Teaching children is different.

To ensure that children are also matched with the teacher who best suits them, www.instrumentor.ch now shows all teachers whether and from what age they teach children. In addition, the search form can be filtered by the age of the child.

And to make this offer even more visible, we are pleased to announce today our new partnership with the association "wow-wow"!

The association "wow-wow" runs the local children's calendar of cultural & leisure activities to make the current children's cultural and leisure offer from 0-12+ years accessible to all. Teachers who wish to do so can now also be found there.

Here you can see the full range of wow-wow: wow-wow.ch

Michael teaches almost exclusively children at Instrumentor. We have therefore talked to him about the peculiarities of teaching young people.

You have been teaching children for a long time, how do you manage to keep the motivation in class high?

With children, I try to make the lessons playful, sometimes additionally with percussive instruments, depending on the age. The fun factor plays a big role. Students who play their favorite music like to practice and for me as a teacher, this can also be a lesson in current pop music!

What is the difference between adult students and children?

The communication is different. Children often tell from their everyday life. With adults, of course, this can also be the case. For the interpersonal relationship, personal conversations are also important. With children, however, there is a danger of sprawling stories that distract us from play. I try to incorporate these stories into the lesson via playing, so that the children let the guitar narrate along with them.

What does a typical lesson with a child look like for you?

As mentioned above, the introduction can be with a story. The child accompanies his narrative with guitar sounds. Then I do exercises to warm up the fingers and train fine motor skills. In the main part, we work on a piece that we can play together after a few lessons. In this process I work a lot with percussive instruments or tapping on the back of the guitar. In addition to reading music, learning to feel the beat is also a challenge. This way I bring variety into the lesson and the students stay awake and motivated. Depending on the age, concentration can drop after about 15 minutes. A lesson lasts 30 minutes for children. But if the students want to perform their piece full of pride, I prefer that of course!

What is your first question that you ask a pupil*in?

For me, there is not the one first question. Depending on the situation, the conversation arises. But it is always good to ask about the well-being, because many, especially in the first lesson, are still very reluctant. One should not want too much yet, start cautiously and first get to know the guitar and let it sound before we come to concrete tasks. That loosens the mood! And you will see, after a while they will open up more and more. At the end of the lesson, I ask how it was for them. In further lessons, I ask about their musical tastes, favorite songs, and, of course, always how practicing is going. It's important to see a structure early on.

In what way is the relationship with parents important?

When we tie in the structure of practicing, the parents play a big role. Children are quickly distracted, it is helpful that parents remind them to play regularly or practice together. This can have a motivating effect on the child and the parents can hear the progress directly. I like to be in constant exchange, so I know what is happening at home and can give tips.

How do you communicate with parents?

This can be different, via mail, Whatsapp, phone or right on the spot. Often a parent brings the child to the lesson and after the lesson there is time to talk about learning, progress, practicing or other things.

Are the parents present in the lesson?

In the beginning yes, because most children are more comfortable and the parents see right away how I teach. After that, however, it is important that there are two of us. For the young students* it's great to have their own "thing" and for the parents there is the possibility to work or read in the common room in our studio.

You teach mainly guitar, what if you notice that the child would rather play another instrument?

I have actually already experienced this. A young student wanted to switch to piano lessons. Over time, I noticed that her desire to play the guitar was waning, in that she was practicing less and less and the lessons were dragging for both of us. I tried to accommodate her as much as possible. This worked a few times until one lesson when I asked her if she wanted to continue. She answered that she would rather learn piano, but she hadn't told her parents yet. Since her mother was sitting behind the door, I suggested that the three of us discuss this right away. Learning an instrument takes time, discipline, but also joy. If this fades in the short term, it is worth biting one's teeth. Most of the time it comes back. If it no longer ignites in the long term, the conversation between teacher, parents and students should be sought.

How do you accompany the students? Do you do that at all?

Either I play along with the same notes, accompany them with chords, a second voice or tap the beat. In electric guitar lessons, I often run a drum loop or backing track along, so it sounds more like a band. Depending on the student, however, this is individual, there are also some who prefer to audition alone.

Do you have a teaching tool?

With young children I work with the guitar primer by Heinz Teuchert. This brings the basics of guitar playing. With teenagers and adults I use various books, but also material from the Internet. The older the students are, the more concrete their ideas become. Since a textbook can become too one-sided.

Do you cater to the musical tastes of the children?

Absolutely! I think it's important to let my students* play what they hear. In many cases, the taste in music was in the form of a video or a suggested Spotify song, the desire to learn guitar. Kids today are well connected and listen to a lot of music. So why not get right into it. So there is a mixture of my repertoire, the textbooks and the preference of the students.

Do they even already have a taste in music?

This varies depending on age and character. Some want to be sprinkled by me with pieces, others already have clear ideas and their own taste. In times of Spotify and Youtube, this generation is already early confronted with music in its diversity. A five-year-old can come up with the wish to play the guitar, like Gabriela from Rodrigo y Gabriela. I was amazed!