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I was inspired by this thread to do some serious practice today.

Hurray! I planned some of the kind useful to students ... then practised my latest obsession instead.

OT - Nannerl Mozart, I like your nikname

Back to the topic: When I was 12 or 13 my piano teacher departed to South Africa to seek a better future for him, and his replacement was a fairly young girl in her 20s who was actually a teacher in singing in the city conservatory. She played the piano fairly lousy and I quitted taking lessons soon after, because it was me teaching her how to play, not the other way round, she was just picking the pieces.

IMHO not only is it important for the teacher to play the piano technically well, he/she has to be able to play it beautifully. Let's not forget music is not just a combination of notes, it's expression and feeling.

I got the chance to 'perform' a bunch of new music for my most advanced (i.e. intermediate) student today - his parents gave me some money to go shopping at the music store on his behalf last week.

Agree.. The way to go.

And I like yours! Haven't read those books in years! Must dig them out.

I had an adult student who kept bringing me challenging Romantic era repertoire, which I had read through, but would need more time to explore in depth so I could, in my mind, teach with enough insight into the technical/musical dimensions, and not skim the surface. She brought the Gb Etude and that was definitely a significant amount of work. I enjoyed the side by side learning process but when the student, didn't want to practice the piece as long as it needed to mature and ripen, I was disconcerted to have still another piece introduced, like Liszt La Campanella, which at that point I wouldn't stop to learn. It had become the flavor of the week composition without ample follow through. I certainly increased my repertoire sizably working with this student who eventually had overwhelming work obligations, and couldn't keep up with her own come easy go easy choices. I told her I would not agree to just run through the pieces without getting involved with them. That is just my style. But others might feel differently and use other approaches.

And I should add that this student kept saying how "bored" she would become with a piece.. without really having reached the depths of it. The word "bored" for me is a turnoff. And it is rampantly used these days. And that's in part because of our text messaging, computer driven era. There's the quick gratification paradigm that rules.

That's fine. And I agree that some sort of public performance is important if a teacher is going to talk about that to students. My point, though perhaps a little fuzzy, is that being able to play the piano and understand its mysteries is more important for a teacher than being gifted as a performer. Playing and performing are two different, though obviously related, skills.

Strangely, so was I. I had a half hour free before a student arrived yesterday and decided to woodshed a couple tricky spots in the WTC Cm Preluded, Book I.

maybe this is a bit too private to share... as some of you know, I recently suffered, sustained, endured a rather severe seizure.. It REALLY affected my brain for a while... I am pretty much back to normal. My students just insisted on continuing their lessons and they went well... very well. I was surprised my teaching skill was retained. I couldn't play worth a darn for about a month and I told them I couldn't really demonstrate tho I surprisingly could run thru scales, trills and rather difficult passages.

Anyway Argerich5405... if you think you are ready for a more accomplished teacher there is nothing wrong with that, but I would not be so quick to assume that performance skill = teaching skill or judge your teacher that way....... altho I certainly understand. I have only studied under the best and would rather have no teacher than a bad one. There are many things I understand about piano playing that some teachers cannot convey.

Thank you for sharing that. And it could happen to any of us. An accident, a stroke, any kind of debilitating disease. I would hate to think that people would no longer want to learn from me because of a physical loss. For me it is bad enough to deal with some amount of arthritis in my right hand, especially. So far I have not lost any flexibility, but I can't work as long or as hard as I used to. Yet I know I am a better teacher than I have ever been in the past.

Ouch! I hope you're better now. I can't imagine not being able to play.

Your advice, I think, is right on the money. It's okay to change teachers, audition a few, even.

Does your teacher play parts of the pieces you are studying to show you what he means when he is teaching you? Are you satisfied with your own playing from his teaching or his other student`s performances and lastly, how old is your teacher? I think if your teacher finishes teaching so late at night, he is probably too exhausted to practice. Teaching can be very energy draining.I practice because I love it and have a church to play at but if your teacher does not have a regular place to perform at, he probably feels like he does not have to push himself and is probably too tired to practice at the end of the day or feels that he will be too tired if he spends too much time practicing before he teaches. I notice on my heavy teaching days that I have to go easy on my own practicing so that I can save some energy/brain for teaching. Then again like the others say, if you need a concert pianist like teacher to inspire you, it`s time to look for another teacher. I have been to concert pianist teachers who played brilliantly but could not teach me well at all because they had no idea about teaching. Have also been to those who play and teach extremely well. Also a lot of teachers feel nervous playing in front of their advanced students because they know they are being judged and have to play a very high level while they might get a stage fright, which is one of the biggest reasons teachers do duets with other teachers or advanced students. As much as I practice and have a regular outside performing place, I still get nervous playing at recitals in front of my students and parents. I and other teachers have opted to play duets many times.

Thank-you for sharing, apple*.
I have gone through periods of not being able to play my instruments (piano and flute) due to issues with inflammatory arthritis. I'm glad I didn't take this as a sign that I should give up altogether - a change in medication has meant a great reduction in these problems. (Of course, I was teaching early-late beginners at the time, and came up with some creative ways around having to demonstrate. I'm not sure how that would've worked if I'd been teaching more advanced students.)

I agree that performance skill definitely does not equal teaching skill. I find it interesting to compare the piano teaching situation to the gymnastics coaching one (I was a gymnastics coach for 8 years in a former life) where it is common for coaches to successfully be able to teach skills that they can't (and never could) perform themselves. As an aside, the aforementioned joint problems *did* mean that I had to give up gymnastics coaching, as although I could always call upon more advanced students to demonstrate, I could no longer hold or lift my students effectively (or at least, not without causing myself severe pain).

I agree with both parts of this - thanks for some important ideas.

I don't think gymnastics and music are similar enough for this idea to transfer between them. A person who has never performed music doesn't yet fully know how to do it, because there is far more to it than the mechanics.

However, I'm sure there are many fine piano teachers who can't play anymore due to illness or injury. I make a sharp distinction between the injured and the ones who have always chosen not to perform.

and thanks.. I am much better now and have resumed my professional playing actually.. (organist and church musician)... which makes me super happy.

I agree they're different... was just thinking aloud, really.

I wonder how many piano teachers there are who got through music training without ever performing?