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Once
you have got your student to understand a particular aspect
of music theory don't just tick it off the list and move on.
Make sure you continually call upon this new-found comprehension
in subsequent lessons. Get them to use the information repeatedly.
So one week you have got your student to work out the names
of the notes up the E string. Next lesson, as part of the
warm up, get them to name a few notes at random. Get them
to work out barre chords at different positions using this
information. Get them to write a simple riff based on the
notes to one chord or something - anything that gets them
to use the information. The following week ask them to draw
a diagram naming the notes. Week three play some different
notes and get them to name them. Touch on the subject each
week until your student can work with the information unhesitantly.
My Golden Rule Number 7 says:
Only by repeated use in varying situations is a concept
thoroughly understood
One interesting aspect of this is the general tendency for
tutors to assume that after a brief explanation of something
the student will, as if by magic, instantly have the same
level of familiarity with that concept as the tutor themself.
You have just told the student that the major scale is made
up of notes from the chromatic scale according to the formula:
Tone, Tone, SemiTone, Tone, Tone, Tone, SemiTone
They have worked out the notes on the C major and G major
scales.
"Right" you say "Now you can work out all the chords in Bb major"
No they can't! Right at this point they are hanging on by their finger-tips! They need to spend time repeatedly using the information you have taught them until the feel of what a major scale is has permeated their thoughts and feelings. Until they can spot one by ear, by sight and by smell! That's when it might make sense to move on and see what else we can extrapolate from the major scale.
As a reasonably advanced player you have come across the major scale in many different guises; approached it from several different angles; seen many sides to it. It's like an old friend whose habits and peculiarities are all known to you. But when your student is first introduced to this scale they are like someone introduced to a new person - the act of introduction is only a point of departure. Getting to know someone is a gradual process. Getting to know concepts in music theory or in any other subject must likewise be seen as a gradual process.
The way to get familiar with a concept is by repeated and varied use of that concept. Application of this approach to teaching requires the tutor to be very creative. You have to constantly think of new applications of the theory you are teaching. In so doing, you will be pleasantly surprised how your own knowledge, appreciation and ability to apply music theory will evolve.
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