My two cents, from the perspective of the father of a family of four, taking five lessons of various instruments:

I have never heard of a first time freebie. Nor would I expect the first lesson to be free. It's a service I expect to pay for, and if a teacher offered a free initial lesson I would wonder why they feel the need to give away a valuable service, unless they are young and just starting to built up a student base.

OK, I stop and think: Didn't my younger boy have a free initial lesson (or two) from his new cello teacher? (He plays piano too.) And hasn't she turned out to be a fantastic teacher?

Strike the above. Different strokes for different folks. Whatever works. Go with the flow.

I'm agnostic on this one.

I see... so if adults "missed the boat" as kids (like if they didn't have parents who pushed them to play piano by a certain age), then to heck with 'em! It's stupid, and a waste of time, for adults to study piano, and for teachers to spend their precious energy instructing them...

What a horrible attitude for an educator to have! Honestly...

~kat
proud adult beginner who's a pretty good pianist

P.S. My teacher gets great satisfaction out of providing adults with a connection to music, and he doesn't limit himself by concerns about whether they'll ever be able to go pro. He's also a phenomenal pianist, arranger, composer, and well-degreed educator (not to mention a really likeable guy).

Well, I wouldn't totally agree iwth Anna G. as if they didn't learn the piano, then they can never learn the piano, and since they never will be a concert pianist, so teachers shouldn't be teaching them since it will be a waste of time, however, in the past 4 years of teaching about 10 adults, most of them started with great motivation, then gradually it descents, the most commands I heard:

1. I am too busy (with whatever)to practice
2. I am too busy with kids so I don't have time to practice
3. I am too busy with work to practice
4. I have been travelling in the past 2 weeks, so I didn't practice
5. I know I haven't practiced, but can we move on to the next piece?
6. I will work on p. 32-40....3 weeks go by, I am still on p. 32
.....

I completely understand the real life, I also do admire their interests, and attempt to be devoted, but a lot of time, I just learned not to except anything, nor I feel very full filling with the outcome, I feel I can't really plan much for them, since all of their excuses are excusable, what can I do if they have to travel, have to be with kids, have to help out the family, and also what can I do when they come in totally unprepared? there is nothing for me to talk about as music, but rather, act like a note correction officer and describe how to play HT.

I don't like to arrange adults to have weekly lessons, I would like to see them bio-weekly, or for more advanced played, once a month, that way they can get better preapred, and I can really teach them something.

Great thought, if I am a parent, I would think the same, since I am a teacher, if I heard someone is giving free lessons out of their valuable time, I would question why, I don't even think young graduates that are starting their studio should give out free lessons, logically, young and new graduates is not necessaily equal to questionable, is it? in fact, most young graduates teach far better than old-fashioned teachers.

Clara, I can definitely appreciate the concerns you voice regarding the logistical difficulties in taking on adult students...

The two things that disturbed me about Anna's post were, first of all, the implication that people who start as adults cannot ever hope to become professional. I agree that the odds are against them, but I wouldn't say it was impossible. Second, and actually much more importantly, I think it's sad to write someone off as unworthy to instruct based solely on the perception that the only merit in studying/teaching piano is if it leads to a career as a professional pianist. Music is an artform that heals and breathes life into all who partake of it. We can't all be professional musicians (not even all of the millions of kids who study diligently will realize that privilege--it's too competitive a market), but does that mean there's no worth in availing it to all willing parties as a pursuit with the purpose of personal enrichment? I would hope not.

Piano makes me happier than just about anything else in world. I am grateful to my teacher for helping me realize my potential as a musician, even though I'm an adult. To me, that shows that he has a very sophisticated understanding of the power and importance of music as something that feeds the soul--not just as a money/reputation maker reserved only for the privileged few. He has given me more than he'll ever know.

Well, I am not saying that adults should not take piano lessons at all. It is just that I am not interested in teaching adults myself. I do not think this is horrible attitude. There is plenty of other teachers who are willing to teach adults, I am just not one of them. I have The Music School Of Anna Gentle - the professional children's music school. It uses my own program for several years of study with several subjects each week, that every student must attend, and I am pretty busy with it. I am teaching music theory/solfeggio and choir as well, and I am a director of this school, as you could understand.

A little information about me. I came to the USA from Russia, Moscow, 8 years ago. I have a teaching experience more than 17 years including university level. But my passion is teaching kids. My students were winners of several piano and choir competitions both in Russia and in the USA, and performed in National TV programs. So I will stick with it, ok? :-)

By the way I am expecting my 4th child. :-)