Hello. I've been taking 1 on 1 lessons for a few weeks now. My teacher is really nice but I don't like that she is being too easy on me. I'm 21 and I am a beginner, never played piano before or any other instrument. I've already made great progress in those 5-6 weeks, I can play songs with both hands even though they are just beginner pieces for level 1 or so.

During winter vacation these past 2 weeks I didn't have a chance to get any lessons because everyone is celebrating the holidays but I worked hard every day and learned things on my own. I learned a few scales to the point when I can play them easily without even thinking about it and with proper fingering... Also I learned a 6-page Sonatina which I finished yesterday and now it only needs finishing touches and lots of practice to make it flow a bit better. I have some problematic areas which I'm working on fixing, I made notes on the sheets and all that, so I really feel I did a good job working with the material and not just fooling around on the piano. My time with the piano is limited so I try to make the most of it every day. I try to play with dynamics, I circled all the dynamic markers because my eyes seem to miss them while I sight read the sheets and play at the same time. I found that during faster parts of the piece I was loosing track of the sheet music but that wasn't so bad because when I started playing it at proper tempo I already had most of it memorized, well my fingers knew it somehow.

Anyway, how should I approach this matter? I know it's probably normal for a teacher to doubt the future of a late beginner and not to hold him to any high standarts but I think I should talk to her and maybe try to explain my goals. I think that even if she thinks it's impossible (i.e. I want to play lots of Beethoven one day as well as some of the harder Chopin pieces such as Winter Wind Etude) I should tell her to give me all the material necessary, all the theory, explain everything I need to do, show me proper technique and I will try my best to follow along.

It sounds easier in my head but when I talk to her I can sense that she's not a very serious teacher, I'm sure I will in time go above her level because piano is not her major but for the time being I'd like to learn as much as possible from her. I'd like to think she knows what she's doing but I don't think she knows how to handle an adult beginner. Her approach is too mellow.

Any advice for this particular situation? I can't afford another teacher currently and at my level it's not necessary. I can learn enough from my current one before moving on.

Not sure why you're afraid to tell your teacher you want to go at a faster pace if you're an adult already. Just be assertive and have an adult conversation with her. After all, she works for you.

Oh really. If I were the teacher and any student or parent or adult beginner showed that they take me for their employee ... well, I won't finish the phrase, better to stay polite.

It is probably more helpful to get at the actual situation. Teodor, you should explore goals with your teacher to make sure that you are on the same page. If she knows that you want to pursue piano seriously, including getting at things such as theory and technique or "anything necessary" as you have written, then she can plan her lessons accordingly. We students come in a wide variety of tastes and wishes and without that feedback teachers have to make do with what they can guess. You could be a student who wants to be an instant Horowitz, or a student who wants to do things that come easy, or any number of things. Talk to your teacher and see what happens.

It is not a case of "being the employer" but a case of letting the teacher have a clear idea what kinds of goals you have in mind that she is helping you with. After that the teacher carries the expertise (hopefully) in getting you there.

Teodor, if I understand your situation both you and your teacher are students at the same college.

From what you say, I don't think that you can ask much more of her. And if you express the sentiment that she is not up to your level, that will not help things at all. I would, however, try to change the relationship with her, so that it is less formally teacher-student, she may loosen up and discuss with you more broadly than in these formal lessons.

Is there a music department in your school?

Are you ok with being trained to become a mediocre pianist? Many so-called "teachers" will be able to explain the grand staff and how to read notes, and fix mistakes, but often the "cheap" inexperienced teachers aren't able to go beyond and explain, much less demonstrate, healthy technique, relaxation and efficiency, and good tone production. These things ought to be taught early on to develop good habits.

Perhaps your teacher is spending time on all these things, but you feel like you can move at a faster pace. Keep in mind that it's not simply about being able to execute a task, but also about the control and beauty of the execution. Sometimes these things take awhile to become natural and musical.

It is a fact, in my world, that the better the teacher the faster the results - often by astounding measures.

EVERY person has limited time. There is SO much to learn in music that only the most efficient methods of teaching produce stellar results. Sometimes a student, learns these on his own but most of the time not.

