Your teachers know when you practice

We've all done it, myself included: lie to our teachers about practicing. I've came to my lessons, absolutely had no idea what I was doing and tried to "wing it", then tried to sell the fact that I "practiced."  Looking back, knowing what I know (and seeing my own students do it) now, I would never try to lie about practicing to my teachers.  All that did was make me look more stupid than I already looked and it also made me a liar.  Not good.  There are always going to be times you think you can just sight-read the material, but no matter how easy it is or how well you think you pulled it off-your teacher will be able to tell if you're sight-reading it.  

Here's the thing: YOUR TEACHERS AREN'T STUPID!! If they ask you if you've practiced, that basically means: "I know you didn't practice, now I'm just seeing if you will tell the truth."


Some of my personal favorite situations:

-When a student leaves their book behind all week and they say they practiced their lesson material.  

-When a student doesn't even know what page or even book their lesson material is for the week.  

Listen, if you have an off week, as long as it doesn't happen too often, your teachers will understand. After all, us music teachers are human beings (despite what you may think!)   Just BE HONEST!  BECAUSE THEY ALREADY KNOW! When students are honest with me, I'm disappointed they didn't practice what was expected of them, but I do appreciate that they have enough respect not to lie to my face.

Think of it this way:  When you say you practiced (after the teacher already asked, which means she knows you didn't), this is basically what happens to you in a teacher's mind in the lesson room: 

So, the moral of this article is-don't lie about practicing.  We know when you practice, and we have a pretty good idea of how often you practice, and we know when you simply don't practice at all.  Don't try to pull a "I'm going to just sight-read through my lesson and I'll be fine."  Even if you sight-read something easy and it's 90% good, we will STILL know you didn't practice, because odds are, if it's easy, it should be 100% good if you practiced the way you were supposed to.  

After reading this, are you starting to feel guilty? Don't worry...

A message for all the guilty Pinocchio's out there:  

Now, if you're like me and have made the mistake of lying to your teachers and now you realize they know you lied to them, don't panic.  It's not like we hold it against you because we've done it ourselves to our own teachers growing up.  However, now that you know this:  don't let it happen again!  If you've had an off-week, then just explain to your teachers why.  Don't lie.  Lying won't make your lesson any better, and it certainly won't make your relationship with your teacher any better.  Better yet, just practice to avoid all of this headache!!! Your nose will also appreciate it ;)  



~Regina

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