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I went to one of our local piano stores and got a list of about 6 teachers for me to call.

Now what?

Shall I call them all and talk with them to meet with them or should I call them 1 by one and scratch them off as I meet them?

Not sure which is the best approach

thanks

yeah, call them all and ask a lot of questions (how they teach, what they teach, what students they have, qualification/background etc.). just don't make any promise of taking lessons too quickly.

Hi Loly,

I usually start off with a phone call. If I get a good feeling I'll arrange a meeting. However, I recently (at last) found a really good teacher, and all our exchanges before the first lesson were by email.

One thing I absolutely will not do is pay up front for more than one lesson before I know whether the person has a teaching style that suits me. So the moment someone says they want me to pay in advance for a block of lessons before they'll agree to schedule anything, I cross them off my list.

Donna

good advise guys thanks, I will follow all your suggestions.

I've called 4 out of 6. 2 I had to leave voice mail and they're getting back with me.

The other is retired but still loves to teach and doesn't charge anything. She's been playing for 40 years, plays for her church and teaches voice as well. She also is big on technic
First try out is this Monday

The other is russian and she works for 2 studios plus gives private lessons. She graduated from Music in Russia and loves thinking outside the box, teaches technic and gets frustrated with people who are not prepared and non chalant. She's giving me a courtesy lesson day after tomorrow

Hi Loly,

Sounds as though you've come up with some good people from your list. My new teacher is definitely a 'thinks outside the box' person - he doesn't use a method book, and my lessons are tailored specifically to me, part technic and part repertoire. I like that!

Good luck with finding someone who suits you,

Donna

i'm more interested to see how that Russian teacher goes... please let us know.

ya, signa me too. I've been thinking about it since last night. I'm all a twitter and nervous grrrr. I feel like I'm back at the drawing board. Will it take me another 7 months to quit shaking? he he

Loly:

I just have to pitch in here. I would be extra careful with teacher who is retired and does not charge (or charges too little). Of course, miracles do happen, but teaching piano is a serious work, preparation for classes can be boring and quality of your lessons depends very much on how serious your teacher takes his/her job.

Now to the Russian teacher. I went through Russian-style music school as a child (in Ukraine) and have a Russian teacher now. My daughter (5 years old) also has a Russian (different) teacher. So, you know where I am coming from.

Here is my take on Russian school: It is not suitable for everybody. The reason why your teacher sounded flexible is most probably this: Russian school tends to heavily emphasize the emotional content of the music. As far as many of the Russian teachers concerned, your form is completely irrelevant as long as you can produce good tone. When I had a trial lesson with my teacher half a year ago, her first sentence after listening to me playing was: "Your tone is pretty good...," and when I said "but my technique is lost after 12 years of not playing," she just shrugged it off with "Oh, that's irrelevant, we'll get that back quickly". Since then every time I ask her any question related to particular hand/finger movements, her reply is invariably "This is irrelevant, do whatever suits you." (The only exception is the fingering, which she makes especially for me knowing that my right hand is damaged - my 4th finger is a bit shorter after the surgery I had on it.) On the other hand, the quality of the tone is of paramount importance to her. Sometimes, when I think I have particular passage pretty much figured out, she will criticize it until I finally understand what exactly I am doing wrong (may take a whole lesson!). I find it very refreshing. Oh, and no Hanon - it is only used to gain strength and evenness briefly.

So, to summarize, Russian teacher may be more flexible, but may also provide less strict guidance. Ultimately, all Russian teachers I dealt with were teachers of sonics, not technique. I find that this suits me well, but this is definitely not for everyone. Of course, your teacher may be completely different.

A side note; here is my observation re: various schools. It seem to me that Russian school cares very little about making average student achieve decent level. It was more geared to producing a few Kissins a decade. Not so with Asian/Chinese school: they are very strict, and are geared towards every student achieving a certain level. Any thoughts on this? May be an interesting topic for a separate thread.

i don't know any Russian teachers, but my teacher (non-russian, E.E.) pretty much grew up on Russian school type of system and he mentioned that not all Russian pianists are the same, some have a different approach to music playing than others. for example, N.Luganski, my teacher's favourite young Russian pianist, is the type of Russian, more traditional and non-sentimental and yet very technical. this is just to give you an example of what my teacher's view on Russian pianists.

very interesting points guys.

The retired teacher from what I understood, is retired but keeps 5 students because and I quote "I love to teach, I don't and can't get away from it", and her other statement shortly after we started talking was "Do you practice everyday and do you have a piano". I think she wants to make sure that she doesn't end up with a slacker. he he. I do intend to pay her regardless, probably cash. She also mentioned she doesn't charge because she doesn't want to have to deal with taxes and paperwork.

