We all learn the answers to the questions we ask 100x faster than the questions others want us to ask. By designing the lessons around the students point of view, we can take their questions and direct them towards skills appropriate to their level. They may not end up being the order you might put them in a book, but students will invariably get to the end faster because they’re the ones doing the asking.

Spurring exploration is one of the reasons why we fill Backbeat with so many different musical instruments. It is also why all our teachers are multi-instrumentalists. This gives the teachers the flexibility to follow their student’s interest and make the most of their inquiry. 

Second, exploration provides the opportunity to develop a Growth mindset vs a Fixed mindset. As the explore and encounter the unknown, and work to find the answers to their questions, they gradually develop and strengthen the belief that ability is developed, not innate. 

Beyond the growth mindset,  however, is something even more valuable: the knowledge, experience and skills to actually improve their skills. Not just that skills can be improved, but the knowledge of how to go about doing it. Making music is a series of choices – and if you know what choices to make you’ll get the results you wanted. Practice time isn’t just repetition – its experimentation and iteration. It is figuring-out time. If you aren’t making any mistakes, you already know what you’re doing and you aren’t learning. These are things we all have to learn – and the most important thing for young musicians to learn isn’t their scales – its how to learn effectively. Proper music lessons aren’t about spoon-feeding the right answers so the student can perform pieces as soon as possible. I mean, that has its place *if that’s what the student is asking for* – but what’s more valuable is learning how to figure out difficult skills effectively. The exploration format is ideal for this kind of teaching in part because what the questions are doesn’t really matter – it’s the process of answering them that’s the real content.

But we don’t forget music in this process. Being a better learner means being a better musician. Students who learn fast will learn music fast. They’ll be good at whatever they set their mind to. If they don’t choose music, that’s totally fine. Almost everyone will choose to balance music with all the other things they are doing. For those that choose to really focus on music, we have a fast track and work to network these students with similarly-minded others in bands. This is after we try to talk them out of it, though. No really – there’s a high opportunity cost (and low monetary reward) to becoming a virtuoso and most kids don’t really understand that when they’re setting out.

Another pillar is that music isn’t about the notes; music is about people. There are countless ways to interact with music, and there isn’t a ‘correct’ way to make music. At the end of the day, it is a form of self-expression where each musician makes the music they want to. This is why I tell students that if they’re playing what they’re supposed to, they’re doing it wrong: they need to eventually be making their own choices or their music will sound like cardboard. It is in the making of these choices that make a great musician – not technical skill or knowledge – although those help!

Not everyone’s path through music is that of a virtuoso. Some just want to jam with friends, play Christmas carols with their family, to write music, or just to be a more interesting person. All of these skill trees are different. Allowing inquiry to guide the process allows the teacher to set the student up with the skills they’ll use without wasting loads of time on the ones they won’t.