It presents challenges for the instructor which must address the past learning experiences of the students. Essentially, music is an aural art.
Students are, for the most part, visual learners.
We, as music instructors, ask students to learn concepts, some of which are very difficult, which take place in the abstract world of sound, when they are coming from the world of the visually oriented blackboard. As a music instructor, I met this challenge with understanding and gusto. I sincerely care whether my students learn these concepts and therefore I meet my students on their own visual turf. My presentation of sonata form comes to mind as one of my greatest teaching challenges and solutions. Simplistically stated, the sonata form entails the presentation of a number of themes or melodies in a certain order in the first portion of the form.