You aren’t my hardest working pupil (and that’s ok with me!)
Image of a runner pictured from behind running on a beach at golden hour
I used to be hung up on hard work, and what that meant. I felt guilty if my week had not included a certain amount of study and practice, if I had left my desk too long, spent a day away from the piano…
I’ve struggled through singing lessons feeling shame because I felt I had not earned the right to be there from hours of work.
And then I had a lightbulb moment.
The lessons I had ‘not done enough work for’ were uplifting. I felt purpose and achievement from my time with my teacher. I worked technically on my voice that day with expert ears and guidance, and found I made headway and learned. Then when singing reperotire I found spots that needed more work were pinpointed, and sometimes things I expected not to work went unexepectedly well.
The probelm was, I was setting the barre at a level I wasn’t able to reach regularly, which made me feel like I was not acheiving enough. The probelm wasn’t actually how much I was doing, but my perception of it. I was actually doing well, especially if you take into account practice and study time over a space of time like a month, 6 months, or even a year!
If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know I’ve been going on runs semi-regularly. I am not a naturally fast runner, never have been. Instead I’ve come to terms with being slow, some weeks running more times than others, taking walking breaks, and stopping to enjoy the wildlife. This not only makes me happy but also ensures I enjoy it enough to continue!
I have slowly improved, and when I took a break when moving house I noticed my base level was higher at my return. This made me extremely happy!
In the same way, when I teach pupils singing or piano, I do not expect you to practise a certain amount of time or number of times every week. I hope you will make some space in your life to think and work on what we are doing in your lessons because I know progress is enjoyable and will give you pride in your achievement. But I don’t think any of us have the sort of life where every week is the same.
Life is much more complicated, and sometimes our work, health, and family can sometimes require more of our time and attention.
Sometimes you’ve practised a lot.
Sometimes you haven’t.
When you come to your lesson, we work on you and your voice on that day regardless of how much time you have had to work on your technique and performance. Because life is sometimes like this.
There will always be something we can work on and enjoy singing together. You don’t have to be my hardest working pupil this week.
