Yesterday I had a new student....a 7 year old boy. When I was aksed how it went I said very well...better than the average.
What signs do you see in a new student that you consider better than average?

rada...

Attention to detail
Visual-spacial
Memorization/performance recall
Ability to compare and contrast
Coordination
Aural cognition
Organization

The more of these... the better.

All the above plus the will to return to lesson...

I will put it in plain English, with a real life example:

Today I arrived to teach my usual student. His mother informed me that he was not feeling well, but his younger brother (7) would like to try a first lesson, if that was ok with me.

I instantly agreed, and 30 mins later, to my amazement, the younger sibling could proudly play 'Merrily' using the correct fingering,(right hand only), understood the concept of bars and time signature, and could identify and count quarter notes, half and whole notes. Better still, he can't wait for his next lesson.

I was gobsmacked! Certainly better than average :-)

Is gobsmacked English?

rada

Supportive parents!

That is the single most important trait toward the success of the student. It goes beyond paying tuition on time and bringing the kid to lessons on time. It includes sitting in at lessons, helping the kid to learn concepts, and reinforcing practice at home.

Yes.

Oxford English Dictionary definites it as "flabbergasted, astounded; speechless or incoherent with amazement."

Absolutely!!!

Rada: What is your definition of an "average" student?

I know average can be a very ambiguous term....let's just say you take 10 beginners over the years and if they are about the same age most would learn 3-4 pieces in their first lesson...then along comes a new student [ same age...here is it 7] who easily learns twice that many in a first lesson...so it appears that student is above the average in that scenario.

does that explain?

rada

I have a new student who practises her little heart out. The other day I did some basic aural tests with her. As well as singing the unseen notes as required, she named them - and got them right. Perfect pitch. That's better than average and quite a neat party trick too.

For me, the above average student has a personality that sets them apart. They're almost always quirky in some way, often with a devilish sense of humour. They give thoughtful answers when you ask them questions. They're "attracted" to the piano - they really want to be there, because they have bucket loads of creativity just waiting to be expressed and they want to feel the beat with their whole body and get immersed in the music in a way that is new and exciting for them.

And THEN I discover they have all the goodies - they have a great sense of rhythm, they can feel the pulse in the music, they have strong hands (or work hard to make sure they do) and flexible wrists, they can pick up new articulations and co-ordination challenges easily, they have an excellent ear, they pick up sight reading easily etc etc, but I find you can generally tell before they even sit down at the piano if they're going to be something special.