Those who can't teach...

It's very strange, trying to teach instrumental music. With some students, the ones who actually want to learn, it's easy(er). All you need to do is tell them something, maybe not even explained well, and off they go! They've unlocked the next level of advancement and they make leaps and bounds.

The other kind of student is the difficult kind. You teach at them, and they may or may not respond with any kind of feedback. It may result in sound production improvement, or better musicianship...but odds are very little changes. I know I was that way for much of my formative years. Years worth of lessons would go by, with only minor improvements. I can't recall thinking about things very often, if at all.

Gradually, I've been tapping into that disassociated portion of my brain. I remember things told to me years ago (useful things) that I believed long forgotten. Suddenly every instructor I've had becomes helpful retroactively! How about that? I've "zoomed" out and can see the connecting lines between different styles, examples, methods, analogies, demonstrations, master classes, etc.

It's quite a big deal to find out what you know.