Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Was I expecting too much from my piano teacher?

Several months ago, I posted the question:

Am I expecting too much from my piano teacher?

I received several wonderfully helpful replies, but I was too embroiled in my drama to fully appreciate all of the advice. I'm now far enough removed to post an end to the story. Here's the link to the thread if interested.

http://www.pianoworld.com/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/topic/32/6039.html

I had attended 3 lessons, felt frustrated with how things were going with the teacher and wondered if I was expecting too much. I had decided to attend 5 more lessons to give the teacher a good go. Here's what happened on the 4th lesson, the last one I'd paid for.

I'd been having trouble with rhythm, clapping, and rather than let the teacher rush me past the clapping, as she'd done previously, I told her I didn't understand. She was standing at my left shoulder, and I could tell she was becoming exasperated at my reluctance to move on, which had been the case in previous lessons. She'd rush past the clapping after spending 5 minutes simply talking about its importance, but not demonstrating or having me clap, then spend perhaps 20 seconds clapping.

I'd try, half the time do it wrong, then she'd tell me to practice at home. I'd feel frustrated, but didn't quite know what to do. This time, per advice from the site (and good advice IMO), I told her I'd like to spend more time, that I still didn't get it. This is when she became exasperated, and showed it.

I didn't back down, just asked if she'd show me again. She did, quickly, I tried, did it wrong, and then asked if clapping is connected to beats, measures, etc. and I guess she thought I was questioning her authority because she became very flustered, her voice became very high-pitched, her hands waving about her head, and she exclaimed, "Fine! Don't do it! You don't have to do it!" I mumbled that I had no problem "doing it," I just wanted to understand and do it right. I felt very stupid not understanding what seems so simple.

She roughly grabbed the paper off the music desk and focused on something else, I don't remember, for it was at that point that I realized I wouldn't be returning, and I don't remember much else of the lesson. I do remember leaving, though, feeling utterly deflated, sick in my heart, dejected. She seemed OK, but I don't know how she felt. I thought for sure she wasn't any more thrilled with me than I was with her.

Two days later, I called her to tell her I wouldn't be continuing lessons. I wanted to be kind, so rather than tell her it wasn't a good match (something that seemed glaringly obvious), I told her I'd decided to try learning on my own for a while, using the Carl Humphries book I'd bought. Before I got that sentence out, she let out a huge breath and in a low voice, coldly said, "Well that's fine." I was going to thank her for what she'd taught me and leave on good terms, but her response was so unexpected that I let out a huge laugh and simply said, OK, Goodbye and hung up, nothing more said.

It was in her response that I suddenly saw the answer to my original posted question, and my unintended laugh was the release of the tension I'd been holding.

She was clearly unprofessional, definitely not a teacher for critical-thinking adults who needed to understand, and despite her credentials and ability to play the piano, still had a great deal to learn as the teacher.

She used our precious time with great inefficiency, seemed to have a model of what a lesson always looked like and was unable to deviate, couldn't get out of her space long enough to see through her student's eyes, and her empathy and kindness could switch suddenly into rigidness and meanness.

However, at the beginning of my last lesson, the prior student, a little boy about age 7, was sitting on another bench waiting for his mother to pick him up. I saw the teacher treat him with respect and kindness, not baby-talking him, but extending an endearing sweetness. I saw the boy's response - a bit intimidated, very respectful, but comfortable with her, smiling easily at her.

I've concluded that she was a children's teacher, and probably a good one, too. But she sure wasn't for me!

And now here I am, 6 months later, just now having gathered my courage to look for another teacher. She left me with such a sick feeling I couldn't look at my piano for far too long. That in itself is evidence she wasn't a good teacher for me. I expect to feel excitement to get home and play what the teacher showed me at the lesson, and until I find a teacher who evokes that kind of feeling in me, I will know I haven't found the right teacher yet. I know that teacher is out there. I've read enough posts on this site to know that there are many teachers who teach to my learning style.

Thanks to all who posted and told me what your lessons are like. I know what to look for now.

Thanks again, All!

Hey Startulip,
thank you for the update. Strange ending that it was, it seems you made the most of it for yourself.
It sounds like you handled this very well. I have no doubt you'll find a teacher - just keep on searching and don't let this experience destroy your love of the piano.

Hi Startulip,

Wow - I'm sorry you had to go through that. Having to deal with a teacher being impatient that I wasn't understanding would have upset me (hey, it's hard enough to figure this stuff out - and most of us already are tough on ourselves and think we should be able to do it all immediately and perfectly - we definitely do NOT need a teacher getting impatient with us when we're clearly not getting it!)

