Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Teachers Forum Students' attitude list??

1. No Whining.
2. No saying "I can't".
3. No Rudeness, no swearing, treat your teacher with respect.
4. No banging on the piano. When piano lid is close, no elbow on piano! No throwing things.
5. Not being perfectionist! Everyone make mistakes, it is okay to make mistakes, I do not need to see your sour and angry face every time you make mistakes!
6. Bring all your note book, piano books, and theory books!
7. If you haven't practice, tell your teacher, then we can do something else rather than going thru your songs.
8. Be open. Be willing to change. Even if you think your way is better or it's too hard to do something different, give it a try. Some things just take time.
9. Don't be defensive. You pay your teacher to give you help. Use it.
10. Don’t be angry when your teacher point out your mistakes. That is my job to tell you that you play wrong!

Your list states what you don't want students to do. How about what you do want them to do?

Your list states what you don't want students to do. How about what you do want them to do?

Here's my abridged list:
1. Do what I say, and all will work out well.

I completely disagree. Blindly following a teacher is the worst possible thing a student can do. They will never be the teacher, because they aren't the teacher, but they will also never be their own individual, just a musical machine destined to fail.

You should find a teacher who agrees with you on most matters of interpretation, and then work with that teacher. If a teacher tells you to do X and you disagree, think it over, and if you still think your way is better, then you should do what you feel is right. Doing a questionable interpretation your way is better than doing a "correct" interpretation that you feel is wrong, because you won't be able to connect to the music at all that way.

No, but really.
I see the point of not making a list with a whole bunch of "No's," but I think in reality if you are having regular discipline issues (although if the discipline issues really are regular, and it's occurring from many different students, then perhaps it is more of a problem on the teacher's end?) but if it's not that, it's a lot easier to enforce a list of "Don't"'s (that ideally the student has already agreed upon?) by pointing out "you did this when you promised you wouldn't," instead of the more vague "just do what I say."

1. No whining.
2. No saying "I can't".
3. No rudeness, no swearing, treat your teacher with respect.
4. No banging on the piano. When piano lid is close, no elbow on piano! No throwing things.
5. Do not need to be a perfectionist! Everyone make mistakes, it is okay to make mistakes, I do not need to see your sour and angry face every time you make mistakes!
6. Bring all your note book, piano books, and theory books!
7. If you haven't practice, tell your teacher, then we can do something else rather than going through your songs.
8. Be open. Be willing to change. Even if you think your way is better or it's too hard to do something different, give it a try. Some things just take time.
9. Don't be defensive. You pay your teacher to give you help. Use it.
10. Don’t be angry when your teacher point out your mistakes. That is my job to tell you that you play wrong!
11. Answer your teacher’s question. If your teacher asks: “What is this note?” Answer her with your mouth, don’t play it on piano.
12. No interrupting. When your teacher is talking or playing for you, please watch and listen.
13. Play each note only one time, when your teacher says repeat that note, just play it one time, don’t play it ten times to show that you are angry.
14. Keep focused. Don't look at the clock and sigh. Don't say, "Do I have to play that again?"
15. Communicate. If you feel frustrated or confused, let the teacher know. You can avoid tears over some misunderstanding at the lesson if your teacher knows your feelings. Ask for help or a break.
16. Enjoy this special hour. When you learn something exciting, express your delight. Take pleasure in your lessons and your relationship with your teacher.
17. Be persistent. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither is a good musician.
18. Be curious and develop your own opinions and style.
19. If you feel your teacher is too demanding or doesn't give you enough to work on, tell her. Work together to set goals and standards.
20. At competition, focus not only on the results but on the effort too. You can't win every time but you can always improve.
21. Before you decide to quit lessons, discuss your problems with the teacher. Give her a chance to accommodate your needs.
22. Remember the goal is not just to become a better pianist, but to become a better person through your music, through your discipline, through your persistent.

Wow, do people lack a sense of humor? Did you not see the silly wink emoticon? Sheesh.

I was actually responding more to the third post on this thread, by (I think) keystring, which suggested using a list of what you do want them to do. I guess I just casually lumped together that suggestion (which you had quoted) with your joking one, which is what I ended up using in my example, but I think my example (which I quoted) still works with just about any "positive statement." Like, "You banged on the piano when you promised you wouldn't" has I think more affect (or effect?) than "you promised you would be polite but you banged on the piano."

And I actually do have a sense of humor. Apparently it's just my reading comprehension that stinks, but thanks for pointing that out. {eyeroll}

How would your list look like if you want to keep only 5 max in the list? Do you mind share, ANZ?