When first beginning music lessons, many people often think it’s fine to start learning with a neighbor or family member who has taken lessons and already plays. Whether the student is an adult or child, the question that frequently arises is, why is it necessary to study with a professional when I can first learn the basics from someone I know or YouTube?
The answer is simple and straight forward. Professionals know the proper way to physically set up the student on the instrument. Correct hand positioning, posture, and for wind instruments, breathing technique and embouchure, which is the shape of the mouth, is essential. If any of those elements are not correct, not only will the student end up struggling with the instrument, but worse of all, their muscles will develop incorrectly. The human body is very good with muscle memory, so the last thing you want to do is create the wrong muscle memory from the very beginning.
True professionals know the nuances of their instrument and have the experience and expertise to relate their knowledge to the student and fine tune their technique and skills. For example, the reason a guitar student is struggling to play a chord, could be stemming from any number of things, such as incorrect placement of the thumb on the back of the guitar neck, their elbow being in the wrong position, the fingertips not being placed properly against the frets, or several other reasons.
Professional music educators are quick to identify and correct the problem, eliminating the struggle, so the student can actually enjoy playing music!