25 Things 25 Years of Teaching Music Has Taught Me
On Tuesday 21st August 2001, I taught my very first piano lesson.
I don’t remember many of the details of that day, but I do remember feeling a mixture of excitement and uncertainty. I had no idea that one lesson would become a career spanning a quarter of a century.
25 years later, I’ve had the privilege of teaching children taking their very first musical steps, teenagers discovering who they are as individuals, adults returning to music after long breaks and even people in their eighties proving it’s never too late to begin.
I’ve prepared students for exams, accompanied performances, arranged workshops, celebrated results, shared disappointments and watched countless people discover that they were capable of far more than they believed.
Looking back, I haven’t just spent 25 years teaching music - I’ve spent 25 years learning.
Here are 25 of the lessons my students have taught me.
Confidence often comes before ability
Again and again I’ve seen students flourish, not because they suddenly become more talented, but because they began to believe they could.
Every student is different
No two students learn in the same way. Good teaching isn’t about finding one method that works for everyone, but discovering what helps each individual student to thrive.
Patience is never wasted
Real progress and development rarely happens overnight. Sometimes the greatest breakthroughs arrive almost unnoticed after weeks or months of quiet persistence.
Encouragement is powerful
I’ve lost count of the number of times a few encouraging words have unlocked something which technical instruction alone never could.
Music lessons aren’t just about music
People bring their whole lives into the teaching studio - busy weeks, difficult days, celebrations, disappointments, dreams, sadness, despair and hope. Music becomes a gateway to something much deeper.
Humour is an essential teaching tool
Some of the best learning happens between the laughter - sometimes the most courageous steps forward come from a student who feels relaxed and at ease.
People need someone to believe in them
One of the greatest privileges of teaching is seeing the potential in people before they see it themselves.
Hidden gifts are waiting to be discovered
As teachers, we can often see things in students that they can’t yet see themselves. That is a powerful thing.
Progress isn’t always measurable
Not every success comes with a certificate. Sometimes the biggest achievements happen in the quietest ways.
Confidence never hurries
Confidence doesn’t appear all at once, it grows one lesson, one scale, one piece, one performance and one small step at a time.
Adults are extraordinary learners
Some students start lessons in retirement - others return to an instrument they left behind 40, 50, 60 years ago. They remind me that curiosity has no age limit.
It’s never too late to begin again
Music has a wonderful way of welcoming people home, however long they’ve been away, and it is at those times that they discover music was something missing from their lives.
Learning flourishes when people feel safe
I cannot create a perfect lesson - they don’t exist - but I hope I can offer an environment in which mistakes are a normal part of learning.
Joy matters
If lessons aren’t enjoyable, something has been lost. It doesn’t mean that they aren’t hard work sometimes, but ultimately, music should enrich life, not become another source of pressure.
Technique serves expression
Scales, breathing, posture and rhythm all matter - but only because they help a musician to communicate something meaningful.
Listening is one of a teacher’s greatest skills
The best lessons have listening at their heart - to the music, to the student and to what is being said.
Music builds community
Some of my happiest memories aren’t always from individual lessons but from concerts, rehearsals and workshops where people discovered the joy of shared music-making.
Students remember how you make them feel
Years later, people rarely talk about a particular exercise, their favourite scale or the mark they got in an exam, they remember feeling encouraged, supported, nurtured and understood.
Small steps make for remarkable journeys
Weekly lessons can seem fairly ordinary, but looking back over the years, they become extraordinary.
Music gives people confidence beyond music
I’ve watched students become more confident, not just as musicians, but at school, at work and in daily life.
Music helps us through difficult seasons
Music has helped students through bereavement, illness, divorce and anxiety. That power is immeasurable.
Teachers don’t always see the impact they have
Often it’s parents and former students who remind us, sometimes years later, of the importance of the space we offer.
Curiosity helps us grow
Whether students are eight or 88, there’s always more to discover, explore and learn - together.
Relationships matter more than results
There have been many wonderful achievements over the past 25 years, but it’s the conversations, the laughter and the lifelong friendships which remain with me most.
Music helps people become more fully themselves
Perhaps this is the greatest lesson of all. I’ve come to realise that teaching music isn’t really about producing better singers, pianists or flautists. It’s about helping people discover confidence, creativity, resilience and joy - music is simply the gateway through which all those are possible.
When I taught that very first lesson 25 years ago, I thought my job was about teaching people to read the notes on the stave, clap rhythms and improve their technique. It’s not that those things don’t matter - they do - but over the years my students have shown me that music education is about so much more than passing exams or perfecting performances.
It’s about encouraging people, building confidence, nurturing curiosity and helping others discover possibilities they never imagined for themselves.
My students have taught me every bit as much as I’ve taught them, if not more.
Here’s to the next 25 years.
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I had no idea that one lesson in 2001 would become a career spanning a quarter of a century. So what have my students taught me over the past 25 years?