I have one student that I can no longer teach because I do not want to travel to his house anymore. After given 1 month notice about teaching only in my studio, which is 30 minutes away from his house, his mom decide to seek new teacher that is nearer to his house.

I have no problem with this and actually help the student and mom in looking for a new teacher in his area. I give out some teacher's name and contact number that I copy from MTAC website that live in his area and he is doing some new interview for new teacher.

Background of my student, Tom, teenager, pass CM Level 8 last year and working towards CM 9 and 10. Very fast learner in both theory area and piano playing area. My best student of the studio. (It is hard for me to see him leave but I think this is better for him)

He went to two places for interview.

Place One
A mega music school with five different campus in the area. The interviewer is the owner but will not be the teacher of him after he sign up. She has Tom play only half of the Level 9 piece and stop him. She start with saying Tom's fingers is not curve enough, the elbow is not high enough and the music is not musical. Then, she test him with some random intervals for ear training, and Tom answer wrong. Then she say that :"Oh, your previous teacher is not cover this section for you. You are not ready to take CM Level 9 in 5 months. I suggest that you will take it next year."

Place Two
A home studio, and I actually know the teacher is a good teacher in area (better than me, a lot!). This teacher has Tom play the whole pieces and start to demonstrate part of the pieces and have Tom change some details of the pieces. (Tom is playing a same pieces for both place). This teacher ended up saying to Tom that she can feel that Tom is a fast learner and there is no problem to polish current 4 pieces that I gave Tom for CM Level 9 in 5 months.

After the interview, mom get back to me and I suggest her to go to the Place Two. Now Tom is in the Place Two.

Now, my question is that, why same student, same pieces but when he ask for second opinions other than his current teacher (which is me), he got a totally opposite opinions? After those two interviews, the mom came back to me in details and ask for my opinion and the mom also have the same question. The mom actually is not piano educated and she know nothing about music education, she is just simply trust the teacher that she hired. She is concern about Place One say Tom is not ready for Level 9, and Place Two say Tom is ready and she doesn't know which one she should listen to. The reason that she choose Place Two is because I ask her to choose Place Two and she trust me in this.

Any thoughts on this?

Teacher 2 is an "encourager", Teacher 1 is a "plain talker".

I have a theory. Only a child of professional musicians (or professional-attitude amateurs) has a chance of REALLY achieving. While others are being given encouraging praise, he is being shown standards. He lives in a world where not being prepared, not coming up with the goods - is just not an option. And he continually sees demonstration of HOW to achieve. Not compulsive 8-hours-a-day practice, but sufficient, structured work to get the required result.

This isn't black and white. And I think it comes better from the child's overall environment, not externally from a teacher, otherwise most will just give up.

I had a child come to me recently for backing tracks of the usual music-theatre stuff. Standard dancing-school brat, I assumed. But I recognised the name. "Any relation...?" I asked. "Oh yes, he's my Dad!". Daddy was a musician in the London Symphony Orchestra, she wasn't doing a local dancing-school show, she was currently appearing in a West End musical. She wasn't necessarily going to be a performer, her talents may have been somewhere else completely. But if she DID perform, it was a foregone conclusion she was going to do it at the highest standard. I really wish MY parents had been musicians :-(

Could be differences of opinion.

OTOH, the owner may just be self serving. Criticizing previous teacher in order to make her business look better. I've known this type in other professions. You can sum up what they say as "The other professional is clueless. I know how it should really be done."

I would dismiss the owner's opinion. As soon as the owner claimed that the previous teacher did not teach something it clued me in. Hasty evaluation, and uninformed, unprofessional criticism of previous teacher IMO.

The generic answer of course is that they have different styles (assuming both were being "honest"). I know that I've been to competitions where the winners performance was deemed by some teachers to be "to mechanical and not very musical" but the judge is themselves was a teacher so they obviously didn't share the exact same conclusion. We know of a student who switched teachers whose new teacher basically undid much of the technique/form taught by the old teacher (different way to hold the arms, different curvature of fingers, different wrist technique, etc). Both teachers have "higher end" studios.

Of course the trick is in knowing which teaching style matches the students temperament and the student/parents goals.

Well, if by level 9 the student still cannot identify intervals aurally, then something is wrong. There are really only 12 intervals that can be tested by hearing without a reference note. The student should be able to tell the five types of seventh chords by level 9.

Without hearing the student play, I honestly cannot assess the situation regarding repertoire. Suffice it to say that different teachers have different standards.

I don't like "Place One."

Clearly it was a difference of opinion between the two places, and one might say that either view may be right. But my strong feeling, although it's a personal one, would be to stay away from Place One -- not just your student, but truly everyone. In my view, the opinion from "Place One" was not only too negative but also a much-too-rigid view of how to play the piano.

I am an advanced adult player who has had the experience of playing for a teacher who gave me a similar opinion -- not with the same specifics, but same type of thing. He didn't let me get past the first half-minute of what I had brought in before telling me in essence that everything about how I play is wrong and that he wished to completely undo and rebuild what I do. As you might guess, I was not extremely impressed.

It sounds to me like "Place One" was showing a similarly rigid idea.

Some teachers and some schools have a very specific idea of how to play the piano. Some such ideas might be good ways to play, but in my opinion the insistence of playing only that way is not valid, and it is literally abusive for them to say that other ways of playing are wrong. I would advise anyone to stay away from any such teacher or place.

Place one is "A mega music school with five different campus in the area." That tells us nothing about the owner's musical and teaching skills, but it tells us lots about his ability to retain pupils.

I wonder just HOW discouraging he was? Small amounts of evidence have a habit of reinforcing and multiplying themselves with time and retelling. This wouldn't be the first time this forum has turned on a teacher en masse, only to have to climb down when it becomes clear there was a misapprehension.

Hell, we're all here and the rope's ready! Let's lynch him anyways!

It's really hard to tell on a single visit/lesson with a student how they will progress or respond to tuition. Sometimes a student seems quick-witted and musical, but after three weeks of lessons one realises that this is merely personality, not substance, as improvements and developments are not forthcoming.

I've had a reverse situation - a student moving away from me was told by the new teacher that they should be two grades *higher*!!! This persuaded the parent to look for a different new teacher....!!! And by implication you might assume (correctly) that I meet many students who are taking exams at levels beyond their skills, and the process therefore takes a long and tedious time where, instead, preparing for exams can be no great distraction from the real business of becoming a musician and a pianist.

You're right. We're only going on what we were told. We should perhaps indicate when we do such criticisms that it is true only to the extent that the description was fairly accurate and representative.

But in this case, I would have to say that unless the story was GROSSLY misrepresented, our negative comments probably do apply -- not necessarily as strongly as stated, but in essence.

I was not there during the interviews and these information was given by the mother of the student.
It was just puzzle me that is why I asked for opinions on this.
Thanks