Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Have you had to fire your piano teacher? Why?

It still hurts me and I miss him. I learned a tremendous amount from him and I liked him very much. Leaving him was definitely the right decision but I didn't want to hurt him. I think he had a very fragile ego and he took it as a personal rejection. I would have loved to share my progress with him and check in once or twice a year to see how he and his very nice wife are doing. Sigh.

Edit: this brings to mind a limitation of some piano teachers. When they have a talented student who is outgrowing them, they do not want to let them go because it is fun to teach an eager pupil. In my mind, this is quite selfish. It's important to know one's own limits and recognize when it's time to encourage a student to move to a higher level. I've had this happen to me with 2 important teachers and it greatly slowed my progress. I'm considering becoming a piano teacher when I retire, and I will always keep in mind that I shouldn't hold anyone back because I'm having fun.

I bet you'd be a wonderful piano teacher, Deborah!! Especially given your background as an educator. However, you may find retirement will lead you to some surprising new directions you hadn't expected. For me returning to the piano was a totally unexpected and delightful surprise.

Hi Carl! It's nice to hear from you. I'm hoping to retire in about 4 years and the piano is going to be my main focus. (I never have enough time to practice while I'm working). I thought it would be fun to share my love of the instrument with others and earn a few extra dollars along the way but, per what you have said, I will keep my options open! Be well!

I think I'd find it very difficult to 'fire' a teacher, unless he was truly so awful that I couldn't wait to be rid of him (in which case, I'd probably enjoy the process )....

Fortunately, I never had to do that, as I had no choice in the matter when I was learning. My first teacher (for whom I was her very first student) - who I'll always regard fondly for having introduced me to the joys of piano playing and classical music by the great composers, and weaning me off Love Story - left to continue her piano studies abroad after taking me to Grade 1 ABRSM. I hoped - actually, I know - that she enjoyed teaching me, a 10-year-old who initially knew as much about classical music as a gnat, but after a year, became totally hooked on it, thanks to her.

My second teacher was a lot more experienced and firmer (and I was more in awe of her), but she basically continued on where my first left off. Then I left home in my mid-teens to go to a boarding school abroad, where I lost no time in getting myself one of the peripatetic teachers who taught there. She, like my previous teachers, only taught students to Grade 8 ABRSM, but that was fine, because by the time I outgrew her, we had to part company because I'd finished with secondary school.

The university I went to found me a new teacher who took advanced students, and he was also a concert pianist himself. For the first time, I played a grand piano - he had two that he used for teaching.

Since leaving university, I haven't thought of having another teacher, but as I don't have any burning ambitions (other than to play Rach 3 with an orchestra ), I just continue learning new, more challenging pieces by myself, and presenting them in my monthly recitals for (non-musical) colleagues.

But if I was ever to lose motivation, or mad enough to think about entering myself for an amateur piano competition, I'd certainly find myself a teacher......

If I were ever mad enough to think about entering a competition, I'd find a psychiatrist.

It's not easy to do, but I've always been of the mindset that if I can't help the student any longer, then I need to refer them elsewhere. Most of the time when I do this students will go with the person I select, because I know their personality and needs and I know what the teacher is like. Then I'm usually able to stay in touch with them and once in a while ask them to play me something they're working on. It's great to hear them progress and to know I was a part of that, and in a way, I still am.

This happened to me once, sort of. I was sick and and uninsured. I made some phone calls and one place told me "We are a well-woman clinic." So I hung up and found a place that treated sick people and I went there.

I was curious; how often does something like this happen, where the student outgrows the teacher? I would think that for the (I'm guessing) rare occasions where this happens, this would be a source of great pride for the teacher.

Happens all the time. I've outgrown teachers and I've had students outgrow me. Other than university/conservatory professors and concert artists, most of us are not really qualified to teach all levels. We must all know our limits and be happy to see highly skilled students move on to someone with more knowledge and experience.

Every once in a while I get a student who is serious enough about their progress, but my piano students are largely not motivated to play such difficult repertoire. Usually those students end up going off to college and by that point we have reached the limits or close to it, so it works out pretty well.

I have changed a teacher once, but it wasn't quite a "firing". It was more of me feeling that I wasn't really gaining much from the lessons as it seemed like she wasn't really giving me the guidance I wanted? I was just beginning then but I felt like she wasn't focusing on the fundamentals, such as how the hands should be when playing the piano. Consequently I stopped lessons for a while before looking for a new teacher.

I am delighted with my current teacher, who is also my second teacher. One of the first things she corrected was my method of playing and she also introduces me to different forms of music. She doesn't push me for the graded exams, but gives me plenty of pieces which gradually teach me different techniques. Most importantly, she throws in a mixture of "famous" pieces to keep me excited.

To all the piano teachers out there, you guys are really special and can make a huge difference. Thank you for spreading the joys of making music to the rest of us.

Which is why the US system makes a lot more sense.

Yes, doctors see a lot of 'worried well' in USA, and make a fortune out of........

As a nurse I have to totally disagree with you on this. Within the Australian health care system there are great fears that due to the current Government we are heading towards an American type system and I couldn't think of anything worse (sorry).

I agree, couldn't think of a worse medical system then the American..
A girl from Colorado I know was saving for 3 years for a knee surgery when I last spoke to her. Over here that would cost you effectively 0.0 EUR.

Sorry but this is a silly and borderline ignorant comment. We have some the best medical minds and technology in the world. I work with a half dozen European-born folks who have since come to American and have become citizens. They may disagree on many things, but they do agree on one thing: Our system is far superior to anything they had overseas in EVERY way.

The problem with health care in American is not the quality of it. It is that some folks can't afford the basic care they need. Right now that debate is raging here, and I hope the end result is that basic care will be available to ALL folks at little or no cost.

Note to moderator: Can we get this thread back on target? If we want to have a raging discussion with our overseas members about the quality of our health care systems there are plenty of places to go.

PPS: It is probably good that a certain member who resides in Rochester MN (Home of the Mayo Clinic which provides some of the best heath care in the WORLD) is currently on "vacation" right. That comment would probably send him over the edge.

Sorry didn't know it was such a sensitive subject. I hope to be not borderline ignorant. My point was that although there are very good doctors in the US, for the common man they're just hard to afford.
Example: I pay 100-120 EUR per month for insurance and it will get me ANY doctor on the world. If a doctor in the US can treat me to safe my life (however expensive it is), it will be done.
So in that aspect US healthcare is more accessible to me as a European (there is no such thing as a European btw. The level of Healthcare across Europe is very diverse) than for the average American citizen.

About 80% of the folks here have access to good to very good medical care that they can afford (mostly through their employers). The problem is the 20% who don't (Still about 50 million people).

For those folks right now who don't live in the United States, this is a raging debate that is dividing us in a terrible way.

Sorry I did not mean to be strident here wimpiano, but this is a debate best left to other forums.

At least in this forum we can agree we love talking about pianos! I come here to get relief from the other raging debates in this country.

Health insurance for me being self-employed used to be about 3 times that for my husband and I. This is for a catastrophic plan with a $5k deductible. This is no longer allowed by Obamacare, and the insurance that we have to pay for through Obamacare is far more than that. Thanks, Obama, but your definition of "affordable" doesn't match mine. /rant

This is a good example of the debate. The new health plan, designed to give affordable heath to "everyone" has, at least IMHO hurt as many people as it is helped.