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I apologize if this post is in the wrong forum, as this is my first time posting here. My son and I both play the piano. He is a beginner and I am an adult student. We moved recently and are taking lessons from someone who lives nearby. She has great credentials but I feel her approach is a little rigid. We have to decide soon if we want to continue for the fall term or find another teacher. I have interviewed so many people at this point that I am entirely confused. How long does it take to get a feel for how to work with a student? As teachers, how flexible is your approach? My son is very young and just starting to read music. We are using the Faber books and he is so confused by the "play with your finger number" thing. I'd appreciate advice on a typical time frame for "settling in" with a teacher and also any words of wisdom on Faber books and teaching beginners. I have my own issues as an adult, but I think finding the right teacher for my son is a more pressing matter.

I am a piano teacher, it usually takes me three months to have the feeling of settle in with a transfer student's habit, deficiency etc and be able to make better judgement in adjusting the curriculum. So, that means, in lesson 1 to lesson 11, I am in trial and error period for the transfer student. During trial and error period, I will be very flexible, usually won't ask parents to buy books until I settle-down with which material to use after the trial and error period.

Of course if student is brand new fresh beginner, I won't have this issues.



In this case, it would be better if your teacher can treated your son as a brand new fresh beginner and ask her to give you the material that she would give to a brand new fresh beginner. I would think that this route is easier for your teacher and your son. Of course would not be easy for you because you will feel that your previous tuition fee had been wasted, but trust me, it is really better for your son and teacher.

Good luck!!

OK, that is good to hear. It being summer she teaches every other week, which I also think is part of the issue. He really needs a lesson every week (which will begin again in August). Her style is really different than our last teacher, so it's an adjustment (honestly more for me than for him -- he's happy to do whatever). I think I will just be honest with the teacher and ask if she has any supplemental materials (other than Faber). He likes the theory book, but the singing with the finger number thing trips him up EVERY time!

oh, and I don't feel like our previous lessons were a waste. He got to appreciate music, sing songs, learn to move his fingers on the keys (great for fine motor skills). Eventually it's going to sink in!

Lots of questions before I would have any idea how to answer your query.

Hi SallyC,

What do you mean when you say your teacher has a rigid approach? "Rigid" could mean so many things. Do you mean that she won't stray from the Faber series? That she insists on "perfect" playing? Something else?

When you say your son is confused by the "play with your finger number thing" do you mean that he has trouble knowing what his finger numbers are, e.g. does he have trouble remembering that his thumb is finger #1, etc, etc.? Or is it something else?

And probably the most important question would be: How old is your son? If younger than six, perhaps he needs to start in a lesson book geared to preschoolers rather than the primer level Faber.

Sonataplayer,
I guess I feel like she is pretty tied to the book. I am not sure how I feel about the Faber books. I think he gets confused because he is supposed to say the finger number he's using while he plays, but he also is attempting to count out the beats. I can see how this would be confusing. He's saying 4-3-2, 4-3-2, but also trying to remember to count 1-2-3-4 for a whole note. He knows that his thumb is #1, etc.

He is almost 7, so definitely ready to start reading music. He can sit down and draw the notes on the staff when he's not actually playing. Implementing this when he plays is a different matter. I think we should probably sign up for the fall and give them both a chance to know one another better. Again, i think weekly lessons are going to help a lot.

If each of you is a beginner, lessons conducted at the interval of every 14 days are - how to be tactful here - stupid. No wonder your boy is frustrated, and I'm sure you are as well.

Also, the rigidity you sense in your teacher is probably an accurate perception. Many piano teachers have a rigidity about their teaching style. Many students put up with this, some flourish under it, and some hate it.

I am astonished how many N. American piano teachers are subsidizing the Faber enterprise, but whatever. It's an ok method. If your son has developed any bond yet with his teacher, I'd say give this another year on a weekly basis.

However, I would look for another teacher for yourself. Wait until next fall, and do it weekly for a year. Find someone with a real comfort dealing with you as an adult learner. She sounds wrong for you.

To answer your specific question, it usually takes a few lessons for a piano student and teacher to develop an educational comfort. How many lessons is a few? For me, maybe three or four. There's no clear answer.

It's surprising to me that your head is spinning from talking to so many piano teachers, though. We're not that interesting.

I don't understand that either. Marketing?