In financial terms, you pay more for each lesson but your learning pace can increase 1000 fold from a mediocre teacher to a fabulous one. In financial terms the better teacher is a far far better deal.

As a teacher, I enjoy students who push me. It's fun.

Just tell your teacher you want to 'step it up'. Keep in mind, that it is important to go through the steps of learning - do not skip steps. Again a good teacher will know this.

OK, looks like I touched a sensitive nerve here by saying the wrong thing so I want to go on the record and take it back. I just want to make a point about the OP as an adult should be able to speak up and not be afraid to let his teacher know what he wants out of it because after all, he's paying for the lesson. I never meant to imply for him to show any disrespect to the teacher.

Just so you know, my daughter is a piano teacher herself, and she has ditched an adult student before for not showing enough respect to her. Nothing blatant, just enough of a mild tone and an attitude now and then so after about 4 lessons, he was gone.

Rather than employer-employee, I think it's like a client who has hired a professional. I can relate to that directly within my present profession, because lay people as well as agencies will hire me for whatever project. They will get the best results if I can follow my procedure and judgment according to my expertise. At the same time, it is important for me to know what their goals and circumstances are. I will then use what I know best in order to give a client the best results toward his goals.

In the same way, I think a student has to let a teacher know his wishes, but not dictate procedure. That is, if the student wants to pursue music fully, including whatever theory is necessary, or if the student wants to just be able to get by enough to play his favourite pieces, or if the student wants to be able to play by ear and improvise. If a teacher doesn't know these goals, then she won't structure her lessons in the same way. The teacher may also make assumptions that are false.

On the other hand, if a student starts telling a teacher what methodology she should use, which pieces or exercise she should pick, then a line has been crossed. Going back to professions in general, some clients try to tell me what tools I should use, or what my procedure should be - this would actually hurt the quality of what I can produce for them. The same would be true for a teacher.

The problem is that adult students appear to be a gray area. We have differing goals and backgrounds, and if a teacher guesses the wrong thing then misunderstandings can abound for a long time. I used to think that it was very simple. A teacher would know what it is we need in order to play an instrument well, and all we had to do is get out of the way and follow. That is not always the case. If a teacher has the wrong idea of what we want, and gears lessons toward it, then it can go to funny places. We have to know how to speak up.

No, no, she's graduated but her major is accordeon but you know how they force piano upon everyone in music school. I'm having a hard time deciding if she loves the piano or not. If the answer is yes then I want to learn from her, if she has no real interest in the instrument and it's just a job for her then... I need a new teacher.

I'm THIS close to sleeping in the practice room already, so I think I can work more and I'll have to talk to my teacher to see if she will help me with that. She's probably holding off on theory and boring stuff (which I don't find boring at all) because she doesn't want to scare me off in the beginning or something...

Thanks for all the advice. I'd hate to think of her as someone I pay to work for me. It's more like... we are working together. Teachers learn from their students as well, it's not a one-way thing and feedback from both sides is essential

What exactly are her qualifications? How many years has she taught piano, and if she's new to it, is she serious about piano teaching in the future? It sounds to me like this might not be a good "match", but the only way to find out is to be direct with her. Tell her first thing at the next lesson, or call her on the phone to discuss it ahead of time. Just let her know what your dreams are, and if she is capable of helping you get there. She should be honest with you, and if it's more than she can give, ask her for referrals to other teachers.

Excellent thread. Thanks for creating this. Very good points, Morodiene. I'm depressed now. I really need a teacher

Teodor,

If you want fast action toward achievement you will get yourself a experienced teacher who has a track record in producing serious adult students.

There is theory, technique, exercises, repertoire, memorization, interpretation, vocabulary, keyboard orientation, music grand staff notation, rhythm, harmony, improvisation, composing, performance....all kinds of subsets that you want your teacher to have optimum knowledge on...based on your goals and intentions of course. Where you want to go, your teacher has to have been there before you.

A piano teacher can not teach what they do not know. Playing piano well does not compute by itself to being a good teacher of piano. Teaching well shows in the results that the student gets from his lessons provided that the student is following instructions and doing his best to prepare and practice for each and every lesson.

