Chapter 5: Motivation


In my experience as a teacher, I have noticed that sometimes my students feel disappointed when they struggle to play new notes or exercises, even after days or weeks of practice. This feeling of constant failure can really affect their confidence and hinder their development. Personally, I believe that children take lessons because they enjoy playing, but if the lessons are always too difficult, it might become demotivating.

I have also observed that parents can feel disappointed when their child does not progress as quickly as they have expected. They may wonder why their child has not improved more, especially after paying for the lessons and bringing them to class every week.

In my teaching experience, I have seen that method books can sometimes create specific expectations for students and parents, which can lead to disappointment if those expectations are not met. For example, some parents might think that a book with 20 lessons should be finished in 20 weeks, assuming their child is practicing enough. However, learning an instrument like the horn is more complex than just following a book, and progress can take more time than expected. 

I often have to explain to my students and their parents that playing the horn is more than just pressing the right valves and reading music. It requires physical strength and development, which takes time. Most children can not master a lesson's content in just one week. 

How can the student and teacher deal with this frustration? How can a teacher ensure that students stay motivated or become motivated?

 

There are different theories about how motivation works, but according to Susan Williams1, motivation is a mix of different things that make us want to do things. Three things are very important:

  1. Autonomy: have a choice.
  2. Competence: feeling that you are getting better at something.
  3. Connectedness: Beging connected to others. (This will be further explained later.)

There are two main kinds of motivation:

  1. Extrinsic: this ones comes from things outside, like reward or punishment.
  2. Intrinsic: this one comes from inside, like when you are interested in something or enjoying doing it.


Kevan Lee wrote an ariticle about 'Your Brain on Dopamine'. He says that in our brains, there are chemicals that help keep us focused and alert. One of these, called dopamine, is really important for making us feel good when we achieve something. When we do something well, like finish a task, it makes us feel good. This feeling is because our brains release dopamine, which makes us want to do more of the same thing. So, when we succeed at something, it makes us want to keep trying.2


In a personal interview with Williams, it seems that the following things are important to obtain and maintain motivation.

  • Creating a supportive environment: it is important to make a motivating environment for children to practice music, especially with so many distractions like social media and computergames. Williams: ''This is even harder than it ever has been before because of the demands on children's attention, and there are very attractive demands like things to do with the internet, and that they have so much more to do than they did a few generations ago. Their time is packed, and their attention is being stolen by social media, computer games, and all the other things they do as well as all the other things they do. So it gets harder and harder to motivate someone to do something like practicing. Because practicing is not as powerful as something on a computer or something on a device.''

  • The challenge should match the skill: a task that is too difficult causes stress, and a task that is too easy causes boredom. Williams: ''Because it is outside of their achievement zone, their skill is not matched by the challenge; the challenge is too high. So we need to bring the challenge down and play around with what they can do. If you are unable to play the pieces, you should not be trying to play them. You need pieces you can play and then maybe make versions of them until, so there needs to be much more nuance in the zone of where they are. So lots of ways to play that piece so that it is still interesting. Otherwise, they are bored. And that also is a stress, you know, another kind of stress, or they are too challenged or they are too bored. So in order to stay in the interesting, the flow zone where the challenge and the skill are meeting, you need lots more material at that level. And I think most method books don't have enough material.''

 

  • Focus on process, not just the results: celebrating small achievements helps kids feel good about their progress and keeps them interested. Williams: ''We need to find ways to help not only children, but any learner, to actually enjoy the process. So, enjoy the doing of it.'' [...] ''The fact that it is focused on performance actually could make people not want to do it because it takes a long time to get good at something. And not many young people have the patience or are able to see their progress."
 
  • Tracking the progress: this helps to focus on what does work instead of what does not work. Williams: ''The best thing is to remind them of what they've already done, because they they think that they have not made much. Mostly they have not. They think they have not made enough progress. And you point out because so you need to document this is self regulation. You need to document or help them to document their process so that they can see what they've achieved.''

 

  • Intrinsic motivation: kids enjoy music more when they feel like they are getting better. It helps to give them choices and show them how they have improved over the time. Williams: ''We know that motivation works best when it is intrinsic, when that person is coming from within themselves. So learning and understanding intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation is not bad, whether they receive a reward or punishment. Punishment, I wouldn't recommend, of course. But rewards, of course, you know, are interesting''

 

  • Connectedness and collaboration: Many kids like learning together. Playing music with others lets them work together and learn from each other. Williams: ''there is competence and there is autonomy. The other thing is connectedness. So, children and everybody learns better when they are connected to other people. If you get them to do a duet with you or someone else, or if children play in a little group or a band, they tend to get better than those who practice alone all the time and never play with other people. Playing with other people is very motivating because you want to do a good job since you are playing with the group. But you are also inspired by the other people, and you are also having fun with them. So, you forget how hard it is, and you are just getting better. Connecting with other people is really motivating for most people.''

 

  • Making learning fun: playing games and doing creative activities makes learning music more enjoyable. Williams: ''It has to be fun. Children are not interested in anything that does not engage them in a good way. They will not do it. So we need to find tricks. Well, we have not answered the question, have we? So how do we get them to enjoy it? It is to make it fun''

 

  • Encouraging exploration: Letting kids try new things on their instrument, like making up their own music, helps them stay interested. Williams: ''get them to enjoy this exploring idea rather than a kind of an achievement idea. Of course, achievements are the side effect of exploration. So if they can really get into this mode of let us get to know that and let us explore that. And then then you recognize, oh, actually, i have achieved something. So achievement is a side effect of being this in this process.''