On the russian teacher, well I've never dealt with one but I'm looking foward to seeing what she's all about. She is heavy on technic and she liked it when I told her "I don't like being confined in a box and having someone teach me the same as they teach everybody else", she was very happy when she heard me say that. She does teach in two studios here in town so I assume her methods might have been americanized or institutionalized a bit.

I'll keep you guys posted. As of now I'm not too nervous and I hope I can keep my cool and not get nervous. I might take up drinking just for this evening, one glass of wine should relax me enough to put a lamp shade on my head and feel totally relaxed. he he he

Good luck with your teacher search...I hope they call you back. When I started looking for teachers back in the winter...I called at least ten...and only two called me back. Business must be very good in the phoenix area for piano teachers!(Though personally I think it's bad form to at least not call back and say "sorry I have no openings").

The teacher I"m currently with doesn't use a set method or repertoire. I like this a lot...the first teacher I started back with had notebooks designed by grade...she started me back at grade 3 and insisted I had to follow her formula. I was bored out of my mind...even with rusty fingers I was flying through the pieces from the get go...and at least 85% was all things I had played previously in life. I only lasted a month with her.

Oh humble, I know where you're coming from. I hate it when people don't get back with me. Have a little courtesy please!!!!

I remember when I was having my front yard fenced in, the company told me they would start tuesday and set the poles in and finish thursday. Tuesday I got home and the posts weren't in so i called them and here's what they said "well it started raining and thundering and we don't install fences when it's raining and thundering"

My reply was "I totally agree with you, but how about a phone call letting me know this?"

Jacksonville is notorius for that and I don't tolerate it much. I was supposed to have terminix come out one day because I was going to have them be my exterminators. They didn't show up the day I stayed home waiting on them and they didn't call.

So I called another company who did come out and hired them. I got a call from terminix the next day wanting to reschedule and I asked them "where were you guys yesterday?". the girl told me the truck had broken down. I told her "Well you guys have phones why didn't you call? I hired someone else". She gave me attitude and I simply told her "Don't give me attitude, I waited half day for you guys and not so much as a phone call, that's bad business and I don't tolerate it. You have only yourselves to blame for losing my business".

That gets my goat. he he

Good luck finding your teacher, Loly. It appears you have two good ones to choose from, which will be tough. I would check out the Russian first though because she sounds very interesting, and may offer something new being from a different piano school.

I hate people that don't get back to me as well. One of my jobs at work is in customer service, and I always make it a point to get back with people no matter what they call about. They always thank me too, which seems funny to me, but now I see why.

John

Charleston, SC is the same way and people from other area have commented to me about it. I don't know if it's the people in the area or a sign of the times. I would think this would be a bad business practice but evidently there is so much work that they don't care.

Back to the topic at hand, please keep us updated on your search. It appears you have a couple of good choices.

Ok guys, the russian teacher came by today and was extremely interesting.

first she asked me what methods and exercises I was doing. I told her I used 2 methods and did a supplemental and told her about the exerices.

She wanted to know how we worked new pieces. I told her we sightread through it once to make sure I understood the dynamics and notes then I practiced it at home and when I went to my lesson she critiqued me and told me what needed fixing and I would play it a second time correcting my mistakes.

I told her my teacher wanted dynamic and tempo more than correct notes (although I play for correct notes as well) and her philosophy is notes come later.

The Russian teacher started out by telling me she wants notes first and she said once you know your notes the tempo would come. Kind of the opposite. She taught me many ways to play the same music and focused on playing with relaxed hands and getting out of my comfort zone. She asked me to physically take my hands off the keyboard before striking notes. She wants me to play the note correctly and not to play the note until I found it. She showed me 3 different ways to play the same piece of music.

She told me to play at a slow tempo, practice small sections until I knew them well. Until I could play them and not even think about it. She told me to lift my hands and fingers to play notes with a relaxed spring in my wrist.

I like her but still going to the other appointment. I liked that she corrected me on the spot as opposed to my other teacher who would correct me once I had played the whole piece.

Loly,
It looks like the Russian teacher would be the one I would pick. After getting through the other appointment, let us know what happens .

loly, i am glad things are starting to come together for you. i hope with all these initial lessons you will be able to hit it off with a teacher and just say this is the one:) i cant wait to hear of who you pick:)

i like this Russian teacher and she seems to have some of the same philosophy as my teacher's: knowing notes first before anything and playing with economical/efficient movements and without tension, etc.

i'd choose this teacher over others for sure, if i were you.

Yep, I'd pick the Russian teacher. But still go to the other teachers appointments. Let us know what else you find.

Matt

This russian teachers sounds good! I'm intrigued by the three different ways she had you play. Can you tell us more about this?