If you want results go to a person who gives results.

The focus has to be on you and what you want to do and what you can do will follow with the right learning situation. Find your very best situation available to you.

I have to disagree.

A person with no "track record" may prove to be an excellent teacher.

It is also often the case that someone with less than optimum knowledge has a great deal to transmit to a beginning level student. One of those things may be that one can love playing music without being "optimum" and without the ambition to be.

Also it could be that Teodor doesn't perceive many things that this young lady is teaching him. Could be that he is chafing at the wrong bit while she is pulling on the right one.

Besides, it seems that this young lady ... I don't say teacher because I have the impression that she is not ... it seems that this young lady has taught something to Teodor already. She has already given a certain result. After all, he has advanced, so he says.

But then again, I am not a piano teacher and my knowledge is anything but optimum.

I heard of a man who tried to save money by asking his Podiatrist to check his teeth.

Does this seem reasonable to you? It seems ridiculous to me, yet, people willingly study piano with organists, accordionists, bagpipers, etc. Just because these instruments share a keyboard doesn't make the technique for playing them anyway similar.

Teodor, if you are serious about learning piano, find a teacher who is both a competent pianist and excellent teacher. Can your teacher play the repertoire you aspire to? If not, how are they going to prepare you to do so? As Betty pointed out, you cannot teach what you don't know. Your current teacher can read notes, so she's teaching you note reading. It sounds as if she understands phrasing and dynamics and is sharing that with you. It's what she doesn't know, however, will hold you back.

On your original question, I always find it difficult to balance what students perceive as "progress" that is, playing more difficult sounding pieces, with insuring they have the technique necessary to play them well. Adults are often impatient, thus sew the seeds for their own technical limitations later on.

Another point to make is that I teach my adult beginners the same material as I give my college-bound music majors. The only difference may be that I teach more goal-oriented pieces to get them ready for college auditions at the places they want to apply. But still my adult students get theory, sight reading, technique and repertoire like the rest of them. If an adult has a particular interest in a style I'll give them that, too, but I refuse to cheat them on the other skills. If this teacher is capable of teaching theory, then why isn't she? Perhaps it's just a matter of letting her know you want that stuff, or perhaps she doens't know how to teach it. There's only one way to know.

John, can you explain this a bit more? I'm not sure what you mean. Doesn't playing more difficult pieces (if you're doing it well), mean that you have the technique?

This is not really relevant at my current stage. It will take years to develop technique to play such pieces. I will only have this teacher for 1 or 2 years at most anyway since I'm going abroad.

I just wish I didn't give up music when I was younger. Now I've wasted so much time trying to please my family by doing a serious major in university. I just hope I don't turn into one of those lifeless zombies we see on the bus or in the metro - all those people who once had dreams and aspirations but somehow they lost them along the way.

Every teacher doesn't know many things. Every teacher holds you back on a certain terrain ... while advancing you on another.

Hey, Teodor, haven't you read the "are you weird" thread. These might be Piano World afficionados ... or afflictionados.

The metro? Sounds like your already in Paris!

It should, if - as you say - you're doing them well. The problem is, a lot of people are impatient, and want to move on to rep. that's too advanced too soon. As a result, they don't learn the pieces well, and develop bad habits to compensate for not being ready to play those pieces.

If you get paid by your students for teaching them, then yeah, you are employed by the student. I don't get what's so hard to understand about that. You may not like the wording, but it's a business relationship or am I missing something here.

That's an astounding generalization. I and many of the teachers here know one heck of a lot about performing and teaching. If you came to me and asked for advanced jazz techniques, I'd be quite up front and tell you I cannot provide it. But from the sounds of Teodor's post, he's looking for classical repertoire, which most piano teachers can handle quite well.

Mary, some students have a strong need to have "impressive" sounding repertoire. The trick is to find pieces which sound impressive, provide technical growth for the student, but doesn't task them with skills they cannot cope with.

Playing more difficult pieces well probably does mean you have the technique, but students often over-rate the quality of their playing by many degrees. I suspect this may be true here.

