Every teacher of every instrument has encountered this problem. The first time it occurs in your studio, you are surprised. The second time it occurs (with any luck, not with the same student), you are less surprised and really ready to take charge.

The reason for “no practice” should be clearly articulated by the student. The usual suspects are sports practice, school holidays, family travel, and sometimes, general sloppiness in time management skills on the part of the student. Whatever the reason, the teacher needs to establish the importance of daily practicing in a few short but effective sentences. The student needs to understand that you take their lesson seriously and will not allow their lesson time to be wasted.

Here is where the creativity of the teacher is paramount. Unless the student’s repertoire is brand new, the teacher will have already noticed areas of difficulty or weakness in preparation. Now is the time to drill sections that are causing or could cause problems. Have the student practice short sections of a piece hands separately. Repeat five times and then play hands together slowly. If rhythmic problems occur, the student needs to count out loud, then clap the rhythm while counting out loud. Walking the rhythm while clapping is the most effective way to solve most rhythm problems. These drills can be short and sweet!

Teachers should have at least one sight-singing book and one rhythm drill book in their studio library that is age appropriate for the levels of their students. These texts offer quick, challenging, and fun exercises to help students build their musical skills in lessons.

Your creativity and passion for teaching will help produce an hour of learning out of a week of no practicing.

—Kathleen Bride

First, I make it clear that I know insufficient practice has occurred. Parents may offer excuses, but this is when I point out that music study is no less important than other studies or events. Daily practice is essential—just as it is in sports—and I expect it to occur consistently, just as a coach would (this analogy works really well). Then I discuss how to set up a practice schedule in keeping with their weekly schedule. I encourage them to find a time that is consistent (within reason), perhaps even keep a chart of their weekly practice times.

With less experienced students I then fill the lesson with coached practice. This provides a great opportunity to demonstrate such things as isolating a small passage, breaking it into tiny steps, perhaps building backwards. Then we work to achieve a perfect execution, drilling until that perfect execution occurs at least three to five times in a row.

The last step is so important because students will usually move on as soon as they have gotten one correct execution. Repeating perfection must occur in order to extinguish the gazillion times they did it incorrectly. That is usually an eye opener. I then set a specific, small goal to be achieved by the next lesson using the same type of practice. With a little effort, there is a good chance the student will succeed, and that will reinforce the development of good practice habits.

However, if a usually responsible student has had an occasional bad week, I then spend the lesson working on elements of theory or technique. There are always things that need more time in these areas of study.

—Stephanie Curcio

Every teacher has the same nightmare: the studio door opens, the initial greeting takes place, and the phrase “I did not practice” comes forth. One could write an entire manual listing the excuses, some simple and some elaborate: I cut my finger, I had exams, my cat died, I broke up with my boyfriend, my family had vacation plans, I forgot, etc.

My resolution in such cases is to be positive and productive instead of being angry. This is about self-preservation as much as anything.  If they are already in my studio, it is too late to do anything but use the time in a way that will benefit the student and keep my disappointment at bay.

There is always, always, something to do to fill up the lesson time. I often offer a sweet punishment in the form of reading through some etudes or using exercises to work on improving technique or sound quality. Often I work on sight-reading and marking fingering and pedals on a completely new piece that I would like the student to learn in the near future. At other times, I go through the old repertoire showing them how to keep the work fresh musically.

Yet another way of dealing with the situation is helping them analyze a particular piece with the goal of efficient memorizing. On several occasions, an unprepared student left the lesson with a reasonably well-memorized piece after an intense session of explaining patterns and repetitions. This is also an opportunity to show the student how to practice efficiently and, as importantly, to come to the next lesson well prepared.

Other ways of putting an otherwise wasted lesson to use include talking about their artistic development, writing down deadlines for memorizing, and scheduling practice performances for the semester.

If the student comes unprepared more than two times, it is time to suggest they consider changing majors or taking up a different hobby. Of course, our understanding and forgiving depends on the seriousness of each case; the teacher should always remember some situations are indeed unusual, and the student might well have had insufficient time to reschedule or cancel.

My idea of dealing with the situation is to turn a potential nightmare into a positive lesson.

—Elzbieta Szmyt

Coming Up: Some of my tuning pins keep slipping. How can I correct this problem?

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