Have any of you had a student present you with a CD of pieces he/she learned either with you or on their own? How did you feel about this? Were you or would you be eager to listen and comment? Is it a lot to ask of a teacher - to listen to a 30 minute CD?

Sandy, I have digital recordings of my students' recitals dating back to 1996. On occasion, I have made a CD for a student, showing the year to year progress from beginner to graduation. It sure is a lot easier to do now with computers. But I have never had a student present me with a CD of their playing recorded elsewhere.

Hi John,

so maybe this is weird?

As we students all know, we "play much better at home"... So...about 2.5 years ago I gave my teacher a CD of pieces I continued to work on after we 'finished' them and some that I did on my own. He seemed very flattered and appreciative of my efforts and complimented me on several of the pieces. This year I gave him another and he has not yet listened to it. He is VERY busy but I'm now wondering if this is an awkward thing for a teacher to receive. I'll wait another week or so before deciding to NEVER do this again.....

IPIBAHN,

You've made a 30 minute CD to show your teacher what you've accomplished. And that's understandable. You want your teacher to see what you've accomplished. I think it would be better to bring a CD like this to your lesson. Use lesson time to show what you've accomplished and get feedback.

It reminds me of a friend who wanted me to read a manuscript he has begun...he's hoping to publish a story. As a friend, I can read it and give my opinion. But if he took it to an editor as a "gift" it would be a different story. I know you have completed the pieces, so it is different. But still it strikes me as an odd "gift". It is really a request to look over what you've accomplished. And since your teacher is a professional, that's why I'd do this sort of thing during a lesson.

Still, I wouldn't fret over it. Your teacher has had a request from you to listen to your CD, and he chose not to find time to do it. Not such a big deal. But I wouldn't do it again.

Nice to hear a teacher's opinion. BTW it wasn't his gift - I gave him a nice gift and card.

He has only a couple of private students and we never do recitals nor do I perform for anyone and I'm still not relaxed at lessons (is anyone ever???). I'm not looking for detailed feedback. This is just intended to give him an opportunity to hear how pieces sound after we've 'finished' them and I have had an opportunity to 'polish' them on my own or ones that I never bring to lessons. It also gives me a 'performance' goal - It seemed like a good idea at the time, however you have given me a different perspective and I will not likely do it again.

I wouldn't worry yourself.
Try not to be offended if he doesn't find the time to listen to your CD. It's no big effort on your part to burn a CD and I'm assuming you made the recordings primarily for you rather than him. Unlike Ann I think you might as well keep the CD's coming until he tells you to stop!
I once gave my teacher a CD of PDQ Bach that I'm not sure he ever listened to (or at least he never commented on it), although when I lent him my Zoom H2 to try out I know he listened to some of my embarassing recordings on it because he said that my left hand wasn't nearly staccato enough in one of my pieces.
For his part, my teacher lent me a book that took me six months to get round to reading and he didn't seem the least bit perturbed that I took so long to finish it, so I wouldn't expect your teacher to rush to listen to your CD.
I do assume that you didn't include any cover art with your CD. If you've gone to town with the cover and included a picture of yourself sitting naked at your piano with only an imaginatively positioned music stand and vase to protect your modesty that would shed a slightly different light on my advice!

(PS the book he lent me was called Trampolining in the Vatican by Paul Drayton
http://www.amazon.com/Unheard-Melodies-Trampolining-Vatican-Drayton/dp/184748073X
it's a fabulous book if and you're looking for something I cant recommend it highly enough - full of wonderful gems - that when I finally got round to it, was well worth the read)

Hi, my opinion is that it was a nice idea the first time, but making it a regular thing might be too much to ask. I like the idea floated above of bringing a recording to the lesson and asking if the last 10 minutes of the lesson can be spent listening to it so you can get some comments.

Also, if you are looking for feedback on your polished performances, share them online! Have you ever posted in the "Member Recordings" section here?

I don't think it is a lot to ask your teacher to do, but he should be properly compensated for his work. Listening to a 30-min CD and providing feedback sounds to me like a 45-minute lesson. Perhaps you should ask your teacher to side track one of your 45-minute lesson for this purpose because it is important to you.

However, I do wonder why are you even doing this? Are you trying to prove something to your teacher he already knows? It's doubtful that your teacher doesn't know you play better at home than in front of him. You should not try to prove anything to your teacher. You should just be yourself.

Have you considered the possibility that your teacher considers only a live on the spot performance a true representation of your real abilities?

Well actually I pay my teacher for every month regardless of missed classes - December we only had two. Of course often we run over our 45 minutes and sometimes although rarely I'm the one who cancels. I don't mind as it all balances out in the end so I think a 30 munute recording is not over-extending his services. And maybe if we had the opportunity to do recitals this 'need' would not be important to me.

Thank you for your responces - I really appreciate the input but I guess it's difficult to post a question I think such as this when no one really knows either of us. AS it is always best to communicate, I'll actually ask my teacher how he feels about this when/if he coments on my C/D

Yeah, responding on forums are sometimes a shot in the dark....