It does sound like she might have been much better with younger children.

I think you handled it admirably. It was great that you tried to work it out and to be direct about what you needed. At least you can move on now knowing that you did everything you could, and it honestly was just not a good match.

I think that the "match" with your teacher is crucial - I know I've said it before, but for all our misunderstandings, I feel very lucky that my teacher and I have enough similarities in our personalities and how we think that we get along fairly well and manage to work through the problems.

Good teachers ARE out there, and when you find the right teacher for YOU, it will be awesome - really. My piano lessons right now are the most "real" and stabalizing (and uplifting!) part of my week

Have you given any thought yet to what you're going to look for in a teacher? In the end, this experience (painful though it was!) may end up being helpful in that it will allow you to better define (and thus FIND) someone that will work well with you.

Good luck, and don't give up!

I really hope you find the right teacher, this one clearly wasn't good.

My lessons are such a highlight of my week. The first time my teacher had me clap or tap a rhythm before playing it, I felt awkward and a little embarassed at what I thought was a chldish exercise. Now we'll often (occasionally prompted by moi) clap or tap complicated measures together and it's quite helpful and sort of fun! He'll also have me count while he plays now and again rather than him counting while I play.

Hey Tulip,

During a lesson, things go real fast.
By the time you get home, all that stuff happened, and now you're not quite sure what the teacher said or what to do next.
At the same time, I can understand the frustration of a teacher who'd feel that you are practicing on their time. The goal is really for the teacher to give you pointers so you can work at it during the week.
Easier said than done, especially if you can't quite remember.

Try recording key parts of the lesson. Something's difficult? ask if you he can explain again and you'll record. You'll have plenty of time to study at home.

We as adults tend to expect a lot more than children would. Children don't quite know what to expect, we do...

Good luck on your next teacher!

it's a wise decision for you to quit the teacher and she's apparently not right for you. good luck with your teacher search, and hope you can find a right teacher for you. be careful of any potential teacher's qualification and experience in teaching adults. in any case, don't be afraid of letting a teacher go if he/she is not good for you, and you can always find another teacher.

Great news! He who pays the piper...(though it does make teachers uncomfortable)

Hi Startulip,

I kind of went through a similar experience and after a year of dealing with it I left as well and got the same response. My teacher was too controlling and neurotic. eeekkk

I now have a brilliant teacher who was a professional pianist and she is wonderful.

There is hope, there are many good teachers out there who love teaching adults. Keep searching and you'll find him or her.

Been through that with a voice teacher and a choir director (two different people) and as a result, I haven't sung in 15 years. Took a very long time to recognize it was a chemistry problem with the choir director; everyone else seemed to get along just fine. Only realized the problem when she took a sabbatical and I started looking forward to practice instead of dreading it.

Life's too short and there are too many options to struggle. Not to mention all the management information -- Discover Your Strengths, etc, as well as Drucker himself--who point out that it's better to go with your strengths rather than struggle to overcome "weaknesses." IMO, working with an incompatible teacher where I have to do the work to reinterpret the delivery counts as "overcoming weaknesses."

I keep wondering about the child, so endearingly addressed - Was he also taught? Did he get the rhythmic things that flumoxed you, or was he equally untaught but unaware of it? Or was he taught differently because he was a child, and would you have benefited from the same teaching?

Some time past I had noticed, in other forums, a two pronged discussion involving ** some ** teachers. On the one hand, teachers were lamenting that adult students were too intellectual, too much in their heads, wanting everything explained and understood. On the other hand, some students were complaining that their teachers explained, explained, explained. Is one related to the other. Are the "explaining" teachers doing so because they believe that is how adults operate, or even, are relating to their adult students as one does to another adult - explanatory? Is it hard for them to fathom that the adult will need to go through the same learning process as the child? This teacher who was so gentle to this child, how likely is it that when she taught rhythm to the child, she did so with a five minute explanation before and after? Or did she show and work with him, as you needed?

Startulip, when you go looking for that next teacher, tell them (plural) in the interview that you want to learn what you need to learn in order to play the piano and play music. When you have lessons, if such a thing comes up, tell the teacher that you want to master this problem of rhythm or whatever it may be, and you would like this teacher to show you how to approach mastering it. What should you be doing specifically in practicing, step by step, to bring this about? Something of that nature. Do not assume that your attitude or wishes are understood. We adults come in too many shapes and sizes. Above all, in that first interview, know above all why you want to take lessons and what your goals are so that when asked, you have a coherent way of answering. That is not as easy as it may seem.

