Do You Need a Teacher to Learn Music Effectively?
1. Yes & Maybe 🤔
A question that I get asked frequently (particularly as my content has reached more self-taught learners) is; do you NEED a teacher in order to get good at music?
In isolation, this is a rather more difficult question to answer then it initially might appear because it largely depends on two things; what is meant by “good at music” and what perceived rate of progression do you need in order to stay committed and continue to feel excited about learning the instrument!
Firstly, being “good at music” can look different for each learner. One person might be aiming for being a classical concert pianist, whereas another might be aiming for being a great jazz solo player. Both of these can be considered “good at music” but in very different ways.
Secondly, as with any attempt at acquiring a skill there are many factors that can contribute to the rate at which you can progress. For music this can include things like the amount of time you practice, whether you have a teacher or not, the efficiency of your practice, your goal management, the attainability of your goals and many other factors.
Manipulating these factors can increase your perceived rate of progress and help you to stay motivated over the long term.
Ultimately, a teacher CAN drastically increase your rate of progression, but you don’t NEED a teacher in order to progress when learning an instrument. Given enough time and tolerance for the process you can definitely learn by yourself. However, it’s important to be aware that learning by yourself will take more time because you will need to work out; what you need to learn next, what mistakes you might be making, how to practice most effectively, how to fix technical problems, how to understand the music etc.
Fortunately, there are many online resources and courses that can help with this as they can give you structure and a path to follow, having said this they won’t be able to predict your specific needs, knowledge gaps or issues.
2. Zone of Proximal Development 🎯
One key concept that helps us understand the difference between learning by yourself or learning with a teacher, is a concept developed by Lev Vygotsky called “The Zone of Proximal Development”.
This model shows us that by ourselves we have a range that we are able to work within, we are able to attain knowledge from this smaller pool of available information. With assistance, this range greatly expands and we are able to learn and take in much more information. When compounded over time we are therefore able to progress at a much quicker rate.
This is because someone more knowledgeable in a subject is able to give specific information that is appropriate to both the level and knowledge gaps of someone hoping to acquire that skill. Which means that you can stretch to more challenging concepts without confusion or the fear of hindering your long term progress by spending too much time trying to decipher what you are actually doing!
Another concept developed as part of this model is the idea of “scaffolding”. Scaffolding is a process in which a teacher will provide the necessary help and taper off this help as the student is able to manage by themselves. If you think of how scaffolding acts for a building, once the building is able to stand by itself, the scaffolding can be removed. Having someone that can provide you with that help and then allow you to build your own familiarity with the concepts is a much more secure and quicker way of gaining competence in music.
An example of this might be learning the concept of the “harmonic minor scales” because it has come up in a piece of music that you are learning. A teacher can show you what the scale is, why it is used, which fingers to use to play it and give you examples of it being used in various contexts. Once the concept is understood then you can go and practice the concept and you can find it in pieces for yourself. Without the teacher in this scenario, this may not have been information that you were aware that you needed to learn and you may have never learned it, which would hinder your playing of future pieces of music.
This is how a teacher can benefit your learning process, but as well as this, a teacher is also a great accountability partner. When learning by yourself, not only can you potentially miss valuable information, but it can also be difficult to keep practicing when you have nothing specific to practice or a date/time that you are aiming to have practiced it by. It’s the same reason that going to work is a great way of getting you out of bed in the morning, having an upcoming lesson is a great way of giving you a reason to practice when the initial motivation isn’t enough of a driving force by itself anymore.
3. What Are Your Intentions? 😬
There are many reasons why lessons are a quicker and more effective way of learning (providing you have a good teacher). However, not everyone needs to be efficient or needs the input of a teacher. Unlike many other learning endeavours, it is the process of playing and learning that makes music enjoyable. For most people, it’s a recreational activity and something fun to do and see yourself getting better at regardless of the speed at which you improve!
If you are someone that has no intention of pushing yourself and seeing how far you can go or if you are the type of person that just wants to learn a few chords to be able to play some songs you like, then maybe you won’t need a teacher at all. Many of the basics in music can now be learned online and fit into the “things the learner can do on their own” of the Zone of Proximal Development chart.
However, if you want to progress more quickly, you want to push yourself, you work best with accountability and you want to ensure you are learning the right things, then maybe having regular lessons or seeing a teacher every once in a while will be that missing piece of the puzzle.
Matthew Cawood
(This is from my “Monday Music Tips“ weekly email newsletter. Join my mailing list to be emailed with future posts.)