Directions tell students what to do next, but students can’t act on directions they haven’t understood. Instruction goes further: it models the task, sequences its parts, names the musical target, observes the response, and decides what happens next.
Talking less and doing more is a good instinct, but the goal isn’t fewer words at all costs. It’s to make the next student action and musical target clear with only as many words as needed.
We are not always as clear as we think
You can usually tell when your directions haven’t worked. Students start doing something other than what you expected. They look confused, stay silent and still, or raise their hands with questions. Because you already know the outcome you want, you may skip the steps that connect where students are now to where you want them to be.
In my first year of teaching, I was explaining to beginning clarinet players how to place the reed on the mouthpiece. I said something like, “Take the reed out of the water, shake it off, and place the flat end toward the floor with the curved, thin side up against the opening of the mouthpiece.”
Students followed the part about the tip, and it pointed up, but half of the reeds were backward, with the flat side facing out instead of resting against the mouthpiece. I had said which end should point up, but not which side should rest against the mouthpiece. I had also given too many directions at once.
Students can hear your words without sharing your mental picture. What seems perfectly clear to you can still produce several different responses.
Clarity is not a personality trait
Instructional clarity is an observable practice that can be planned, recorded, examined, and improved. Confidence may shape your delivery, but it doesn’t guarantee understanding. In the clarinet example, I knew what I wanted students to do and left out a crucial piece. Research with college students suggests that instructor clarity can support learning by reducing cognitive load (Bolkan, 2016).
Clear instruction begins with a purpose. What should students do, notice, hear, or understand while they’re doing it? Once you know that, you can plan the language, model, sequence, and response you’ll use.
Plan instruction students can act on
1. Secure attention before giving information
Even carefully planned directions fail when students aren’t listening. Get their attention before adding new information, and adapt your approach to the age and level of the group.
- Pause and wait. A visual cue can help.
- Use an established visual, verbal, or musical signal.
- Don’t give directions while students are playing, moving equipment, or talking.
- With older ensembles, use musical routines such as a raised hand, a preparatory gesture, or a familiar rhythm rather than elementary-style attention signals.
- Teach and rehearse the response to the signal. The signal alone doesn’t create attention.
2. Name the location, action, stopping point, and musical target
Less effective: “Let’s go back and clean that up. The rhythm and articulation are not matching, and you need to listen across the ensemble.”
More effective: “The rhythm and articulation are not matching. Let’s start at measure 42 and tizzle that measure. Listen for whether our eighth notes are evenly spaced.”
The second version tells students where to start, what to do, where to stop, and what to listen for. Follow it with, “Did that match better?” Once the rhythm is secure, reconnect it to the music: “Now play this measure with the corrected rhythm and style.”
An aural model (demonstrating musically) would improve the instructions without using more words.
3. Break down and model complex tasks
Early-career teachers often talk too much because they’re trying to prevent every possible misunderstanding. Instead, identify the prerequisite knowledge students need and divide the activity into manageable steps. If that foundation is missing, back up and teach it before adding more. Writing the steps before class means you aren’t deciding how to divide the task while students wait, and it prevents repeated confusion, unsuccessful practice, and needless backtracking.
In the clarinet example, the first step might be, “Find the side of the reed with the words.” Then, “Face the words toward the mouthpiece, with the rounded tip at the top.” I might briefly model the whole assembly, then return to the beginning and model each part while students follow, pausing between steps to observe and give feedback.
The same principle applies to musical performance. Students might first hear, sing, or play the whole phrase, isolate one component, then restore it to the phrase. This whole-part-whole sequence keeps isolated work connected to the musical goal (Mullen, n.d.).
Model thinking as well as action. As you demonstrate, narrate what you’re noticing, deciding, or listening for. You don’t need to explain every thought, only the kind of thinking students need to use for the task at hand.
Once students have heard or seen a clear model, have them compare it with a model containing one deliberate error, and give them a specific feature to evaluate: two articulations, releases, bow changes, vowel shapes, or rhythms. Gradually hand the analysis over to students so they learn what to listen for and how to evaluate their own playing.
4. Use visual cues purposefully
Visual cues preserve information after you stop speaking. Use them to reduce memory demands and direct attention to the most important action or musical target (Mayer, 2020).
- Mark rehearsal steps on a projected slide or board.
- Display a rhythm, fingering, form diagram, bowing, vowel shape, or listening target.
- Leave recurring processes visible across several rehearsals.
A visual cue should reduce memory demands, not repeat a long verbal explanation word for word. Remove it once students no longer need it.
5. Check understanding and respond
“Do you understand?” rarely provides strong feedback for the teacher. Students need a chance to restate, show, or apply the direction before the full performance begins. Strong prompts might include:
- “What are you listening for when we perform this?”
- “Which beat is most likely to rush, and why?”
- “Show me where your bow changes direction.”
- “Which vowel are we matching on this chord?”
- “Explain the first step to your stand partner.”
Additionally, “Tell me the first step” checks recall, but doesn’t necessarily indicate whether students can apply the understanding to a technical skill or musical problem. Music teachers must pair a procedural question with a musical one. What students say, show, sing, or play tells you what to do next.
Treat confusion as feedback
Confusion tells you what students need next. Rather than treating it as their failure, use it to adapt your instruction.
- If most students make the same error, reconsider your directions or the size of the task. Normalize the revision: “I gave you too much at once. Let me break that down.”
- If students make several different errors, return to the model and ask them to identify the musical or technical target before trying again.
- If only a few students are confused, support them individually rather than stopping everyone.
- Ask a student to model only when that student is ready to succeed.
A Just in Time practice
Record a short segment of your instruction for your own use, after confirming it follows school policy. Video can reveal patterns in your talking and delivery that you didn’t notice while teaching (Barclift & MacLeod, 2024).
Choose one feature to examine:
- How long you speak before students act
- What students do immediately after a direction
- Where clarification is needed
- Whether you name both the student action and the musical target
Then revise one direction for the next class or rehearsal. If a mentor observes you, ask them to watch for something specific, such as clarity, wait time, the length of your directions, or checks for understanding, rather than asking, “How did I do?”
Closing reflection
Clear instruction doesn’t require you to anticipate every possible response. It requires you to identify the purpose, sequence, key language, and evidence of success before students begin. Their response then tells you what should happen next.
What direction do you find yourself repeating most often?
How could you make the student action and musical target clearer before students begin?
References
Barclift, K., & MacLeod, R. B. (2024). Exploring preservice music teachers’ self-reflections: A comparison of immediate and video reflections. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 33(3), 29–43. https://doi.org/10.1177/10570837231208224
Bolkan, S. (2016). The importance of instructor clarity and its effect on student learning: Facilitating elaboration by reducing cognitive load. Communication Reports, 29(3), 152–162. https://doi.org/10.1080/08934215.2015.1067708
Mayer, R. E. (2020). Multimedia learning (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316941355
Mullen, A. (n.d.). Whole-part-whole in the music classroom. The Improving Musician. https://theimprovingmusician.com/whole-part-whole-in-the-music-classroom/
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