Best of luck.

Keystring

I think the key here is not to get discouraged after a bad experience. There are definitely good qualified teachers out there and it's important to keep looking until you're satisfied and feel comfortable. I had a similar experience. I was disappointed with the first teacher in that the studio, without my prior knowledge, assigned an assistant and not a certified/degreed teacher. It quickly became apparent. I went elsewhere. This time I found a certified teacher who was very pleasant but admitted up front that she has a habit of getting carried away talking. This should have been my cue to head out the door. I decided to give her a try but realized after two lessons that I was going nowhere fast. She'd spend a good chunk of time talking about her personal life and other irrelevant stuff. She also barely gave me an opportunity to play. You'd expect that if you spend 10 or more minutes talking that you'd compensate for the lost time. Instead, at the end of the 1/2 hour she'd quickly pull out her receipt book expecting payment. In retrospect, I felt that the assistant was probably better but figured that in time I would need a more qualified teacher. I am now with teacher #3 and finally very satisfied. I feel very fortunate to finally have found someone who respects my time and is excellent.

Sounds exactly like the experience I had with the first teacher I tried (you don't live in MA, do you?). And this teacher is highly regarded by local parents and has all the right qualifications, so it wasn't a case of someone who'd set up to teach piano without knowing the first thing about it. I won't go back to lessons unless I can find someone who only teaches adults and consequently understands that adult students approach things in a very different way from children (and that adults can take significantly longer to grasp and become comfortable with something that children "get" almost immediately).

As I mentioned in the other thread, I had
5 teachers over 9 yrs. as a child, and your
teacher sounds just like them and not
at all unusual. The comment you made
about her being "a children's teacher" only
is maybe more to the point than you realize.
The system of piano instruction in the US
is set up to teach children from about
the age of 7 to 17. After 17,
those with enough talent are expected to
continue on as piano performance majors
in college; those who don't are not
encouraged to continue with lessons and
are typically shown the door--the student
is now an adult and the system is not
geared to teaching adults; having
a grown person among the young students
will be awkward from then on.

Thus, adult students typically have a
hard time finding a teacher. Many teachers
won't accept them, and an adult student
is usually left with only the option
of group adult lessons at the local
community college or neighborhood piano
store, or high-priced lessons with
a university teacher.

Some of the words you use I find troubling:
"I expect to feel excitement to get home and
play what the teacher showed me." I
don't believe that any student in the history
of piano lessons has ever felt like this.
"Teach to my learning style"--piano
teachers teach their style of teaching--
indeed, they pride themselves on it--
they don't teach your style. "A
teacher for critical-thinking adults"--
if you describe yourself this way to
every teacher you call, none will take
you.

Another thing I find troubling is your
statement: "left me with such a sick feeling
I couldn't look at my piano." The piano
often attracts a particular type of
person, one who views it as an artistic kind
of endeavor in which a person can
express unbridled, rapturous feelings in
his playing. This statement suggests that type of
person, a person, who, despite all of his
professed need for "structure" in his
piano lessons, nevertheless views the
piano ultimately from a pure emotional
perspective and expects to sit down at
it an let his passions run free in his
playing.

This type of attitude invariably leads
to problems in playing. Playing is
a brutal athletic type of activity
that requires the utmost kind of physical
and mental discipline. In playing you
are functioning essentially like a
computer-controlled machine tool: your
eyes pick up the notes on the score
much like a computer picks up lines
of code in a computer program written
for the tool; your brain then process
the information like a computer processes
code; then your brain sends instructions
based on the information to your hands,
which then press the keys, producing
music, like a computer sends instructions
to the tool, guiding its movements.

This is why computers make great piano
players. A computer can be programmed
to play a piano better than any human
can. And nowhere does emotion enter into
any step of the process, as a computer has
no emotion. Thus, as a player you need
to emulate a computer and robot rather than
some hypothetical, emotion-driven human
pianist. Playing requires accurate
reading, precise movements, solid control,
mental and physical discipline, not wild
passions. Approaching playing from a
pure emotional perspective is a sure
way to fall flat on your face.

Don't let this experience dishearten you to the point that you don't want to learn to play the piano. A lot of us seem to have had a bad experience with a teacher, but the important thing to keep in mind is that often the problem lies with the teacher, not with the student. Such seems to be the situation in your case.

Most teachers are dedicated wonderful people. It is a shame that you had to have one who was so difficult.