I use Faber and Faber, along with several binders of supplemental materials. I like their program because it incorporates theory, technique and artistry, and also many types of performance/fun books, along with the standard lesson book.

I give my students a binder of my own making and add pages as needed to work on concepts, new music they like, worksheets, review, etc... no two binders are the same.

For a student that already knows how to count measures, I would skip the first unit or two and start around the time the clefs are introduced.

I have a sheet/quiz that students fill out so I can see what they know if they are a transfer, or "have played around with a lesson book on their own at home."
I ask for definitions of terms, a sample of sight reading, marking the count, etc...

If they can answer it all, they start in level one, not the primer. if just a bit more is needed, I let them borrow my personal set of primer books, since they would only need it for a few weeks.

Some of the on-line Faber videos take 10 minutes per page. while it seems they are having fun, I myself might go crazy at that slow pace!

I try to do a few pages in each book per lesson- warm-up, review old work, work on new concepts, demo what is needed for next week.

Also, once every two weeks, esp. for a beginner, is nuts! since music is a language, that is like going to a foreign language class twice a month only. Frustrating!

Sounds like your son is eager to learn, and the teacher need to jump him ahead to get to where he is.

Good luck!

But every other series does that too - most piano teaching series have the multiple books co-ordinated by level (including the old Alfred, the new Alfred, Piano Town, Bastien, etc.). This has become an expected feature.

I don't greatly dislike the Faber series - I use it sometimes - but I don't understand why it is so widespread. I think marketing must be part of it, and perhaps teachers' conclusion that it's "good enough" Or maybe teachers just use it because that is what the other teachers are using.

When I have a student who is mixing up finger numbers with counting - and believe me that is not unusual - we always switch over to counting "ta". Are you familiar with that? It is the European method I believe - ta = quarter note, ta-ah = half note, ta-ah-ah = dotted half, ta-ah-ah-ah = whole note. The students having that problem are always relieved when I ask if they would like to count "ta".

With respect to the finger numbers, why not play "Telephone" with him. Ask him to place his right thumb on d. One finger covers each white note. Then draw on a page a phone number: 121 The number will get longer for each phone number. So the final number could be seven digits. He could also make up phone numbers that sound good.

I don't think the teacher should ask him to say his numbers as he's playing them on the piano. Rather, ask him to place his fingers on the palm of the opposite hand. Then he could be expected to play a series of finger numbers for one phrase (in one hand only at first) while singing the numbers.

I call that
"Phone-In Fingers" and sometimes joke that no long-distance calls are allowed.

these are all good tips! I put my finger on another reason I think the teacher is "rigid": when I told her I really wanted him to start reading music, she said he wasn't ready because he was not always using the correct finger numbers and forgetting proper hand posture. I guess I don't think that everything develops all at once, or that he couldn't learn to read music while still being corrected for using improper technique. He is good at math and can whiz through the theory book, but making that mind-body connection is a different story.

The same teacher didn't want me to read ahead in my music because according to her, if I made a mistake it would be too difficult to then learn it correctly. Um, is this common? I am a fairly advanced student. I have lots of room for improvement but I read music very well. I have never felt unable to make changes to music, even music committed to memory. Currently working on a Mozart Sonata and Shostakovich's Three Fantastic Dances. I don't know, this might just be a personality thing and I'm not sure it's a good fit. Particularly with the Shostakovich, when I get tired of practicing the first one I like to read ahead on the second for a change of pace.

Yes. And I teach students who are further along. The main reason is fingering and technique, especially at this level.

Ok, but do you give them more than 8 measures to work on? Haha. I studied for 15 years as a child, did one year as a non-music major in college (well-known music school). I am rusty but can follow correct fingerings.

Oh, in answer to Peter, my head is spinning in part because I am trying to find one teacher for both of us. I've met several who would work for my son but don't take adults (or, like the current teacher, only have one or two adults). Ideally I'd like to find someone who teaches enough adults that I could find a duet partner , or do adult recitals in an informal setting. It's a challenge. We moved to Ohio recently and I don't have a lot of good referrals.

People typically think it is sensible to find one piano teacher who will teach both the parent and the child, though in separate lessons (possibly back to back).


Generally I don`t find this a good idea, even if the teacher is comfortable with both student age groups. For that matter, I also think siblings are better off with different teachers.

My views, of course, are far from practical.

In specific answer to Sally, this teacher sounds far too dreary for you. Keep looking around, and please don`t settle.