Sorry in advance if this is a long post but I feel I really need some help and advice.

I'm a clarinet teacher; started teaching 5 years ago, qualified to DipABRSM level.
Just recently, in the last year or two, I've begun to feel that all the joy has gone out of the job and I am finding it very dull. My teaching seems to have turned in to me 'giving the pupils a list of things to put right' in pieces, and I can't seem to find any enthusiasm for the job anymore. About two years ago I took on a challenging school teaching 20 minute lessons (oh God) which I think has made the problem worse.

I never had a nice teacher when I was learning and used to come out of my lessons crying. Further, I'm not sure I ever heard 'music' for his reason, but more 'sound.' This makes it very hard to teach 'music', rather than 'notes', of course. My problem, as I see it, is that I almost am not sure why people learn music.

I have a great relationship with all my kids and relate to them well, but I just don't know how to break this feeling of joylessness. I have had issues with depression in the past but I don't feel this is the reason I am not enjoying my job. None of my pupils are practising, even though they like me and I like them a lot. (I ought to say that I did enjoy the work in the first two years but then it was still a novelty!)

Any help whatsoever, or even comments, would be very valuable to me as they would give me food for thought. Thanks

Hi there,

Sorry your feeling so bad.

I've had depression in the past and although you say you don't feel it is the reason you're not enjoying the job at the minute, it might be worthwhile examining how you feel about life "in general" or maybe talking to your doc. Sometimes depression creeps up on you if you're prone to it (I am) and there's a lot that can be done to help prevent it getting to severe stages.

Obviously you did find enjoyment in music to have gained a dipABRSM. What you say about teaching being a novelty for a while made me think though. I get great pleasure from playing piano but just as much pleasure from helping others play. It's possible (and I'm sure quite usual) that lots of musicians are good at performing and enjoy it, but wouldn't get the same enjoyment from teaching it.

It's too early I'm sure to decide whether it's definitely for you or not, but it's all worth thinking about if you are becoming dejected in your work. I have pupils who don't do much practice either, but most do so. I think it's fair to say that not everyone you teach will be as enthusiastic as you are no matter how much you love music. Maybe most pupils were inspired by your initial enthusiasm but you let the ones who weren't get you down too much?

xxx

Try and think about what kind of music you like and start from there. If you're really enthusiastic about a particular genre of music then you may well be able to find a way to communicate this enthusiasm or at the very least, interest - to your students, and take this as a starting place.

Supposing for example folk music gets you going in some way - hunt around for some folk for clarinet, play some to your students and see if this sparks of an interest in at least one of them. Then find some clarinet duets, or write harmony parts yourself and play along with them - this could certainly help stimulate some interest, and it's the interest that leads to practising - one of them very often feeds on the other.

If none of this seems possible in your current frame of mind then I would suggest you get some counselling or seek some kind of treatment for depression. Wishing you the very best of luck in your attempts to turn this situation around.....

My advice would be to make sure that you are allowing enough time for your own music-making and musical development. If you aren't doing enough of what you yourself like musically, it is very easy to get bogged down with the teaching......

Though I'm often asked if I could teach at weekends, I have always preferred to keep those days clear for my own activities - I feel that after a full week's teaching I really need to recharge my musical batteries. My preferred way of doing this is music-making with others - I belong to a couple of SRP (Society of Recorder Players) branches, the London Recorder Orchestra, a local recorder consort as well as several ad-hoc ones, and I go on quite a few playing days and chamber music weekend courses (some involving clarinet, some recorder) each year, as well as a week-long Early Music course. It's very rare for me to have a free weekend, but I would languish without all this musical activity! I find that the pleasure I get from playing with others makes me want to do the same for my pupils, and I'm sure it makes me a better teacher than I would be otherwise.

Hi everyone,

Thanks very much for all your input. I'll certainly try all the suggestions x

My gut reaction on reading your post is that your problem is directly related to your own experience of instrumental tuition - and this is hardly surprising. Your own teacher obviously had a very negative effect on you. Our early experiences of life have a very big impact on how we view things. You are probably terrified of having the same effect on your own pupils - hence you find it very difficult to be firm about practice. Your pupils sense this and do none, and the following week you feel even more demoralised.

The teaching dip taught you a lot, but I wonder if it might be a good idea to explore some other teacher training options where you can mix with other teachers, share your feelings and explore different methods of teaching. I seem to bang on about the CT course all the time these days, but the first assignment of the course involved exploring the effect our own teachers had on us & how that has affected our teaching today. Many people, like you, reported negative experiences. Talking all this out with people who are sympathetic might be really helpful for you. I appreciate the CT course is an expensive option, but there may be other courses that cover this. If it isn't possible because of time or financial constraints, some counseling would probably be helpful to help you work through these issues.

