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I've mentioned before that I teach siblings - transfers from Yamaha. I've taught the older one for a few years; she doesn't practice much, which is too bad, because she does have the ability, and is probably my most advanced student. I made a mistake with her, I'm afraid, starting her off at too high of a level. She was playing great when she came to me, but I didn't realize it was all rote, and she couldn't read music very well. Progress was painfully slow at first.

The younger one started with me last summer under protest. She wanted to quit all together and take guitar, but her mother made her commit to one semester. I backed her up quite a bit.

She is a bit oppositional by nature, and I've had to use a fair amount of praise and reverse psychology on her. So far, we've been able to keep her coming without losing face. She is brimming with talent, and is motivated by my reward system (giant candy bar for earning 25 stickers. Small cake for finishing a level of method books. That's her current goal - she's almost there.)

Yesterday their dad called to confirm a lesson, and mentioned that the younger one had a surprise for me.

She came to her lesson and proceeded to play, by memory, her older sister's recital piece from a couple weeks ago. She explained that she learned it a bit at a time, reading, not by ear. It was very well done. She also blew through her lesson pieces. She could be moving much faster, but she balks if I offer anything she feels is too challenging, so I have to keep moving at a slow but steady pace.

Her sister, on the other hand, hadn't practiced at all. I suggested that we find something motivating for her for the summer, and she asked for a Taylor Swift piece. (Hope I can find one at an appropriate level.) I was explaining this to the dad when he came to pick her up, and he asked if the younger one had "anything fun" to work on as well. I said I thought she was already enjoying all her pieces. She immediately said, "Nuh uh! I hate piano!" and gave me a huge grin, instantly negating her comment. Then she ran to the piano and played two more pieces she enjoyed.

The dad admitted that it seemed as if she already had fun pieces. He said it in a way that implied I'd failed in giving the other daughter fun stuff. I pointed out that the older daughter was currently working on several pieces that many consider "fun" (Entertainer, for example.)

The reality is "we like what we're good at" - and it's hard to enjoy lessons when you don't practice and aren't making progress. While I'd like the older one to find more motivation, I'm thrilled with the younger one's successes.

There is a fair amount of sibling rivalry between them. It's a balancing act to try to motivate one without affecting the other in some way.

Lollipop, do you mean transfers from Suzuki?

You have my sympathy. (I'd offer advice if I had any answers to this situation.) I agree with you that "it's hard to enjoy lessons when you don't practice and aren't making progress". I hope you let us know how it goes.

No, they were Yamaha students. (It's similar to Suzuki, but taught as a group.)

I just bought an easy version of Love Story for her. Thought I would spend some time with it myself first, and see if I can figure out the best way to teach it. I know she won't like it if it doesn't sound right, and I'll get frustrated if the written rhythms and notes are a poor imitation. If that's the case, I'll work more on chords and "by ear".

I started the above as a bit of good news about the younger sister, but it turned into more of a vent. I really am tickled about the younger one, though.

Lollipop, if I may

You brought the younger student back closer to the beginning when she transferred and gave her the tools, while with the older sister who transferred earlier you didn't. If we are missing foundations to our playing, and it is our first instrument so that we don't know what such things are, then a) we don't know how to practise properly, b) don't know the rewards and what real progress can mean. As a student I think it is a shame that these schools don't prepare students properly so that later teachers need to deal with the results.

That happens quite often. I took one of these students back down to Primer Level because there were SO MANY problems. A year later, this student still struggles to read, and is not halfway through the Level 1 book.

You might want to put these siblings in different series of method books, so they don't end up comparing.

I also have a recent transfers from Yamaha. They started out with group lesson and now in private lesson before transfer to me. Older brother 12 years old in Piano Adventure Level 4 and younger brother 9 years old in Level 3A. I continue with their current level because that would be something my common sense tell me. However, I think I am wrong. Later in second month, I realize that their progress is too slow. They are not comfortable in reading the materials in their level. Is that means they should be in a lower level? I am still struggle if I should have them step back to the lower level with some other method book (since they already learned all the pieces in current method book) or keep going hope that they will improve?
Thanks

Keystring - Yes, you're right that I had different approaches to the two students. Live and learn! However, I had the older sister a full year before the younger one started. It was a mistake to start her at the level I did but once I realized this - within a few weeks - I started focusing on reading skills. I pulled in some supplemental books that weren't correlated with the method so that she didn't realize I was dropping her back, and we just made very slow progress with the method book. She is in the Faber older beginner, book 2, and after 2 years, is on Unit 10 (of 15). Very slow.

You are absolutely right that the school did not teach her anything about practicing. (Or if they taught it, she didn't learn it.) The issue isn't so much that she doesn't have the skills, but that she isn't disciplined to practice. When she practices, she does very well. She's always the star of my recitals. I really think that she has some talent (she has some "famous" classical musician relatives) and should be moving much faster. But she hasn't practiced more than minimal in months. She is a bright and social middle schooler with a new horse! Piano (in her case, inadequate keyboard) isn't as appealing.

Learning from my mistakes, I started her sister at level 1 of PA. She is going to finish the book soon, and could easily pass her sister in the next year if I can keep her motivated.

Small piano - I had a similar situation last year. It was a transfer student, but not a Yamaha student. She had taken lessons at a box store where they bought their keyboard, and I seriously doubt her teacher even played piano! The girl came with her level 1 PA book "finished" and signed by the teacher. She played the last piece for me with random fingering, hit or miss rhythm, and treble line only (using both hands). I flipped through the book and saw that the teacher had crossed off 2 out of every 3 pieces in the book. The student had no clue about finger numbers or note values. Since her previous teacher used only the lesson book, I suggested that we go ahead and do the Performance, Technique, and Theory books "since she missed those." I treated the Performance book like a lesson book. It worked quite well, and she has made dramatic improvement.

I try to be careful not to criticize previous teachers or methods with the students. I just tell them that I teach things in a certain order, and need to make sure I fill in some gaps in case their previous teacher taught in a different order. My post-Yamaha students play scales better than most of my other students! And they seem to be better at listening to themselves, and no performance anxiety. But conversely, they are a bit lazy, have poor practice skills, and are not used to a full 30 minutes of one-on-one teacher attention

You are way too nice. Don't you think these establishments are truly doing private piano teachers a major disservice? I get transfer students from these places all the time, and I'd say 80% of these students are not prepared for formal private lessons.

No - I'm not that nice. I just don't say to my students what I am thinking!

If they are continuing on with piano because they feel good about what they learned at Yamaha, I don't want to deny them the right to be proud of themselves. Until they get to know me, it would be too easy to seem arrogant to them. Later on, after they have had lessons with me for awhile, chances are good that they can draw the correct conclusions on their own.

The sisters referenced in this thread are an example. I got the older sister a couple years ago, when she had completed the Yamaha program. After a year of lessons with me, her mom then pulled the younger one out of Yamaha early, and brought her to me. They realized at that point, I think, that individual lessons were more productive.

Of course, if I'm asked a direct question, I'll answer it honestly. Tact is really not my forte.

I'm afraid I don't "get" Yamaha - why pay that much for group lessons, when individual ones are so much more productive? There is no shortage of piano teachers in this area, but for inexperienced (musically) parents, it's really easy to just call the local music store and take whatever they offer.