My 12 year used to take piano lessons for a number of years. He was on Bastien level 5 when he quit couple years ago. He is now taking private Saxophone lessons. He has forgotten piano for the most part. He is 'mildly' interested in going back to the piano now that we have a fabulous new piano, a brand new Schimmel Konzert grand. My guess is that he is a bit envious of seeing his little brother on the piano. The older one suffered through our old out of tune clunker. The younger son is taking regular piano lessons now.
Unfortunately, these (including mine) kids are quite busy these days. 2 sports (he swims 4 to 5 times a week and does another ball sport), demanding school work, and music. My 12 yo does not want to give up the saxophone because he wants to play in a band with it next year. He is thinking about 'summer only' piano lessons.

Do you think a piano teacher is receptive to the summer only lessons? Is it insulting to the teacher for me to ask of this? Is this a stupid idea?

I've done it, but it's not easy for the student. It takes a bit to get back in the swing and then all of a sudden, it's over, especially if you take breaks for vacations.

I would entertain the notion, because I have more time in the summer, but it would be hard. Maybe the student would choose to continue in the fall.

I have done it with college students because their school schedules get overwhelming for them to do private lessons, but it is not my recommendation. As a teacher I think I would be open to doing the summer as a trial to see if he would want to continue, but to plan on it as a long term option may not be a good idea. What he accomplishes in the summer may be completely undone during the year, making the following summer a repeat of the one before. Would he be interested in finding a teacher who might do lessons once or twice a month? That is not idea, but it is a better option (in my opinion) than taking a 9 month break every year.

I think it is an awful idea...

Well, Gary didn't mince words, and essentially, he's correct. There are many pitfalls awaiting you.

The first is a really big flag for a piano teacher - sports seem to be as important to you as the arts. Physical activity is conducive to good study, but ball sports are a disaster waiting to happen.

One the plus side, you've shown a commitment by investing in a fine instrument. Great. Can you use psychology to motivate your son to really put in the effort necessary and then cut one activity to make room for continued music study? Is your relationship with your son such that you can negotiate and expect him to honor, an agreement to work such a schedule?

You have roughly 10 - 12 weeks to work with. Are you willing to cough up funding for a teacher to work with your son twice a week, an hour per session? And then insist on structured practice twice daily, at a minimum? This would supply a surprising amount of progress over the summer and give you an opportunity to evaluate whether this is just a passing fad (green-eyed monster) at work, or a serious turn of interest.

Many of us dealt (coped) with multiple instruments and lessons as teens. This is not a problem. What is a problem is structuring the student's non-school time so that he will be productive and not fritter away hours.

I personally wouldn't be receptive to the idea, since I'd be holding a slot for a student whose intention is to quit taking lessons before he's even started. I'd potentially miss out on a new, serious student who would last much longer in my studio.

From a $$$ perspective, GREAT! Summer months are lean, anyway, so the more students the merrier!

However, for your son's sake, it's probably not a good idea. He'll forget a lot of stuff during the school year, and he'll have to basically start over, or go way way back the next summer.

I would take someone on for the summer with the agreement that IF lessons go well, there is a reasonable chance of continuing. I don't like losing, and when I start teaching someone, if that student quits it feels like a loss to me, since my goal is always to get people hooked on playing.

Those of you who haven't done this may not realize what can be accomplished. While it may not be the ideal situation, there can be some benefit. You can work on basic reading and rhythm skills, improvise, compose and build some theory knowledge. You won't make a great pianist in this short time, but you can help someone along the way and I'll wager that if they do play another instrument, they will appreciate their accompanist more.

As to taking up a slot, I feel like summer is so much more flexible. I don't mind putting another student or two in the mix. It's just temporary.

What's the point? Think of how it is with a student who takes piano during the school year (9 months) and then takes summers off (3 months). They forget SO MUCH over just 3 months, it takes around 2 months to get them back to where they were when they stopped for the summer. Now reverse it: lessons for 3 months and none for 9. What do you think would happen?

It's better than no lessons at all!

Take the long view. It might inspire the student to continue. You never know.

That was EXACTLY what I was going to write.

To teach a student under those conditions I would have to simply take money, knowing that my chances of getting anywhere is VERY close to zero.

To me "mildly interested" means "probably will practice very little or not at all".

I think it's a good idea and I would accept (and have accepted) a student like this.

Being 12 years old, he'll retain more than a 7 or 8 year old would for a short summer's worth of lessons; and getting him back into piano may just reignite his interest and he may decide to continue. And because of his age I would work on material appealing to a jr higher (pop, jazz, or whatever). I would completely change my goals for this student, as he wouldn't be on the same track as my regular students. But so what?

Thanks for all your honest and divergent opinions.

Yes 'mildly' intersted is how I would decribe him.

He has not been bitten by the the music bug yet. So far, music lessons happens to be someting that my children must do, not something that they love.

My son is receptive to the idea of sitting with his old piano books and going through the books by himself with help from me. I think I may try that until the end of the school year and see how that goes. Then if he is still interested, I will specifically ask the teacher to teach my son how to read lead sheets. What my 12 yo would really like to do. He wants to be able to play pop songs with lead sheets. If the kids can play pop songs, then kid is 'cool' to his/her friends.

For those of you teaching kids that probably will not 'specialize' in music for life (due to lack of talent and perseverance), this is a good way to hook the kids into music. It may not be the teachers' kind of music, but if the kids love it and spend time at it, it is one of the best ways to get the kids to spend time at the piano.

My 12 yo never learned to read the lead sheet with his old teacher. I think if he had a bit of 'right type' instruction, he may be able to do that and have fun with the songs likes.

Ultimately, my goal is for my children to like music and have enough skills to do it for their own pleasure at whichever instrument that happens to be. Guitar, saxophone, piano, voice, what not.

Actually, most modern methods, such as Piano Town, which I use with students who are not on the Academy track, do teach the foundation necessary to read lead sheets. And transposition. I should say, they provide the teacher the necessary material to do so, but whether the teacher is comfortable doing so is another issue.

Good luck with your son.

I would encourage you to go for it! I have taught piano for about 10 years, and feel that summer is a great time to immerse in instruction a little more than you have time for during the school year. He would have a specific purpose (playing lead sheets), and since he already plays other instruments, it would be supplemental music knowledge. And who knows? If you find the right teacher, they will likely strike the right chord and spark the interest in continuing. I feel like that is my job... to build a love of music so that the student sits down and plays for fun, not because they have to practice.
just my 2 cents..
Karen

This poor kid seems overburdened with activities as it is: I feel sorry for his sax teacher. And his little brother probably is happy to have the piano to himself, and for once not be eclipsed by his older sibling.

That said, summer lessons seem ok to me. Better might be a local studio teacher who is offering group summer keyboard classes, maybe in lead sheets or improv.

I would teach him as long as you understood that I wouldn't turn him into a concert pianist by the end of summer.

Basically you'd be paying for a drawn out summer camp- a light exposure to the activity to see if the student likes it. I wouldn't have a problem with that.

Especially if you wanted to do lead sheets. Most of my students read lead sheets.

As a substitute teacher by day and a piano teacher by evening I generally am open to a few extra dollars in the summer months! However, I would expect that student to attend lessons regularly (I have had the bad experience of a summer student constantly canceling lessons whenever "something better" came up) and be dedicated to practicing on a daily basis. A truely dedicated student can make a lot of progress in 3 months!

I would recommend having your son pull out that old Bastian level 5 book now and then before the summer months start to see if he would be able to pick up where he left off or if he would have to do a lot of reviewing. This may influence the decision!