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Prodigal Pianist, I'm learning as you suggested to just be "up front and truthful". I'm finding I need to make more effort to communicate with parents. Decided not to change my policy, but on initial interview and discussion thereafter will let parents know that when a child does not practice daily, "there's not much I can do to teach him". Thank you all for your support and advice.

I have dismissed students who do not practice and show very little interest in learning to play the piano. When it becomes painful for both of us to do the same piece every week and feel like we are not going anywhere it is time to quit. This decision comes after much discussion, encouragement, talking to parents, etc.

For me spring recitals are mandatory, not optional. Given a choice I think most students would opt out, especially at first. I think they need to start as beginners with the wonderful fun and simple pieces. Each year they grow in confidence. One year I had 3 seniors graduating. I found their very first recital piece which they each performed before their last piece. They thought it was great fun. There are always scheduling conflicts but the recital is not a choice.

Plus I think it is very important for all of my students to hear each other play. The beginners get to hear the more advanced students and imagine what they will be able to play in the future. The advanced students sometimes hear a piece they performed when they were younger and it is a great memory.

abcdefg says: "When it becomes painful for both of us to do the same piece every week and feel like we are not going anywhere it is time to quit. This decision comes after much discussion, encouragement, talking to parents, etc."

I would say maybe not. Quitting is the easy out in my mind. You do say much discussion, encouragement, talking to parent, etc., but what exactly did you DO to change the lesson, VARY the requirements slightly, or MAKE it a different experience.

Sometimes we are locked into routines of doing things and we are frustrated when a student doesn't follow the direction that others follow when you teach. Once in a while we get unique situations: they are gifted, or they are remedial; they are cooperative, they are uncooperative; they are likable, they are not likable; they work hard, they don't work at all.

Once you identify a problem area that you want to fix and start working on one thing for improvement there is the possibility of something new happening between you and the student.

Talking about it does little to nothing except to maybe agree there is a problem. Some times teachers have to take a big step forward and carry a stick just enough to make set a new standard for work ethics. These are structured during the lesson and require the students active participation at the lesson. He may later be inspired to practice at home, but you have to first make the piano lesson the place where things first happen, he learns what you want him to do, and he goes home to work on it.

Sometimes I think the biggest problem is that the students don't know how to get started at home, they don't clearly have a picture of what they should be doing, and of course, there is always something else to fill the time.

They need something to pursue!

I think it's important to hold on to non-thriving students until they reach their miracle - then you really do have a student with potential who will be listening to you avidly.

Written as an option to sending a student packing.

I am not a teacher of course, but may I ask what age group you have in mind when you are talking about your students?

The students I am referring to are generally 7th to 9th grade. One parent told his son that he had to take lessons until he was 16. I did my best to motivate and work this boy, who was very talented, but taking lessons because his parents wanted him to.

Another young talented boy, was moving along well until some of his classmates found out he was playing the piano. Even though mom is a public school music teacher we could not convince him to continue lessons. Now as a young adult he regrets quitting.

I have a female junior in high school that I think would love to quit but mom wants her to continue because mom wishes she hadn't quit. I do everything I can to find music that she will enjoy playing. So she learns a few pieces a year and we sight read. I wouldn't say she is making any progress but last year she did her best recital performance yet.

I do try to adjust my teaching style to fit each student's needs. I also adjust music choices to each student. Some of my students play more popular music, others prefer the classics.

Maybe there is more that I should or could do. But when students show up week after week without lesson materials and assignment book and they obviously have not practiced. When parents want their child to take lessons because they wish they had or because their best friend takes lessons. When I have students on a waiting list that really do want to learn to play the piano, I will dismiss a student that is not showing any interest in their lessons.

abcdefg says: "When I have students on a waiting list that really do want to learn to play the piano, I will dismiss a student that is not showing any interest in their lessons."

And, for some reason, the dismissed students have not connected with music lesson or with their teacher. It's hard to know where the missing link is on the teaching side or on the student side, or both. If there brains are not circuited for music study when they start they are really going to be at a disadvantage to do as the teacher asks. Maybe we have to use our lessons as practice session so that they really get how to do the practice at home and can increase their chances toward success.

I think student who enroll in the first place must have some curiosity about what playing the piano is all about. When they don't initiate on their own at their piano at home there has to be an obstacle of some proportion.

The next set of students who enter from the waiting lists are going to have some of these same problems, I think it's guaranteed. So, to me, the challenge as being the teacher would be to effect enough changes and remedies and support systems that they couldn't do anything but make progress.

The half hour lesson that doesn't practice at home, comes for an hour of intense supervision at which his eyes begin to move across the music page and his fingers "sound" out what he as seen and translated. Music IS a language! Maybe I'd say come back on Thursday for another hour and we will do the same thing, adding new materials to the mix, if it's going well.

I haven't had to do this very often in my teaching because I do it during our half hour at weekly lessons, that gives them more than enough to do at home. They begin to see the productivity to practicing.

