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Hello

The dean sounds like a skyscraper victim.

No one builds a skyscraper and then willingly jumps off the top of it, i.e. the Dean is very comfortable with a credentials approach (hers, of course)and therefore cannot contemplate much of anything else, even taking it to the rudeness of undermining your joy.

So just think of her wandering around, lonely as heck, on top of her skyscraper and you will feel better.

Hi, Bruckner,

Please, take comfort in the circle of adult beginners! I especially welcome you, because I, too, am in Columbus, and I always wanted lessons. I started last August at age 51, with the encouragement of a friend who is also an adult beginner. We are everywhere!

I still haven't explored all the joys of this forum, but when I have needed comfort or advice, it is here.

My current problem is that I have felt stalled since February, and I think I'll take a couple of months off and go it alone for a bit. Perhaps this would serve you well, to think about what you enjoy, what you want more of, whether you think you have any gaps that you'd like a teacher to help fill, etc. Or you can use the "off" time to interview teachers who enjoy teaching adults (contrary to the conservatory dean!).

Just wanted to add my bit of encouragement, too, Bruckner.

Learning piano as an adult is a great accomplishment. The fact that you love to play is even more important, to me, than what level or what music you're playing. That love of playing is what sustains you through the difficulties of learning - it's critical! And I'm so glad your previous teacher developed that in you, as well as guiding your playing along to steady growth.

I have a guess that you probably have excellent rhythm now as a result of the Suzuki influence! My niece takes Suzuki violin and her internal sense of rhythm developed so quickly it astonished me! Suzuki gets into quite complicated rhythms very quickly, and the listening work you do is great. I actually think it's a pretty interesting combination to use Alfred's with Suzuki.

Finding a teacher is a very personal thing. It may take you quite a few phone calls and interviews before you find someone that "clicks" for you. It's such a personal experience, private lessons, that you really need to feel comfortable with the teacher's interaction with you as the student (as well as be enthusiastic about the method/repertoire/curriculum you're going to learn). Some teachers don't have the experience or desire to teach adult beginners, and the result would be nothing but frustration.

SO glad you came and posted here after your negative experience with that dean. Put it out of your head! It makes me angry that you even had to experience that. Keep playing, and there is a wonderful teacher out there for you!

Best,

Kim

Mr. Bruckner,

Don't take this to heart. This woman is from the conservatory and expects all students that go there for lessons to be at a conservatory level.

What I suggest is take what you've learned from your first teacher as a foundation for learning something new from someone else. This woman did make a good point about learning the real classical pieces instead of the watered down kid's versions.

When you finally find a teacher that is willing to work with you, tell him or her that you want to learn the real versions of the pieces instead of the kid's versions. Also explain that you want to improve your technique using such things as Hanon. (Hint: Build on what the lady told you instead of taking it as a criticism).

The thing is, don't let the critcism hurt your willingness to learn or your enjoyment of the piano. Once that happens, you'll lose your interest and never be able to progress any more than you have.

In my opinion, this woman should have thought outside of her box. She's so wrapped up in her own conservatory world that she doesn't see that there are tother people out there that really enjoy music as much as, if not more than, the conservatory students.

I have a former teacher like that who makes snide remarks to me every time I mention wanting to learn something new. She treats me as second-class or lower compared to her Carnegie Hall days. After all, I never "made it" as she says. I never brought my music to the "other level" by memorizing it, and I didn't grovel over the piano, or did the "hard" work as she calls it. She tells me that I never learned to memorize therefore the music is never finished, etc.

Well sorry former teacher (I think this all the time), I was never given the chance to progress that far, and I don't care at this point in my life if I memorize anything or not. The amount of time we have is very limited compared to full-time musicians. I want to enjoy the music instead of struggling for months at a single piece to get it memorized and "perfected." By the time I have that opportunity, I'll be totally blind and unable to play anyway!

This goes for the most of us up here in PW, it's all for enjoyment, which is what music should be in the first place!

These people that act this way, in my opinion, really don't love music anymore. Instead they've become music snobs that look down their noses at the rest of us. For them the music has become a chore rather than a true passion that it once was. They forget where they were when they first started out in this journey called music.

John

Paul,
My first good teacher said about the same thing to me. I had been taking lessons for about 6 years and was in John Thompson's book 4 or 5. She said the same thing about playing real works and not transcriptions. OK she did not come right out and say I had "wasted my time"...she was nicer than that.

She was a Benedictine nun and I was in jr. high. It was....uhh...over 30 years ago.

So it's not an "adult student" thing.

The thing is...I had not really wasted my time, and neither have you. You may not realize it, and the conservatory dean never got a chance to find out...but you have been learning things in those 8 years. Just like I had learned in my 6 (at that point). And I was lucky enough that Sister C. realized it. She took me on as a student and I learned a tremendous amount from her.

Unfortunately, I was quite a bit behind other students...my age and even younger...and neither I nor my parents realized that didn't really matter and I could get caught up.

No time spent with music is ever really "wasted"...you may not find out what important things you learned in your 8 years of lessons but if you were taking Suzuki I can guess that it involved listening carefully which is a Very Very important thing to learn!

Moving slowly does not mean you are wasting time. It means you are learning thoroughly and have time to relax and make music! In my case, my first 2 teachers were just not very good, but in yours, your original teacher was a college professor so I am sure you got a very good foundation. In fact, it's entirely possible that your first teacher was more "old school" than the dean (your comment on his retirement suggested he is quite a bit older).

Did he suggest you talk to the dean? Can you contact him and talk to him a bit? Ask him for suggestions for your next teacher?[i][/i][u][/u]