Whatever you decide to do, hope it works out for you.

Sorry you are feeling so bad. I agree that some of this is probably related to your own experiences and was going to suggest some training too - CT sounds good, or maybe just one or two of the days which the AB run (jazz workshops, introducing new syllabi, etc). Can you set yourself a musical goal which you'd enjoy - a concert, an exam or simply learning something new? Perhaps you could also have a few lessons yourself - I'm sure someone here could recommend an inspiring teacher who might be able to give you some fresh ideas. Are you friendly with any instrumental-teaching colleagues who might let you observe them? Perhaps none of this is helpful, but I'm just trying to come up with ideas.

If none of the suggestions on here help, I would go to see your doctor. There are so many times when I've felt 'in control' of my mental health issues and blamed my feelings on circumstances, but actually my own problems HAD crept up on me and were making me feel horrible. That might not be the case for you, but please don't rule it out.

Ellie

Yes, I feel also that my bad experience as a kid is probably why I feel like this now. All very good ideas. I'd like to sit in on some teaching, as it would enable me to literally visualise how a feel-good lesson ought to be. I'd rather not ask collegues at school, however, as it may look like I'm not supposed to be doing the job(!). But I think that is exactly the sort of thing I need, as well as as you say, the chance to mix with other teachers. Infact, if anyone can suggest someone they know who wouldn't mind a sitter...
Thanks !

First of all, acknowledge that it's OK to not enjoy your teaching - I've been doing the job long enough to know that it's not necessarily my fault if a lesson is boring or depressing. It takes two to make a lesson go well!
Then do a lot of playing with them. Duets are a great way of motivating students and it makes you fell better too. Somebody else suggested folk music which is also a great idea as is improvising also.
Good Luck and enjoy the holiday.

This has really hit the spot for me and made me realize something that i have been quite unaware of in the past. I began learning clarinet at the age of 12 and was terrified of my teacher to the point that i stopped eating and would do anything to avoid school on a Friday (the day of my lesson). I still remember the feeling of standing in the corridor waiting for the pupil before me to come out, a sick feeling in my stomach and close to tears. To cut a long story short, i didn't want to disappoint my mother by dropping out of lessons so i stuck with it until i left school (6 years of this every week) I recall bending down to pick up my music book from the floor which she had knocked off the music stand in a fit of rage, and my hand being trodden upon while she exited the room and left me in floods of tears. Imagine if that was nowadays?? Anyway, I had such a horrible experience that it has left me unable to raise my voice or be firm with my younger pupils for fear of upsetting them and bringing my own bad experiences flooding back. I teach more adults and teenagers than i do young children so this problem doesn't arrise too often. I have noticed many of my adult pupils say that i'm "always nice" to them - it's just the way i am and would never upset any of my pupils. I've never understood how shouting at someone the way my teacher did with me would possibly make a student immediately play a scale properly! Anyway, i just wanted to say thanks to the person who started this post, and also to the answers i have read so far. The above quote is very true for me.

It's rare that a post makes me tearful, but this one did. What a horrible experience! It says a great deal for your determination that you are a teacher yourself having gone through what you have. I'm glad this thread is a help to you, and I too am glad Clarinet1 started it.

Me too. The awful thing is, this harridan might still be teaching and inflicting such misery on other children.
Good for you, hammer action (strange name for a clarinettist ) in not being like that despot.
Clarinet1 - I hope this phase passes but you deserve some kind of course/break/mentoring to get past this point. I hope you find a way to make it happen.

Thank you for the replies to my earlier post. I heard a few years ago that my clarinet teacher from school was no longer teaching (thankfully!). As well as learning clarinet all through secondary school, i took standard grade and higher music also and was fortunate enough to have the most wonderful classroom music teacher that i could ever have asked for. She was a constant source of inspiration to me, encouraged me so much and basically is the reason that i am now a music teacher myself. I guess the good cancelled out the bad!

(I chose the name "hammer action" because i also play piano!)

Again, thanks for the words of encouragement

Clarinet1: Most teachers will empathise with you, I've been there myself, seeing no practice done and correcting tired old mistakes week after week. Here are some tips to lighten things for you hopefully:

Organise a concert for your pupils and their parents. (I have my annual one next week.) They WILL practise for that if nothing else, I promise you! Or any other performing opportunity, including exams if they are anywhere near ready.
Also: Get them doing fun music, things they've heard of, eg EastEnders, Simpsons, High School Musical etc. I 'm not hugely fond of most of these but I never tire of seeing the huge smiles on their faces when I tell them that's what we're doing this week!

I remember doing a few piano lessons when I was about 12, the teacher was quite impatient from what I remember, an old guy who used to pull my fingers around and who I quickly began to dislike. It put me off Piano altogether. It took years before I became remotely interested in playing again