I recall my own experience as a high school student - I was very impressed with a fellow student's playing (Rustles of Spring) so much so that I recorded it and one day, had my teacher evaluate it. I was expecting high praise, instead I got a "Well, she's certainly mastered some of the difficulties of that piece. It sounds like she has the potential to go on to study in college, and become a very good musician." I was crushed (note - there was no romantic interest there - just an overly impressionable youth).

This is why teaching students to listen from day one is so important. We hear what we want to hear, but we must learn to hear what is actually coming out of our instrument.

Don't you just love this post in the piano teachers forum?

A student asks a question: "Any advice on this situation?"

And then after posting our best replies for his situation, our years of experience and the quality of our teaching mean nothing.

We are not being seen or heard as the professionals we are.

There is the issue of us "being employed" by adult students again when music education is a professional service and we establish fees and work by appointments just as lawyers, doctors, dentists, physical therapist and many other professionals do. We have years of our own training when we were students where we did all the work required of us and then for many of us, working for a college degree(s) in music, then the on-going education we continue to seek, and the years of successful music teaching experience we have achieved.

With all of this, our reputations are based on the outcome of how we are preceived by our clients. The more education that has been received by our clients, the more highly teachers are likely to be valued.

Notice that:
1) the original poster has been taking lessons for a few weeks now,
2) he is "studying" with an inexperienced teacher (it seems),
3) he is asking for our advice,
4) we give it advice, which is valued not one little bit.

I think that is because the question postedis really an "ego" statement of how grandly an adult student is doing and that the teacher does not meet his needs.

We can not solve this problem for anyone. Encouraging someone to find a good, reliable, experienced, reputable, real, professional piano teacher is not a popular thing to expect.

Every time we take on posts like this it seems to me that we continue to deal with this issue over and over and rarely does our advice get considered as a possibility.

Maybe we can learn from this lesson we are receiving?

These people have no capacity to accept our advice because they have no background with which to know we speak from intelligence and from personal knowledge.

So, maybe we should be thankful that we can avoid situations like this in our private studios and I think also in our responses to these kinds of questions.

Self protection is needed in our very own forum for piano teachers. We are talking to the wind.

I am interested in legitimate adult students of all ages in my private studio as well as young musicians and their parents as clients. When adult students private message me I am happy to help them because they approach respectfully and I think I have made many friends on the forum because of connecting together about music.

I have a lot of respect for many of the teachers here on the forum and it bothers me greatly for any of us and all of us to be disrespected and dissected here.

Are piano teachers supposed to say "Mea culpa, Mea culpa, Mea maxima culpa"? (To my fault, to my fault, to my most grievous fault?) I am tired of questions that are traps for us.

I would really appreciate hearing positive comments in behalf of our teacher/members of the forum. Most of us work very hard in pursuit of excellence for all of our students and for ourselves in the love of music.

Betty Patnude

Really? I didn't get that from the OP.

I have to agree with the above. As an adult student without a teacher, I envy those having the time and mean to afford one. I have been following this thread with interest the last few days for its different point of views from experienced Pianists and teachers alike. I admire your work and wish I could have a teacher like you, Betty Patnude, John Brook, Morodiene or a few others giving constructive advices here. I see that ego in the OP but didn’t think it’s any of my business to speak up. If you’re hurt, please keep in mind that there are grateful Adult Students out there who respect and value your profession with our utmost regard.

I have no doubt that this is true, John. Don't mean to suggest otherwise.

However, this podiatrist ... um I mean accordeonist may have something to say on the piano, despite being inexperienced, without reputation, amateur (not professional).

Maybe there'll be a happy ending to the story, if you know what I mean: Teodor will take up accordeon and we'll see him in Montmartre, singing "La vie en rose".

Perhaps we can squeeze a happy ending out of this situation?

Huh? I didn't read the OP as an ego statement. Please point out so I can understand what you mean Betty.

Thanks for clarifying, John.


My teacher must agree. He has been emphasizing the "listening" part of playing since I started lessons. It's something I have to really work on.

