Enjoying the learning process can help you stay motivated and engaged, which can lead to better retention of information. According to a study by the University of Illinois, students who enjoyed the material they were learning retained more information than those who did not.
Here are some tips that can help you enjoy the learning process:
Enjoy
Find a way to make the material interesting to you. Let your teacher know what sort of music you like, your favourite song or band and we will help you learn the skills you required to play that piece.
Variety
Use a variety of learning techniques. Trying different techniques can help keep things interesting and engaging, if you don't understand it the first time, this is ok. It takes time for your teacher to understand how you learn and the way you need the information presenting. As you teacher starts to understand your way of learning we can tailor the ways we introduce information to the ways you require it. That way you have the best learning experience. If you find something confusing, tell us and we will use a different approach to help you understand.
Reward
Reward yourself for your progress. Celebrate your successes along the way to help keep yourself motivated. At the Academy we use gems to reward short term goals. We have level assessments that verify you understand the skills we have been teaching. Assessments have certificates and rosettes for a successful video entry. Ceception challenges offer a weekly fun target for all students, these are a fun and engaging challenge with a first out of the hat weekly draw for an extra gem.
A Little, Often
Study a little bit everyday. In the music world we call it practise. A little bit everyday is important as it tops up the short term and working memory helping your brain to sort out all the information and store it for future use (long term memory). Don't try to cram everything into one practise a day, a little often is far more effective.
Check out these websites for more learning advise and ask your teacher how we can help you to learn how to learn.