Missed practice times, skip or drop lessons?

​Have you found yourself in this position? It’s been a busy week, or three, and there hasn’t been a whole lot of practicing happening. Should you skip your lesson this week? Should you just drop lessons altogether? 

 
Hopefully it’s consoling to realize EVERY musician finds themselves in this position from time to time! Life gets complicated and we all go through seasons of more or less practicing. There may be a need to reprioritize or make a schedule adjustment, but don’t skip the lesson!
 
A solid week of practice between lessons is always the hope for student and teacher alike. But if this doesn’t happen, it’s absolutely better to still attend your lesson. Here are a few reasons: 
 
Firstly, looking at what you are working on again with your instructor will better prepare you to dive back in. The longer it’s been since you or your child has seen the material, the harder it’s going to be to remember exactly what you were supposed to be doing. 
 
Additionally, meeting with your teacher will give you another dose of motivation to get the ball rolling again. The accountability of sitting down with another human, taking stock and making a plan for improvement is one of the most underemphasized aspects of lessons!
 
And finally, reviewing material can never hurt either! If you or your child didn’t get to spend the time practicing that you’d hoped since your last lesson, simply seeing the material presented again can be helpful. Considering the information again will help you to understand it better and maybe even grant additional insights. This can be just the extra boost of motivation needed to get the practicing routine back on track! 
 
Don’t sweat the missed practice time or cancel your lesson! Just be honest with your instructor. Then they can accurately assess your performance and help motivate you to practice more this week. Learning music is a voyage, don’t let a little turbulence deter it!