 

  • Managing frustration: it is important to help kids deal with feeling frustrated. Focusing on the progress can help. Williams: ''you are always frustrated with the thing you are trying to do now, and you have forgotten all those achievements from before. So, a lot of people are very busy with their to-do lists. A colleague of mine put it very nicely. We should have a "tada" list. Right? So, look at these great things you did and listen to how it sounded a month ago. And now listen to it. Do you recognize what is happened?''

 

  • Support by parents: parents should encourage their kids to practice music without being too strict. They can help by making a routine, offering rewards, and being interested. Williams: "Show me what you are doing," and then have them play it. Then, you can say, "Oh, great! that is interesting."

 

  • Flexible learning: learning music should be structured but also allow kids to explore what they are interested in. Interactive materials and personalization can make learning more fun and engaging. Williams: '' I think a method should have a nice, robust structure that is really flexible, that has it is got a structure, but it is like make the book into a playground rather than a set of rules. So it somehow invites someone to try out things and to track how they are going. But it is not that should not have constraints like you have to do it in a certain amount of time.''

  

The Australian horn teacher Sarah Brien also has her own insights into motivation. As a teacher, you share responsibility for your student's motivation. You need to be careful. Brien: ''I think if you push them too fast, too quickly, and too far, they are going to get turned away and they are not going to want to play. So, like, i have had students where i have had to kind of say like, hey, let me forget about that exercise and do something totally different because clearly that is not something that you are comfortable with at the moment or clearly something that you are struggling with. And trying to get them to do something entirely different and trying to find something that they are good at, that they are comfortable playing and then basing the exercises around that. [...] I think it is very useful in keeping them motivated because, you know, it only takes a little bit for them to start turning away and then it is very hard to get them back on track.''


During an interview, Brien gave the following advice on the creation and maintenance of motivation:

  • Tailoring lessons and homework to the student's current comfort level to avoid pushing them too fast or too far, which could discourage them from playing.
  • Incorporating short bursts of practice instead of long chunks to prevent boredom.
  • Allowing students to choose pieces they want to learn rather than dictating what they should play all the time, as this can keep them motivated. (In this regard, it seems prudent for the teacher to oversee the difficulty level. If the student chooses something that is far too difficult and therefore can not be accomplished, it seems like a less favorable idea.) 


Agrell also speaks about motivation. Agrell states: "The traditional view of what to study generally spends too little time on understanding how the horn works and instead goes directly to conforming to the dictates of music theory. [....] Many methods also make the grave mistake of progressing too rapidly (skill-building takes time) or in an unhelpful order, or both." 3


Agrell draws inspiration from how video game designers achieve their goals and suggests that horn study could perhaps take a cue from this. Agrell says the following: "let us invent a video game to illustrate how this might work. We will call our game 'Attack of the Alien Spiders'. It goes like this: You start the game on your computer. A big, slow, hairy spider crawls menacingly toward your avatar on the screen. You are equipped with some kind of virtual ray gun to try to zap the spider before it gets you. At first, you are not very familiar with it, so you miss a lot. But this is level 1, so you keep at it and acquire sufficient skills fairly quickly to zap the spider every time. If this were all there was to the game, you would grow bored very quickly and quit playing. So the game designers advance you to level 2 where they increase the challenge. Now two spiders come at you, but they are a little smaller and faster, so you need to increase and build on the zapping skills you acquired in level 1. It takes a little longer this time but you are still able to do this fairly quickly. What should come next? Level 3 and three (smaller and faster) spiders, of course. But consider this: What if instead of three spiders you suddenly had to deal with forty-three very quick and tiny spiders? That is simple. You would fail early and often. If you were very determined, you might eventually be able to deal with that many spiders, but most likely you would quit in frustration. [...] Traditional horn methods are usually written by an expert who is comfortable up around 495 spiders worth of technique, and who has long since forgotten what it is like to be down around two spiders or so. His method might start on level 4, then go to 19, then 33, then 6, then 13, then 47 and so on. The exercises might all be perfectly fine in themselves since they skip over some skills and sometimes progress out of order, they often make learning slower and more frustrating than it needs to be. The ideal method book should be like our spider video game in that it adds one skill - the right skill - at a time. Each level should be just a little bit more challenging than the last. [...] In sum: Learning processes most easily and smoothly if technical exercises are appropriate to current development and are arranged progressively in small increments of difficulty. [...] A teacher can and should use existing methods, but must keep in mind that the order of the material is likely to have skill gaps or is not in a truly progressive order and it is certainly not in an order to fit every player."4 

What can I learn from this? In conclusion, based on the insights from interviews with Williams and Brien, it seems important to me to consider a few things when creating a teaching method:

  1. Set achievable goals. Realistic goals prevent students from feeling discouraged and keep them motivated to improve.

  2. Use a variety of duets. This helps students play together and feel connected.

  3. Offer different practice materials. Giving students options lets them learn in their own way and keeps them interested.

  4. Include activities like improvisation and musical games. These make learning enjoyable and help students explore their creativity.

  5. The role of the teacher is crucial in imparting knowledge and stimulating students! It is important to ensure that the lesson is enjoyable and to motivate your student. Simply following a method is not enough; creativity plays a significant role because no two students are alike, and different approaches may be needed to effectively convey the material. A teacher who can creatively handle the material can make the learning experience more interesting and engaging, thereby increasing students' motivation and enhancing their learning. Williams: ''You need lots more material in that level. And I think most method books don't have enough material. Right? Or the teacher does not have enough ways to play with the material.  It is doing it in all kinds of ways. And not just in this way, repeated over and over, boring, boring, not this again, you know. So it can be played with. A simple thing can be played in lots of ways and be creative with it from the teacher and then until the student also is creative. Or you need more things like that. Lots more material, especially in the lower levels, to keep them interested. To keep them feeling like they are achieving things''.