Different Dance Partners

A long time ago in grad school, I was into ballroom and salsa dancing. I know...crazy, right?

The local club would host an hour-long dance lesson, followed by dancing until 2am. One lesson in particular stuck with me.

The instructor said that everyone should dance with people who are better than them, and worse than them. Because that's how you become a better dancer.

It got me thinking about the music teaching field. Because every lesson is a "dance" of sorts.

There are teachers who only accept students by audition.

The applicants have to demonstrate commitment, that they will prioritize piano over other activities, and that they'll show up every week. And if they don't follow practice, they're thrown out.

These teachers become very popular, often with a waitlist. And if it works for the teacher, that's just fine.

But does such a process limit the teacher?

In other words, if a teacher only has amazingly dedicated students, does that help the teacher improve their teaching?

By contrast, what about taking students of all levels? Different levels of commitment, attention span, schedules, and more.

Every student represents a puzzle to be solved. Some will inevitably quit because practicing was never part of the game plan to begin with. But, others come to find they love music and stick with it a long time.

And the students who have a hard time focusing, or even students who have some behavior issues...there are things to learn there, too. Because by learning how these students tick and how to reach them, we level up our teaching.

And that helps everyone.

But only if we look at every dance partner as a learning experience.