Oh so I have a big ego? Did I say I was playing advanced repertoir? All I said is that when I started piano a few weeks ago I could barely play anything. On the second day I could play the first part of Fur Elise with both hands with decent tempo although I bet with no expression and now I'm simply saying I'm capable of playing some beginner level piece with both hands and I memorized all 6 pages of it rather quickly. I find that encouraging, I know I'm not a prodigy but at least I have a tiny bit of talent with the piano. But my teacher had little to do with it because only 2 of the lessons had some theory about the types of notes and then the last 3 were preparation for the christmas recital where we played Serenade by Schubert with my part being simplified a bit. Do you think I sight read the notes she gave me? No, it was no use for me because at that point I was oblivios to too many things that I learned now on my own during this vacation. I just remembered it all when she played it for me and I could play it back with no mistakes after a few tries. Now she says she will extend her holiday for 1 more week, so I will have a 3rd week with no lessons...

Don't get me wrong, I respect teachers, my mother is a teacher...


Also excuse me for taking myself too seriously, I think that I should keep doing that because the moment you stop believing you can do everything you wanna do, then you might as well be dead. Should I pretend I'm a nicer person than I am just so I can get positive replies in the forum? I prefer being honest. I can be a real ass sometimes but usually I'm not. Of course this is a forum and I can be myself. Don't get offended, it's not worth even thinking about it.



God forbid you end up having to teach someone like me who learns everything you give him, comes prepared for classes and doesn't ask "how long should I practice for; is INSERT X MINS HERE enough". I practice every day for as long as it takes. Basically you just said you don't want students who are eager to learn. And yes, I am impatient but not to the point where I will ignore pieces for beginner level and all the theory and skip to trying use lesson time for figuring out pieces I shouldn't be touching at this point. I've never done that and I will never do.

Like Ed, I didn't see that from the OP either.
Once again I'm with Ed here. I didn't see ego in the original statement.

Betty, if you're really tired of questions you see as "traps", you could just not respond to them.

Teodor, if you hang around here long enough and/or browse through the archives, you'll find that Betty often takes offense at adult beginners. Don't take it personally. But I also wouldn't take such angry rants too seriously. Usually she harangues us for wanting piano to be "fun", so I'm not sure why she's suddenly taking you to task because you want to approach lessons more seriously.

It seems obvious to me that you need to find a new teacher; there are too many red flags about your current teacher: lack of piano background (I'm a former accordionist myself and, while the accordion certainly gave me a head start on piano, I wouldn't begin to pretend that it helped me much--if at all--with technique); relative inexperience in teaching; and diffidence toward scheduling lessons.

Your desire to be the best pianist you can be and to have more rigor in your lessons is admirable. Don't settle for less.

But how does one do that without the funds? Isn't that the starting situation which nobody is addressing?

That wasn't clear to me, keystring; the OP said that he couldn't afford "another" teacher, but "another" could mean "in addition to" or "instead of." He made reference later to paying the current teacher, so I am assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that he could apply those funds to a new teacher should he switch.

I don’t see having an ego is negative. After all, it’s the very motivational tool pushing us to greatness. Now, unless you brag about it, bring yourself above others, or let it become annoyance etc…

As a neutral observer, I didn’t think there’s anything else I should add to this but… I decided should provide my honest inputs so it’s fair to both sides of the discussion.

The OP states he’s a total new beginner, never had any kind of music background and never played any instruments.


After a few weeks of lessons, and one already claims the above is a bit suspicious to me, unless the OP is indeed a Prodigy, a Genius.


This is the part I don’t agree with most if I’m reading it from his teacher’s point of view. Having an ambition to become greatness is a great thing, the best one can ask for. Claiming I’m better than you, I’m afraid, is a bit distasteful. How about claiming it before I even get there? Again, this ambition will do the OP wonders, or I hope it will. The message/question he tries to get to us, in my honest opinion, has something to do with boosting that ego a little bit. Does it not?

I hope we don’t take anything personal. We all interpret differently. You and I can get the same message across, but how we present it can have a positive or negative impact on the receiving end. The above is just simply my personal, honest opinion. I find every opinion has some value, though not always in agreement.

I probably didn't read carefully enough or read something into it that wasn't there. In fact, I can't find the the reference to funds at all this time around. What you say does make sense.

