I was napping (and possibly lucid dreaming?) this weekend when I realized it was time to revamp my private teaching style.   I debuted the new format this afternoon to generally positive reviews from the guinea pigs.

Basically, I’m trying to formalize lesson structure to ensure a balanced use of time.   I noticed I often get caught in a rut and end up overlooking things I definitely want to touch on every lesson.  For example I’ll go into a trance and work on shifting for 20 minutes (boring!) instead of playing fun stuff and doing improv.   The new format builds in time for playing fun review pieces together, focusing on new technique, AND doing some improv.  Also included in the new lesson format is a shout-out to Dr. Suzuki and the Japanese language:  we open and close with a bow showing mutual respect and we use traditional Japanese aisatsu.

30 minute lessons are pretty jam-packed boom-boom.