Introduction

The objective of BE a Scholar Tuition is to optimise the learning environment with the available resource and to learn as efficiently as possible. The aim is to get as much improvement for every pound (UK) spent or every 30 minutes spent on learning. So In this case, it is learning cello. Something must be measurable or quantifiable to improve. The outcome is relative and subjective. More likely or less likely to achieve their objectives. In this episode, I present two cases. The first one is the previous status quo and the second case an optimised case.

Instrumental music studies can lead to scholarship opportunities.

Learning a musical instrument is beneficial for a child’s development. Proficiency and talent can lead to prestigious scholarships and opportunities. Some children can find great enjoyment from making music. Every child is different. Some kids like music some kids do not. In this case, a kid likes to play “cello”. The “cello” can be replaced with other subjects.

Case study: Learning cello

In this case study. Child A learns the cello at school. The school offers weekly 30 minute lessons with a teacher during the school day. The child practises at home with brief written instructions on a notebook. This must be a very typical approach to learn a musical instrument. However if we look deeper. The 30 minutes of “teaching” time actually contains the time from the teacher going to the classroom walking to collect the pupil (after dropping off the previous pupil) For the older kids, this may just be the walking time from finishing a class to the start of the cello class. The cello is in a carry case which takes time to take out and set up. The cello may need tuning which again takes some time for either the child or the teacher to tune. My understanding is that this part is critical as a lot of the learning is done through the ears. The child will take anywhere between 5 to 10 minutes to ‘warm’ up. Then the learning environment is ready, the child is ready and the teacher can teach. A few minutes before, the end of the lesson, then the teacher summarises the lesson into the notebook, pack up the cello and walk the child back to their classroom or allow time for the child to get to their next class. The child’s 30 minute lesson is about 10 to 15 minutes of quality time. The cycle repeats for the teacher.

I focused on maximising the teaching time so 1 minute of teaching time is actually a teacher spent on teaching. Therefore, the recommendation was to learn from home, with an online tutor. This open up access to worldwide talent and enables the child to move the preparation, tuning, and warm-up time to before the lesson and the teacher can start teaching immediately after the greetings. A 15 to 20 mins video of the highlights from the lesson is readily available as a byproduct. This would increase the practise effectiveness and reduce the recap time from the teacher. I also advised the frequency of lessons to be every two weeks because of the video highlights and to ensure sufficient practise time for the child to digest all the new knowledge and techniques. This system requires additional parental supervision and involvement, like taking the child to and from a music tutor. This is different to learning from the school where, the only output is how the child plays and the comments on the notebook.

So every two weeks, we have improved the teacher’s actual teaching time to at least from 2x 15 minutes to 1×45 minutes so a 50% increase. Also video highlights means the knowledge retention is maximised and reduces any recaps during the lesson. The efficiency is greatly induced. The video can support each practice session to give the child structure.

Other factors are the concentration time of this child is about 45 minutes to 60 minutes. However, the lesson duration can be adjusted accordingly. The instrument needs to match the size of the child.

In conclusion

There are two cases. The first one is learning an instrument as part of a school day with a resident instrument teacher who teaches for 30 mins a week. The second case is with the use of technology to maximise the effective teaching time and all the preparation time can be done before. Practice is key in learning instruments or anything really. The key advantage of the second case is that the lesson highlights are recorded and replayed during practise. This would improve retention and further reduce any time spent in the lesson revisiting previously taught techniques. Therefore, we maximised the teacher’s teaching time and maximised the learning efficiency. The child can move forward every minute with the teacher. We improved the learning environment.

Final note

This post compares the system of learning. This is an example of the cello because the instrument is suitable for this approach. Other instruments may require the physical presence or the physical presence helps teaching. Piano is more readily playable, getting ready is a lot quicker. So the advantage of remote lessons may be lower.

The teacher in either case is just as good or as skilled as each other. What is different is the measurable time, how activities can move around to maximise the learning and teaching duration, and how technology can be applied to increase learning efficiency.