It is unjust to plant red flags around this lass.

That what she is able or ready to transmit to Teodor is inadequate is not at all clear. And "diffidence toward scheduling" is an enormous extrapolation.

My take on the funding situation (and correct me if I'm wrong, OP) is that the OP is paying a pretty low rate for the current teacher and is afraid that if he's going to a newer teacher, that the new rate with a better teacher will be a lot more than he can afford. He'd rather stick with the current teacher for the low rate and have the teacher pick up the pace to his liking, because he thinks as a beginner, he has a lot of basic stuff he can still learn from this teacher, only that it's going too slow for him.

Perhaps. But maybe it matters less what the "real" situation is; the fact that Teodor is unhappy with the lessons as they are currently proceeding is reason enough to be waving or planting those red flags around.

Given the title of the thread, my advice to switch teachers is in hindsight hasty, as Teodor seems willing to try better communication with his teacher about goals and methods of teaching. And indeed on Teodor's thread in AB forum I advised him first to sit down with the teacher and ask directly for more rigor in his lessons. I still think that's the best strategy. But after reading more of the background in this thread, I'm less optimistic that such a conversation would have the desired effects.

I honestly can't tell. I always like the idea of communication because of my own experiences. But there are times that I probably try past when there is a point to it. It just seems the first thing to do, in case.

Lets see now...

The OP has never had lessons before, and now has had a grand total of five lessons. And now he is wanting to change teachers because the current teacher is going too slow for him.

It usually takes me three or four lessons to "read" a new student, and often even longer to determine how they take to the piano, what their talent level appears to be, what their strengths and weakness are, by what method it appears they best learn, how I can best communicate with them, and how disciplined they are after the initial honeymoon with the piano has faded.

In other words, I think the OP is being hasty.

Futhermore, without knowing or having any input whatsoever from the teacher, I am not going to also be hasty, and judgmental, and jump in and agree that the teacher is unsuitable for this student.

Instead, I have found that pushing brand new students too fast is a good way to overwhelm them, disorient them, and even have them turn away from the piano. Not my job description at all.

But going slower, especially with the need to develop new physical skills, is far better in the long run. The nice thing is all of this can be re-evaluated week by week as time goes on.

ps...whenever I have had a student, usually a parent, want to go faster, the reality is that the student is usually not ready to advance, either because he or she is not practicing enough, or (gasp) is not sufficiently talented to support a faster pace.

I guess all you can do is tell her that you are really interested in working hard and progressing - and if she's not up to that challenge, then go ahead and find another teacher. I'm sure she'll survive that. Do some research first though and find out who is available in the area and interview with several teachers, to see if they can help you achieve your goals.

I'm new to these discussions, and this one sure is a doozy.....

For what it's worth - if you (the student) are not enjoying your lessons you can be quite certain your teacher is not enjoying them either. And if you can't afford proper lessons then your options are the usual ones in capitalist economies: delay gratification until you have saved up enough to buy what you want, OR borrow money to pay for what you want, OR, make the most of the cheap version you can afford.

I'm reading this question as partly asking: how can I get better value from my teacher, without her knowing it? Well, how truly ridiculous. Honestly. I do like the idea of transposing the situation into a medical field. This post is like saying "I don't think my plastic surgeon is all that good, but I want to make sure I get a great nose job". Hellooo!!!!

And sure, we can all learn from each other, but I don't go to cooking classes from chemistry teachers, and I don't go to car maintenance classes from computer programmers.

Welcome to the forum, Elissa!

I wonder how much new students (mistakenly?) assume that, in the beginning of piano study, advanced training on the part of their teachers isn't essential. Yeah, a chemistry teacher may not be the best choice to teach somehow how to toss an omelette expertly, but maybe the chemistry teacher could teach them how to scramble eggs just fine. Let me hasten to add that I'm not arguing for such an approach, just that it might be the reasoning underlying why Teodor was willing to give this teacher a try in the first place.

