These are my thoughts in relation to the article Isolation In Studio Music Teaching: The Secret Garden. 

In the article it says " ‘the master usually is looked at as a role model and a source of identification for the student, [while] the dominating mode of student learning is imitation’. "  I agree with this, I viewed my private horn teacher as a role model I hoped that one day I would be able to play like him. I also see him as a source of identification. The other horns at western who were trained by the same horn teacher, we all still call ourselves Brains students. (Brian was our horn teacher).

Another point the article brings up is: 

"The idea of imitation raises anxieties among music performance students, who can be embarrassed at the notion of copying their teachers (Nielsen, 2006: 9), particularly in terms of expression and interpretation, where individuality is highly valued." 

 I agree, this happens it happened with my own studio. When I was taking lessons with my former studio teacher I would often catch myself copying his movements. He was really expressive when playing his horn and would move it around a lot, I would copy his movements if we we played the piece again. He even told me I did not have no copy his movements, but I liked to anyways. I also started to copy some other non-horn related things he would do, such as nodding at people as a way no acknowledge them  when I was passing by. But, I do not see it as a bad thing in my case. Then again it also depends on the teacher, I tended to copy my teacher because I liked his sound and the way he played but that didn't stop me from making my own musical choices.  My teacher always made sure to ask me how I thought a piece should go and always told me I did not have to copy his movements , although I liked to. I am not embarrassed by this, although I do often refer to my teachers as why I am a more expressive player than a technical one. But I find this to be a good thing. 

Another point in the article that I would like to bring up is:

"musical performance ‘visible and audible’ through guided demonstration and feedback."

I agree with this statement, It is good to have "visible and audible" feedback. I found this very useful in my studio lessons especially for when I was learning how to hold my horn properly and for hand positions in the horn, these are aspects that I really needed to see to understand how to do them. Feedback is important especially because every instrument can have a different way to perform it and its good to get that one on one feedback that you do not always get in a school setting. Hand and body position for horn is really only something that a horn player would know a lot about. 

The article also states: 

" it is hard not to draw the conclusion that some forum for sharing experience and modes of good teaching practice would be beneficial’."

It is important for students and teachers to keep learning and developing skills and teaching techniques. One way of teaching does not work for everyone and the solution wont work for everyone. Thus it is important to learn from other teachers experiences and to learn from each other. Also one teacher might have a solution already on how to deal with a certain student or how to get them to listen. Talking about the student with other teachers who have that particular student might also help the teacher view the student in a different way. 

Another opinion the article gives is:

"‘the thought of sharing the techniques which they have developed privately, often over a period of many years, in the intimacy (one referred to it as the ‘‘secret trade’’) of one-to-one teaching was simply intimidating’."

I feel like this is almost selfish in a way. Teaching should be about the students and if you don't believe in/are willing to fight for what you are teaching then why are you teaching it? Also putting your techniques out there should help you to improve it, thus helping your student more, but if they are refusing to put themselves out there for the sake of their student or future students development, then I must wonder if they are really good teachers at all. We all know not all techniques or solutions to problems will work for every student, and it is vital that teacher have a handful of solutions to one problem up their sleeve so that they more more efficiently find a solution for their students. I feel like this is almost selfish in a way. Teaching should be about the students and if you don't believe in/are willing to fight for what you are teaching then why are you teaching it? Also putting your techniques out there should help you to improve it, thus helping your student more, but if they are refusing to put themselves out there for the sake of their student or future students development, then I must wonder if they are really good teachers at all. We all know not all techniques or solutions to problems will work for every student, and it is vital that teacher have a handful of solutions to one problem up their sleeve so that they can find a solution for their students. 
 

These are some of my thoughts on the article. 

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