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After several years away from the piano I returned about two years ago and am enjoying it more than ever. I've been studying classical exclusively in that time but now I'm starting to get an itch for jazz lessons as well. I took these in the distant past and really enjoyed it. The teachers I had gave me a very good grounding in jazz theory, chord voicings etc. The problem is that I also love classical and don't want to give up the lessons on that either. I almost feel like two different genres gives a really cool variety along with different challenges.

Over the summer, my classical lessons ran every other week for an hour. I don't expect that to change when school starts up (my teacher teaches at a local community college as well as privately out of her home). I've inquired into jazz lessons at a local conservatory and they would be 30 min weekly ones.

Am I nuts to want to study with two different teachers & genres ? Of course giving enough time to each is an obvious concern. Also if anyone sees a problem as far as conflicting techniques I'd appreciate hearing that as well.

Okay...Am I totally nuts ?

Quite possibly. :-)

But give it a try and see if it works. WTH? If it doesn't, you can always just stop. It'd be neat to share info between lessons and see how the instructors respond as well.

No.

I'm not a teacher but have been studying classical for 7 years. I've always admired those who play jazz and can improvise and thought it might help my classical training. I googled and found a jazz teacher in my area and signed up for a 4-lesson trial (one hour-long lesson every other week)..along with my regular weekly lessons. I found that I could not commit enough time to justify doing both (they are so very different). It wasn't fair to me or the teachers... It was a good exercise and helped me decide which genre I prefer. I chose classical. If you can sign up for a trial, perhaps it isn't too much for you.

If you can swing it, I say go for it. Most teachers have their 'forte' (classical, jazz, composition, improvisation). One of my teachers was fabulous as a classical teacher (students always winning MTNA competitions) but was completely lost with anything 'by ear' or improvised. I was sort of left on my own.

I would tell the classical teacher about the jazz lessons, though.

Definitely.........

Absolutely not! Just be sure to share with both teachers what you're doing. Maybe you can find a new genre

I'll call it jazzical....

I absolutely intend to tell both teachers assuming I decide to try it. I think it would be much different if I was a beginner in one genre but I've really had plenty of exposure to both over the years. They're really worlds apart in their mental approach but extremely challenging in their own unique way.

I'll let you know how it plays out.

To play the devil's advocate, it seems that inevitably there will be some sort of conflict as to how to approach a method of playing something, for a hypothetical example say a trill, where each teacher has a very different way of practicing or whatever.

How will you deal with that? (I am not trying to start a fight, I am just curious).

I took a few jazz lessons a few years back and it opened my musical horizons greatly. *I know how to improvise simple stuff with myself and students.
*I can "fake" things a bit which is fun!
*It's helping me recognize which of my students' strength is with jazz...and refer them to appropriate teachers accordingly. (For example some students "see" music so easily with their ears and jazz chord theory.
*It brought me right back to classical which I adore. I felt like I couldn't rest easy until I studied jazz for awhile.

Rocket, that question has occurred to me as well. I think the best approach is to have a talk with my classical teacher up front and explain what I'd like to do. I'll ask her if she could foresee any conflicts like what you have described. If she feels strongly against it, then I'll have to rethink. If problems arise along the way, then I'll try to manage them as they come.

I should add (in case it wasn't obvious) that I'm an adult amateur. Not a college student working on a degree. All this is a labor of love.

Or as Ashkenazy once called it..."Sweet slavery" !

I used to feel the same way. I loved classical and still do and I wondered why teachers didnt teach it both ways. People write essays and thesis' on this matter and some teachers choose to go with both. I lean more towards classical and I would say that is purely because I have spent more time studying classical. I'm also far more advanced in my classical understandings and skills so sometimes learning Jazz feels like a real fustration since I haven't done enough learning. One of my friends considered seeing a Jazz teacher however due to time constraints and an already big classical load she decided not to. Her prospective jazz teacher was good collegues with her piano teacher but she told her to keep it a secret since her teacher didn't like jazz! ... It was really a joke but her teacher insisted she find a Jazz teacher since he admitted to having little interest in Jazz. Much is dependant on your stage of development. Even so, now as I am looking to embark university level music many students who study at institutions have one private teacher in their principal intstrument. A friend of mine asked to take lessons from a differnt teacher for her last year and that prospective teacher declined as she said that 'its not right to steal another teachers student.'