I think you're 100% correct, Monica. I find that it is precisely in the early lessons that my experience most completely comes into play: being able to quickly determine what is impeding the progress of a student, rather than waiting to see how things turn out, for instance, makes a world of difference to the beginner. It's equally important for teachers to be able to respond to the positive efforts of beginners, understanding how to capitalise on the natural inclinations of the student, how to guide them to acquire the full skill set that will enable them to learn any music they please in the future.

Just dropping by to say my problem has been resolved. I should have done this in advance but I asked around about my teacher, did some google searches and apparently she is a very good accompanist on the piano, also I hear her accompany accordeon students all the time but I somehow ignored that before.

Anyway. We seem to get along very well. In fact I had the perfect lesson today and learned so much. I was going to suggest we start working on Anna Magadena Bach's Notebook sometime soon and my teacher already told me she recommends doing that before I even said it. Then she showed me a book with beginner level pieces (The Young Pianist Vol.1) which she had a copy of and then I wiped out my own copy from my bag and I was really surprised. I was looking for suitable material during the holidays and it seems she was doing the same and everything matched somehow. She even has Vol.2 which I'm missing but she's missing Vol.3 which I have so... eh.ok. enough.
thanks for reading...


P.S. My teacher gave me a 2 hour lesson today and charged me for only 1 hour.

I agree with you Elissa. An experienced teacher goes to work on evaluating the problem and creating the solution by planning lessons and materials to get to the desirable end result. I think we collaborate a lot with our adult students to try to find the materials that work best for them meeting their tastes, but there are also certain pieces that we know, from experience, are going to be good choices for them in meeting the current purpose, and it would be so nice if the students could trust our judgement when we are assigning something that doesn't spark their interest immediately.

I also think most experienced piano teachers have enough knowledge of teaching concepts and choosing literature, that were an adult learner to follow the teacher's instincts totally willingly, a whole new world of what piano is about would be seen by the student and diversity in addition to their initial goals would result in a totally different adventure than the one they thought they were starting on.

The teacher and student listening to each other is very important, but also important is the ability of the teacher to lead and the student to follow. That would be truly communicating with both aspiring to discover the musician the learner is capable of being. Teaching/learning to capacity is a huge enjoyment, I think, but requiring open minds.

I am very happy for you, Teo. I had difficulty believing that she is really so bad, and I am glad that you hung on.

You ought to give her a nice gift, or take her out for an ice cream (in the middle of winter) to make up for the hard time that you gave her. Of course, I know that you didn't give her a hard time, it is only here on Piano World that you expressed strong doubts about her. But it will be a way to bury the bad feeling inside yourself and to show her that you are completely at her disposition, as she has showed that she is for you ...



... like this.

And so, when are you going to take up accordeon?

hehe, probably never. I'm in love with the piano and don't want to cheat on her :P

Lol I'm not gonna lie when I first read this subject I thought this might be a legit post about getting more "serious" giggity...with your teacher. Which would have been great lol

I definitely see where your coming from...that would be an awkward conversation for sure...just look her in the eyes and say..."I wanna get serious."

I dunno man this is a tough one lol.

I hope it doesn't get to that. Her boyfriend would have me killed for sure. I love Family Guy btw. Haven't seen most episodes but the ones I downloaded were hilarious :P

Glad to hear it's worked out for you!

Quagmire says ...



Giggity that's good news!

/clears throat/ so what you are saying, Teodor, is that once you realised your teacher was a good pianist after all you felt better, especially when her plans for your lessons matched your own?

It does sound as if the problem is completely resolved, but I find myself smiling wryly that a goodly part of the resolution was your changed perspective upon discovering that she was actually a perfectly accomplished pianist.

Students who come to lessons with me and tell me how to run the lessons get fairly short shrift. It really is a matter of respect, Teodor, and it sounds like you could only respect your teacher once you knew that she was a competent pianist. Which is fair enough.

good stuff!

lol i wasn't serious by the way and I would have had egg on my face if something happened man lol...i have dry sarcastic slightly sick sense of humor which can very easily be misinterpreting online.

peace

While I see what you are saying, may I suggest another possibility? Teodor was told in this forum that he should not study with this teacher if she was not a proper pianist. That concern has been addressed. This teacher has also taken this time to gather material and plan some kind of program for him. Teodor was also worried that she had no plan and would not work seriously with him.

