|
Welcome to the Piano World Piano Forums Over 3 million posts about pianos, digital pianos, and all types of keyboard instruments. Over 100,000 members from around the world.
Join the World's Largest Community of Piano Lovers
(it's free)
It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!
|
|
72 members (accordeur, BWV846, Animisha, benkeys, Anglagard44, brdwyguy, 16 invisible),
2,323
guests, and
438
robots. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 18,356
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
|
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 18,356 |
Originally posted by Betty Patnude: That's why I feel one has to give their all to music study and not creep along at a slow pace. They invested themselves in me and I'm paying back. I really believe it's my duty to get piano students to their personal best in as little time and expense as is possible. Because I commit to them, I expect them to commit to me and do the things that are necessary on their part to make their dream come true. Originally posted by ProdigalPianist: You are justifying the wrong message. The message that is upsetting many adult beginners (and, as I said before, it is certainly not just coming from you) that, because we don't have (at least) weekly one hour lessons and practice an hour or more a day we are just not committed enough and must not really care that much about piano.
That message is, frankly, insulting, hurtful and, at this point, seems to be the result of willfully misunderstanding or ignoring what many adult students say about their situation! +1. Betty, nobody here doubts your commitment to your students. If you feel targeted or put upon in some way, it is because many of us reject your repeated insistence that YOUR way is the ONLY way and that anybody who does not measure up to your ideal of what piano study should be is somehow less motivated or less committed. Please, can you not accept that some people are fully motivated and committed to piano yet still do not choose to follow the path you have outlined? And if you cannot accept that, can you at least agree to disagree?
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 1,194
1000 Post Club Member
|
1000 Post Club Member
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 1,194 |
Originally posted by Betty Patnude: That's why I feel one has to give their all to music study and not creep along at a slow pace. They invested themselves in me and I'm paying back. I really believe it's my duty to get piano students to their personal best in as little time and expense as is possible. Because I commit to them, I expect them to commit to me and do the things that are necessary on their part to make their dream come true. Betty Betty, if only you lived in Hamburg - or I lived in your neck of the woods! I've no doubt that you're the kind of teacher I've been - unsuccessfully - searching for for the past two years... and my precious time is running short!
Michael
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 4,896
4000 Post Club Member
|
4000 Post Club Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 4,896 |
It's unbelievable to me, because I try to express it clearly and relay music's importance to our lives, what is taken as my "defense" is really my "passion". I can't apologize enough for stating things strongly and therefore having them interpreted as "my way or the highway". I'm just enthusiastic for what I'm talking about. Somehow I know that won't compute as my earnestness, it will be my righteousness that gets the credit. I love you people! Enjoy your valentines day this weekend. We have a grandson getting married that day! Isn't love great, and so is marriage! Oops! I bet that statement is debatable to some, too. Betty
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,049
1000 Post Club Member
|
1000 Post Club Member
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,049 |
Originally posted by btb: Our hearts go out to ProdigalPianist ... never ... ever ... on any Forum thread have I heard such life-clinging passion for the piano than ...
"The reason that I keep struggling to accomplish anything at the piano is that, often, PLAYING THE PIANO IS THE ONLY SOURCE OF SATISFACTION AND ENJOYMENT I GET IN LIFE."
Any crass piano teacher who presumes to add one patronizing comment on how PP could better plan her day, deserves to be excommunicated from all fields of piano tuition.
However, Prodigal Pianist might like to avail herself of the vast and imaginative resources which can be discovered in the very membership of the Forum ... QUOTE THE PIECE OF MUSIC you’ve got your heart set on ... and out will pour top notch advice from the friendliest of members .
This ploy is often the only piano tuition available for cash-strapped members ... and the guidance has the advantage of being DAILY. {{{{{{{BLUUUUUUUUUUSH}}}}}}}} I am working with a very good teacher, on repertoire that I like. I do sometimes post specific questions and get great advice from members, though. My frustration comes from the fact that I can't practice as much as I would like to, so progress is frustratingly slow. Plus my job really sucks right now, along with worries about the economy and our personal financial situation (actual and potential). It seems like everywhere I look in my life there is doom and gloom and stress. I just do not want my piano to be the source of yet more frustration and guilt. Hence the (rather embarrassing and revealing) post...
Adult Amateur Pianist
My only domestic quality is that I live in a house.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 498
Full Member
|
Full Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 498 |
PP, I am with you on this one. I am in law school now, and starting a job at a law firm after I graduate in May. I frankly don't know how I will progress on the piano after I start my job. Music is desperately important to my life, and I will not ever give it up - but at the same time, in this economy, when the boss says "Jump" you say "how high".
My approach to lessons has been to take random master classes at music festivals, which is ideal - I get some guidance on what I am doing wrong, and then I get to improve and practice and absorb the lesson at my own pace. I did take lessons last summer when I was doing an internship with a law firm, but they were very irregular - more like once a month than once a week - and the teacher knew what my day job was and didn't expect too much. (another reason why I |heart| my teacher - he understood that inflicting guilt on me won't add hours to my day)
As for practicing, a digital piano with earphones was a life-saver for me at one point. If you can't practice during daytime hours, it lets you practice at night (or, I guess, early in the morning - but I'm a night owl).
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 302
Full Member
|
Full Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 302 |
I've been taking weekly lessons but in the next year or so will probably go to monthly. I think weekly lessons are good early on to prevent bad habits, but after a while it becomes less bang for the buck unless you are able to practise more. I don't think I'm progressing fast enough to justify weekly lessons.
I'm basically playing the same 3 songs for 9 months until the recital and then there's a 3 month break, then it'll probably be the same thing next year.
Monk - Boo Boo's Birthday Bach - Two Part Invention No.11
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 391
Full Member
|
Full Member
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 391 |
Originally posted by Larisa: Music is desperately important to my life, and I will not ever give it up - but at the same time, in this economy, when the boss says "Jump" you say "how high". Glad it's how "high", and not how many storeys down.
Nepotism: We promote family values here - almost as often as we promote family members.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 52
Full Member
|
Full Member
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 52 |
Originally posted by Reeds'n'Keys: Hehe, a live-in piano teacher. Imagine what kind of life that would be, for both the student and the teacher... My dad was my music teacher for 45 years, no escaping practice, lessons every half=hour...lol Learned well and never missed a lesson in years.
Fred Bieler
If you look deeply enough into someone's eyes you will find a place that, were you to go there, would break your heart in two.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 431
Full Member
|
Full Member
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 431 |
I LOVE having an almost weekly lesson (my teacher goes away about once a quarter), even though I don't get through all my pieces. In fact, I usually only end up doing 2-3 pieces, along with sight-reading, improvisation, keyboard harmony, learning piano parts for som of my clarinet students, technique, ear training, and a lot more...and my teacher spots things that I didn't notice in my own practice (like new practice techniques for a passage I am having difficulty with) or a better fingering for example, and it gives me a reason to practice!
I've gone both the self-study route (but mainly when I didn't have much choice) and the teacher route, and mI've noticed I've made more progress (epsecially on piano) in the last 5 months than most of the last 5 years. Plus being able to perform more confidently on my second instrument (in the case of piano) my nerves on that instrument have been cut siginficantly.
Meri
|
|
|
|
Piano
by Gino2 - 04/17/24 02:34 PM
|
Piano
by Gino2 - 04/17/24 02:23 PM
|
|
|
|
Forums43
Topics223,405
Posts3,349,434
Members111,637
|
Most Online15,252 Mar 21st, 2010
|
|
|
|
|
|