Time and expense are other important factors but one thing that you would have to bear in mind is your level of development. Were are you intemediate, advanced, beginner? If you are intermediate or beginner or even as a beginner in jazz you would find that your teacher can probably help you out. Another thing that you have to bear in mind is that styles have cross-polinations. Bach used 7th chords in his harmonys and that repeats in Jazz. Baroque ornamentation and is apparent in some Jazz. Classical is also the 'grandfather' the roots to all western tonal music. Just some food for thought.

I don't really think that will be a problem. Dmc has said he has experience. I can see how that could seriously mess with the mind of a younger student,but I think dmc will be able to differentiate between the two.

I don't see any problem. I see no
real difference between classical
and jazz piano. The notation is
the same and the technique is the
same. The only differences are in
style and approach--in classical
you play note-perfect from the score,
with no improvisation allowed, whereas
in jazz, improvisation is everything.

Interestingly, the way jazz piano
is taught is actually the much more
old-fashioned approach to piano.
This is the way piano was taught
in the 17th to 19th centuries, when
pianists composed their own
repertoire and were expected to
improvise on the spot. The way
classical piano is taught only
came into being in the early 1900's, when
pianists started to play from memory
in concerts, and stopped composing
or improvising.

The composition and ear-training you
get from jazz piano should benefit
your classical playing, since
you typically get none of this in
classical instruction. And the
techniques, sounds, and patterns
you experience in classical playing can
be used in jazz improvisation.

I personally would not tell either
teacher about the dual instruction.
Today teachers like to clearly separate
the fields of classical and jazz
piano and don't like it when student
is in both. Classical teachers
typically would be much opposed
to simultaneous jazz instruction,
because they would see it as a
lesser art form. And even jazz
teachers might want you to put all
your time into their field. But
this is misguided, because there's
really no difference between the
two and they should nicely complement
each other, provided you have
enough time and energy to practice
your assignments in both.

At the risk of being argumentative here, I know many classical piano teachers who welcome the study of jazz and often teach it themselves. My view, along with theirs, is that such comprehensive keyboard study "rounds out" the education.

That said, I agree with gyro in that there are teachers out there (classical teachers) that _do_ feel basically the way he mentions. Perhaps his use of the word "typical" is incorrect in scope, and there may be some who are simply tolerant of it though not actually opposed to it, but his overall comment does have some truth to it. Don't know very many "serious high level" jazz teachers to know if the feeling is reciprocal though.

That's hardly argumentative; Gyro isn't a teacher and hasn't had one in decades, so one wonders what his generalizations about what teachers supposedly do and don't do could be based on.

Steven

Anothe tasty post from Gyro. Agree with you here.

Question: Okay...Am I totally nuts ?

Answer: How would we know that?

Suggestion: Why don't you do it anyway?

Comment: Maybe it helps to be totally nuts?

Question: Were you going to listen to "us" or are you planning to find the answer yourself through your own experience?

Reminder: You can achieve what you can imagine.

Question: What's stopping you?

Another question: Will you give us feedback at some later date?

It's not such a novelty to have two teachers at the same time for different purposes. It needs to be planned to your calendar and time frame for preparing your assignments for lessons. It needs to fit in your budget. There is no point to doing more than one musical project at the same time unless you have the time, effort, money and you are or can become a disciplined learner.

Just for the joy of it is a good enough reason. You may determine that this works for you, but if it isn't working you are going to have to accept that and focus in on what you most need to be doing in order to make progress in your music.

You will never know if you don't try. If it seems important to you, then it is.

Now - finding the willing teachers may be the next challenge. I would not keep it a secret from either of them. And, maybe you could find both paths from one teacher. It's been known to happen.