Elissa, Thank You! Finally I get to hear an honest, straightforward opinion. Not to rub in, just rejoice there are a few more sharing my sentiments. I worry my honest opinions would someday offend others. If that’s the case, I know for sure now I’m not alone.

Originally Posted By: Elissa Milne
Students who come to lessons with me and tell me how to run the lessons get fairly short shrift…

I don't give any less good service that usual, but I must say I always feel disappointed that there are going to be some limitations placed on me by the adult student in me having the freedom I want and need to be the most effective teacher I know how to be for this student. I can get them to full independent musicianship by evaluating and planning what is needed for a path toward improving their weaknesses, playing to their strengths, and making progress at every lesson.

Having limitations voiced as to what the music selections are to be by the beginning adult student tells me that I have an even bigger job to do in expanding their horizons musically and that it may not be possible to do that if they are resistant to my suggestions. It tells me, too, that this may be a very short relationship and termination will probably be abrupt and over an "issue".

The student who says, "I'm here to learn", or "Let's talk about my goals," is so much easier to work with. What she/he has said opening the door is that there is respect and trust for the teacher and she/he is here to learn and be productive. The cooperative students are easy to reach and teach, the resistant one's see teachers more like employees to meet their needs.

We work with people's brains and that requires that they be in their brains working with us toward a mutually satisfying ending. Two heads with positive vibes are synergistic . That is really what we look for in a piano teacher/student relationship.

As you can see Teodor went from undermining himself with his teacher, debated whether or not she was really a teacher, checked around finally about her reputation, gave her another chance once he decided she was ok afterall. All that posting because of his fears when he could have simply addressed the issue with her when he was in her presence.

If I detected the depth at which Teodor went off the deep end in his complaints, and it were I he was talking about, he would have to show me that he can follow instruction and give us time to learn to be compatabile and productive. It would be, to me, only his attitude getting in the way of a successful outcome.

Teodor may need to make further adjustment's and I don't think the story is over yet. He has a volatile imagination and the fire has not been put out just because he is suddenly happy again.


Betty Patnude
I wish he and his teacher well.

Nota: this is not "re:" anyone. Stupid system!

For the sake of fairness, here is the advice Teodor was given in regards to making certain that his teacher had proper background.

Well I've been away from this thread for a while. Now I see that Teodor has taken the advice given earlier in the thread to check the teacher's credentials. And he is reassured by what he discovers, and things are going well because it seems there is now good communication. So why does it appear that he is being criticised for this?

Keystring, the only reason the pianism of the teacher became an issue was because Teodor started out by saying he thought she wasn't good enough....

Currawong, how funny and true. Any sense that Teodor is being criticised comes from the experience of teachers having had many a beginner student come along and tell the teacher what they ought to be doing. Hahaha!!!! And I didn't mean to criticise Teodor for discovering his teacher was competent - I "smiled wryly". Not the same thing at all. I smiled wryly because many a student thinks their teacher is an imbecile at some point in the relationship. And then they realise the teacher actually does know something after all, and learning prospers.

It is probably valuable to become aware of these various experiences. If I know, for example, that teachers are commonly criticized then I would be extra careful with my words in order to not give the wrong message.

What I saw in Teodor's first post was the worry that he would not be taken seriously because as an adult student not much would be expected of him. This kind of insecurity is actually common to many of us, along with almost a feeling that one doesn't have a right to be doing this. I can remember this myself some years ago.

There was an unfortunate line that I had to read several times before catching the real sense of it. I've highlighted some key words.

The actual sense is that since she is only a few years ahead of him, and she is concentrating on accordion, then if he puts all his effort into piano while she doesn't, then over time (years) he would be ahead of her and no longer able to learn from her. The way it comes across, however, is that he is saying he is better than her.

A couple of last thoughts. 1. We cannot fully appreciate what someone knows or can do until we have learned something about it ourselves. An expert will make it seem easy, or that they are doing very little which compounds the problem. 2. As I understand it, teaching a beginner is challenging since the foundations are being lain down.