A New Beginning

My favorite week of teaching in the whole year is that first week after the summer break. Students are back in school and there’s a hint of Fall (my favorite season) in the air. Students are coming looking neat, with hair trimmed and new clothes on instead of the casual summer attire that loosely covered a wet swim suit. It’s all pretty nice, but the best part is the attitude the students bring with them. Summer play time is over, and their minds are geared up for learning. Sometimes I wonder if more progress is made during the autumn months with students than all the rest of the year combined. Maybe it’s my attitude too.

Fall is a new beginning, the start of a new school year, and the start of a new year for music study. New beginnings are what we all need in life. Combine that with the natural, child-like eagerness to learn new things and you have a winning combination. That’s why I like that first week back, and it comes around annually to remind me of why I like to teach. Children are new beginnings themselves. Although I have taught possibly thousands (I might be exaggerating a bit) of beginning students over the years, I get to put myself into the new-ness of the first lesson with each one. Those wonderful young beginners come to that first lesson with a touch of apprehension, a bit of adoration for their new teacher (that part will slowly fade), a new lesson book, and a real eagerness to learn to play the piano. It’s a big responsibility to make sure that doesn’t fade.

Like it or not, a student’s love of music is tied directly into their teacher in those early years. They are our first new students and we are their first new experience with music study. It’s another good combination, although it sometimes scares me to death. So instead of hyperventilating, I take a deep breath of that brisk autumn air and introduce yet another student to middle C for the thousandth time. (I might be exaggerating a bit…)