Most people think learning a musical instrument is hard. Or, that one must suffer through hardship in order to attain mastery.
Strict discipline and all that.
But, this isn't true. At all.
Difficulty is a matter of perspective. So is mastery, while we're at it. What's hard for one student may be easy for another.
The beautiful thing is, the teacher can control the difficulty.
True learning is when a teacher helps a student find the sweet spot of learning material that is just difficult enough to be challenging.
But, not so difficult it becomes frustrating.
And not so easy it becomes boring.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls this finding a state of Flow.
But, there is a sad misperception that trying to learn a piece of music far beyond your skill level somehow levels up your skill to meet the challenge.
This is not just false, but it is malpractice. Unfortunately, competition teachers and overambitious parents tend to push this kind of learning.
And, from our experience, it usually ends with the student quitting. Or being miserable.
A skilled teacher has the ability to turn the dial on the difficulty and the challenges based on the student's needs. We meet the students where they are and guide them up the mountain, step by step.
The best part about finding flow with our students is they not only reach the top of the mountain, but they get to enjoy the sights along the way.
And it's not hard. It's actually pretty fun.