You have not addressed the question of whether you want classical training, or whether you just want to learn how to play classical music which you find enjoyable. If you don't want your teacher to train you as a pianist, then you should tell her, and then she will probably aim the lessons toward your tastes.

I have taken this quote from one of my other threads because I hope someone can explain what this means.... thanks

My guess is that the meaning is this: There are certain skills that one learns while being trained as a classical pianist. Skills that let you play a wide variety of music. Some people may not want to do all they have to and take the time to learn all those skills if they are not needed for playing the music that speaks to them. So if you don't want to be a complete, well rounded pianist, you can tell your teacher what it is that you want to learn how to play.

As one extreme example, some people just want to play popular music out of fake books, they don't want to learn how to read the bass clef or play traditional classical music. So for them, the traditional classical training approach may not be the best path.

So, maybe as an adult student you just want to learn to play fur elise and a few other popular classical pieces but mainly you want to learn to improvise or learn to play rock music or learn to accompany the choir at your church...if that's the case then perhaps you don't need to learn all the techniques that will open the full classical repertoire to your playing.

My guess is that the above quote is due to someone saying something like "I don't like what my teacher is asking me to do" or "I don't want to play the songs my teacher is giving me" or something like that. Then it becomes a question of why is your teacher is asking you to do those things. Maybe it's not the specific song but rather a particular skill that you'll learn by playing that song. If so, you can discuss with your teacher what the motivation is for the assignment and discuss if there is a better way to reach that objective, or even if that objective is worth striving for.

Warm Regards.

The quote is simply stating that you have not yet defined clearly (to the poster) what your goals are in playing the piano.

I can give an example . . .

If somebody told me he/she was a "classically-trained pianist", I'd expect them to be able to play scales and arpeggios in all keys, fast, evenly, on request -- no sheet music, no thinking. That's part of the skill-set that "classically-trained" implies. Those things are like screwdrivers, drills, and wrenches to a mechanic.

If somebody wanted to play _just_ (for example) Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, they could learn it _without_ mastering that body of material. They'd have to learn the scales used _in that piece_, its chords and arpeggios, and so on.

The teaching approach is quite different in the two cases. In the first case, the teacher says:

. . . Here's a bunch of skills you'll have to master. Let's get started with the 24 major and minor scales.

In the second case, the teacher says:

. . . Okay, let's look at the first 5 measures of the first movement. In order to play those, here's what you'll need to be able to do . . . Let's work on those things.

So in one case the teacher is guided by the established discipline of "classical piano". In the second case, by the individual piece and its requirements.

The problem is, the second approach is _piecemeal_. You'll be needing skills helter-skelter. It's tough to teach that way, and tough to learn that way.

. Charles

The quote was from me, and I only noticed now that you had actually responded in that thread what I meant. In that thread, you wrote two things. You wanted your teacher to give you the pieces that you enjoyed, and didn't like what she had given you - (a version of Air on a G String). You also had told her that you wanted classical training.

What you quoted was preceded by this:

So I was suggesting that she chose those pieces because she could give you training (the knowledge and skills she would develop in you). You then insisted that you wanted pieces that you find enjoyable. Therefore you do not want classical training - meaning to be given skills through a teacher's guidance - you want to play classical pieces.

I had actually preceded my paragraph with a question.
What do you think it means to be "classically trained"?
Because you may have a different idea when you told your teacher that you wanted to be classically trained. What does "classically trained" mean to you? You did not answer that question. That might have given you the explanation that you are looking for in this thread.