Motivation Issues

AndyT
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Sun Jun 06, 2010 3:34 am

I would really love it if everyone would chime in and give ways to motivate people to practice. It's the major hurdle when teaching anything. How to get people to practice. Help please.


Chasplaya
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Sun Jun 06, 2010 3:43 am

No single answer to this Andy, different people are motivated by different things. However, I think everyone needs goals and as a teacher you may need to work alongside your students to establish what these guitar goals are. Once a goal is attained you can help further motivation by praise or reward depending on the person. Goals need to be attainable though as if they are out of reach that can have the adverse effect on montivation. Rewards can be many different things, ranging from a tangible monetary prize to the less tangigble like the succesful student gets to select the next song to learn from ensure you set the range to choose from so the song level is commensurate with student experience. Praise either private or public acclaim depends on the student and the circumstances.


tovo
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Sun Jun 06, 2010 3:55 am

Motivation comes from encouragement from my point of view. Not everyone is good at encouraging others. Some are so self absorbed that they care only for themselves and can't be bothered taking the time to give some praise to those who really need a boost. Not unqualified praise mind you, there is little point in telling someone they are great when they clearly need a lot of work, but nothing motivates like knowing there are people behind you.


willem
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Sun Jun 06, 2010 4:07 am

How do you get people on to practice is how Do you get people to a dieet,,when the summer is coming well they go for the dieet couse that bikini must fit..lol.
Sometimes i try people to go and see TG(They ask me were i learn),,when you are a compleet beginner, well you must go throu all the frustratings and a lot of theory,,that can be sad and not motivating,, i think then that you must be the motivater in why and why and why,,you must know the person in how he is,,(curious to learn,,hard worker,,etc),, i for example 'm all over the place and that's not good,but i practice),,i love to practice ,sometimes i practice the song dead,,,then i go to something else(song),but alway's one i like and hope to play on a friends evening or BBQ,,the only way to learn a song is practice,practice,practice in the good way and that we find here,,so i say to people,,go and see TG..


Chasplaya
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Sun Jun 06, 2010 6:14 am

tovo wrote:
there is little point in telling someone they are great when they clearly need a lot of work, but nothing motivates like knowing there are people behind you.
Good point Tony, when someone is not doing great, a coaching technique is the sandwich method start of with praise then make the point about what needs improving and try to get them to come up with the answer then round of the coaching point with something positive.


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neverfoundthetime
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Sun Jun 06, 2010 10:02 am

Make it fun to practice. Set reachable goals. Let the student pick a fun song or one he always wanted to play... if necessary make a simpler version of it so it is a goal within reach. Nothing is more powerful than intrinsic motivation.Setting reachable goals re-motivates when the goals are attained. Nothing succeeds like success. Find positive, sincere things things to say. If you are going to criticise something, highlight other relevant positive points first.:-) More praise and encouragement.


tovo
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Sun Jun 06, 2010 11:35 am

I thought more about this. I am flooding the forum a bit I know, but I CAN'T sleep! :S

One really positive technique I remember from my teaching days is that no matter what fault you find and correct, always finish the critique with a positive point. It was a technique rammed home to me, "always finish on a high". At times a teacher I think can become overly focused on the problems that need to be addressed which is natural, that's a large part of his or her role. But we should never forget that people need to feel that their efforts are recognised and a bit of praise is a powerful reward. I guess if an individual's progress is particularly slow it can be difficult to find postives to highlight, but in relation to learning guitar you could always praise an individual's persistance, patience, determination etc. It's still motivating even if it's not directly related to playing.


BigBear
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Sun Jun 06, 2010 12:07 pm

Modern society is now comprised of people who need immediate feedback for everything. We no longer take the long term view of things. We call it instant gratification.

So at the individual level this means that setting lofty, long term goals isn't going to work for most people. Even the concept of "building blocks" is a poor motivator.

To motivate people it is critical to very carefully discover what they want from whatever activity they are doing. I assume Andy's question was regarding music or the guitar.

If we took a poll of new players as to why they want to learn the guitar I'd bet a beer that 90%+ would say "to learn to play songs I like". They don't give a wit about theory, or technique! WE all know that stuff is critical to long term improvement but it's not a motivator.

In my view, the reason TARGET is so successful is because it dangles the carrot in front of us regardless of skill level. It uses the music, and the hope of playing songs we like, as THE motivator to more practice and to learn those things we have no interest in. It makes the music reachable, but only if we stretch. And then it rewards us by giving us songs that have now become easy to play. That is the gratification part. It constantly reaffirms that all our practice and work is valid and useful.

So Chris is correct. Every person has their own wants and needs so then cater to them. Keep it fun by satisfying those needs. Motivate by taking baby steps and constantly reaffirming the individual. The motivation isn't practice, it's playing the song! Let the individual decide how badly they want it.

Most teachers badly miss the mark whether in music or general educarion. You don't motivate by mandate. Telling a new player to learn scales won't ever motivate. Putting them in a position of choice so that they can achieve their goal only if they learn scales is far more effective. They can keep playing Campfire songs or develop better skills but it is solely up to them.

Motivation comes from within! :cheer:


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Music Junkie
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Sun Jun 06, 2010 1:17 pm

Andy:

Just watch Neil's responses to the uploaded videos..... He is excellent at pointing out what needs to be fixed, while at the same time making you feel really good about what you have accomplished. I would say that, from my personal experience, it is often hard to motivate people that don't REALLY want to get better. The suggestions about making sure to give a student a song that he/she wants to learn and making obtainable goals are spot on.

J


AndyT
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Sun Jun 06, 2010 11:58 pm

Lots of good stuff here. Anyone else want to add to it?


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