Some kids just have incredible obstacles to getting over the first few humps that music reading present to them. One thing can be the undisciplined eye movement jerking all around the page, it never stops and begins at the left side of the page and follows each new note consistantly. Another is the "fantasy student" who is having so much cluttered thinking going on, that there is no simple place to have a clear thought with which to begin. They need a butterfly net to catch all the thoughts and clear them out of the way. Then there is the inhibited student who cannot create the first impulse as he has no control over his fingers and their destination. Left and right, up and down,
high and low are issues for him.

I'm serious about the obstacles being our issues to help solve.

I'm of the persuasion that one bird (student) in hand, is more valuable then a bird (student) in the bush.

Dismissing someone may seem like a good decision to the teacher, but to the student, being dismissed often results in negative feelings about themselves about not measuring up and failing. I think often they have no clue as to what to do at the piano - especially beginners and students who have not received good instruction.

I get a lot of satisfaction from launching a student to independance, but I get even more satisfaction from saving a student who would have been a quitter himself, or would have been dismissed by most teachers as not being worth investing time with. I teach for break throughs.

I'm stating this so that teachers might see they have options in dealing with "obstinate" students and "difficult" situation. Of course, one must have hope that the student will respond to your efforts. If you truly feel you have spent all efforts, then that's the decision: It's like we get what we think - "I can!" "I can't!" There it is - the bottom line, decision and outcome.

Betty

Just thought I'd mention that I've gotten over my frustration. No longer considering dismissing a student. And the one that gave notice, although he did not practice, was not one I had in mind when I brought up this topic of dismissing students. It took me by surprise. I had already accepted him as he is especially knowing he gets treated for ADD.

After he gave notice, another has signed up and will take his spot and I am grateful for that. Only after he gave notice, did I realize the relief I felt...this student had only a small keyboard in basement...parents had the money but didn't value piano...and he is now in orchestra playing viola. I think lessons helped him a lot with his timing and other benefits.

I really want to work with the two teens left who present challenges. All the comments here helped and I came across a helpful article in "Clavier" from the 1970's. I have been given a stack of Clavier from the 1970's...wonderful reading!

I am also amazed that some experienced wonderful teachers here on the piano forum are having trouble keeping studio filled. It opened my eyes to how grateful I should be that there is a supply/demand balance in our area that made room for me to get started.

Ann, piano lessons serve often as a foundation study for later work with solo instruments. I have many "former" students who are now playing the whole range of symphonic instruments. Glad I could give them a solid musical foundation. This fall, one gal finally left - I had wondered for the past three years why she was still taking lessons, and later found out that her mom was begging and pleading with her not to give up piano - but she's a whiz in music, plays sax, keyboard in the jazz band, etc. Piano was just not where she was at, so to speak. She's very social and we all know that piano is anything but....

I agree with this. It is very rare that I will actually dismiss a student. Usually the student and/or parent realizes it's not working and they come to the same conclusion that I do. I can sense when things aren't going well, and I will always make an effort to find a way for it to work. Sometimes there's just nothing you can do.

I had a piano student who was very talented and musical, but didn't really want to work at it, and so after about a year she quit. She was just getting into late Elementary/early Intermediate at that point. Now she's a sophomore in high school and has returned for voice lessons, and then decided to take piano as well. She told me last week that she really regrets quitting, because she knows that she would have been much further along had she just kept it going. While I agreed with her, I told her that the decisions she makes create who she is now, the good and the bad ones. But now she has to stop thinking about what may have been and concentrate on what is. She can certainly still go quite far with piano if she puts the effort into the practicing. We are now working on getting into a daily practice routine. We'll see how it goes this week, but even if she continues to not practice regularly, I wouldn't drop her. Some people take a while to "figure it out" about practicing. I'm willing to wait as long as it takes, and to mix things up to find a combination of my teaching and their personality to find a solution.

I'm late to this thread, but have thoroughly enjoyed this discussion. I've spoken with the parents of my students who don't practice... many of them don't know how to motivate their kids to do their daily practice. Some are satisfied if they get them to the piano more than 2x a week.

I'm afraid this spring's recital is going to sound just like last years did. I want my kids to do well and I wonder where I'm going wrong?

I have 3 students who just can't seem to finish level 2, having started level 2 last year. They're all middle school age and are involved in sports, etc. I'm not sure if it's a lack of understanding, motivation or what, exactly. I just feel like we're walking through mud. Two of them only come every *other* week. The one who comes weekly is involved in cheerleading, which takes 3 evenings a week for 2 hours!!
(gosh, if I could get her to practice 6 hours a week.. she'd be fabulous!)

I do speak to them regularly about their practice habits. One parent promised their child an itunes card for a month of 5 day/week practice sessions. The student did really well the first two weeks, then stopped because of cheerleading commitments. *sigh*

I will take your ideas and try them out.. hope they work!!
BevP