacher paradigm. It creates musicians who use informed systems to tackle new problems and continually grow.

Next time you’re teaching, take a second to self-diagnose which level you’re at, and why. If you’re not satisfied with the answer, take a step back and assess what needs to change about your teaching practice to take it, and your students, to the next level.