People often think the hardest part of teaching music is explaining the instrument.
It’s not.
The hardest part is finding the connection point.
Phoenix Abbo has a 10-year-old violin student who recently performed flawlessly from memory at his very first recital.
No breakdowns.
No stopping.
No forgotten notes.
Just a confident performance from a young student standing in front of an audience doing something difficult really well.
But the interesting part of the story is how they got there.
Because at the beginning, Phoenix honestly felt stressed teaching him.
Some lessons started with resistance before they even began. Sometimes the student wouldn’t even want to pick up the violin.
Now, teachers can react to that in a lot of different ways.
Push harder.
Get frustrated.
Turn the lesson into a battle.
But experienced teachers usually understand something important:
Progress without connection is incredibly difficult.
So instead of trying to force motivation through violin alone, Phoenix started looking for the thing that mattered to the student outside of music.
And eventually he found it.
Vintage video games.
That became the bridge.
For a few minutes during each lesson, they’d talk about old games, systems, favorite levels, and random video game topics before transitioning back into violin. And once that relationship started forming, the lessons changed.
Not because the student suddenly loved scales.
Because he trusted the person teaching them.
I think parents sometimes underestimate how important that trust is in music lessons, especially with kids. Students work harder for teachers they feel connected to. They become more open to correction. More willing to try difficult things. More comfortable making mistakes.
Connection changes everything.
And the funny part is that teachers like Phoenix aren’t losing control when they spend a few minutes talking about video games.
Actually, they’re gaining influence.
Phoenix said it’s easy to redirect the conversation if it goes too far into video game territory. What’s much harder is trying to create meaningful progress with a student who feels disconnected from the lesson entirely.
That line really stuck with me because it applies to so much more than music.
Connection creates investment.
Investment creates effort.
And effort creates growth.
Today, that same student who sometimes didn’t even want to pick up the violin walked onto a recital stage and performed a flawless memorized piece.
That doesn’t happen by accident.
It happens because somewhere along the way, a teacher found the one thing that opened the door.
Honestly, I think that’s what great music teachers are constantly searching for.
Not just better teaching methods.
Not just better songs.
Not just better exercises.
They’re searching for the thing that makes the student feel seen.
Sometimes it’s music itself.
Sometimes it’s bacon bits.
Sometimes it’s art projects.
Sometimes it’s vintage video games.
But once you find the connection, everything else gets easier.