Be sure to seek out a teacher who enjoys teaching adults. Gaby tu

Don't listen to Gyro. There are lots of teachers who love teaching adults...myself included. If I had the choice, I would teach almost all adults. Rapport is build so quickly, Joking around is fun, and as long as the adult is happy, I am happy.

I teach 30% adults, and they stay with me for a long time. I've had many adult students for many many years now.

Some progress incredibly fast and are pursuing careers in music.
Some hardly progress at all

All have fun and leave smiling.

I certainly did as do some of my students.

Correct. Only 1/10 there though cause the rest of the post was rubbish.

Yes and no. Child starters will play with exactly the required technique if you know how to teach it. It can be a bit heartbreaking to see, week after week, an adult who doesn't see the years of undoing ahead or the tenacity they'll need.

OTOH, if I had known what I was getting into for most of what I have got myself into, I'd have stood in bed... (that's a lift from Robert Fulghum, BTW, not a typo).

All the more reason to make sure I'm having fun at the intermediate points on the path.

If I have had previous lessons in which I was mistaught, then there can be a period of time of "undoing". If I have never been taught, then I am capable of acquiring this correctly from the start, if I know how to be open to it, and if a teacher aims to teach it and knows how to do so.

** New doing ** is the watch word. Undoing should never be considered. As soon as you try to correct, change, undo, or alter, your attention goes toward the thing that is not right. As soon as your attention goes toward what is not right, you reinforce it instead of extinguishing it. Nor can you simply erase a "bad habit" - an empty thing wants to be filled. It lies in the ** new doing **. This is a powerful thing that will push a person light years ahead. It is also very difficult to achieve because it needs a certain kind of concentration and mindfulness. You will literally venture into something you know nothing about - like suddenly acquiring a dog's tail and being expected to wag it. How can you even feel such a tail since you never had one before? Where is this feeling located? Heck, we were discussing trying to find your fourth finger - how about a new apendage like a tail?

The most difficult and important things are what we learn at the very beginning. There is nothing more deep and hard to truly acquire and understand than those first babyish steps. Yet how often are these glossed over? And when an advanced musician has his playing fine tuned, where does he go? Those very baby steps.

What the OP was after lies at the very foundation of playing - knowing how to keep time, what note values and tempo are about. That is not something to be glossed over. It needs to be taught and learned. There must be an approach and method to it, both in the studio and at home. If we adults could understand that those very first things we struggle with are very profound, life altering, deep things, and not babyish at all, would that change the way we feel about them? How lucky that little children are not aware of how crucial what they learn playfully is to everything else in their lives. And what a dreadful pity when they are taught badly in the first years. In a digression: When I give remediation to a 16 year old having problems with algebra, we sometimes have to go back to the arithmetic of cutting up pies and giving everyone a slice. Usually their difficulties lie in the most fundamental things sitting in the lowest grades.

I sometimes wonder if Gyro, lives on earth. :p

I feel excitement all the time when I get a new piece and I can't wait to get home and start tackling it or trying some new technic my teacher taught me.

I hated the piano as well when I was having issues with my teacher. I didn't want to go near it, all I can think of is because the Instrument was connected to something I despised at the moment. In order to learn I had to go through that mental stress with that teacher and of course I grew to hate it until I made the decision to leave.

I went to one of our local piano shops and they gave me a list of teachers with notes on them. One only liked teaching adults. You might want to check your piano shops out for references and lists.

My teacher teaches 5 students all kids except for me and she loves teaching me just as much as her kids. It's all in a persons personality and teachers shouldn't be bunched up in one bag. They all have different likes and dislikes.

Hi Startulip,

You handled that situation much better than I would have. I felt a little bit of anger just from reading your story.

In my opinion this particular teacher is a poor teacher. Period. A good teacher should be able to teach both children and adults, especially if he/she takes their money for the service.

I would have stopped the lesson at the very first sign of unprofessional behavior (when she became exasperated, and showed it). Becoming exasperated and showing it might be appropriate with students who are misbehaving and not wanting or willing to learn, but in no way was that appropriate in your case.

She should be ashamed of herself.

The teacher's childishly graceless reaction to the OP's decision to stop lessons is the icing on the cake. I guess it was predictable, but it reveals even more about her personality than what had come before.

Steven

KS, in the first paragraph above you say that there can be a period of time of undoing when one has been mistaught—but then go on to say that "[u]ndoing should never be considered...."

I don't understand, as this seems contradictory. I know that it's not relevant to the OP's concern (where the situation was new learning rather than the remediation of bad learning), but how would you address the correction of bad learning without "undoing"? Would you couch it in terms of new doing to change the focus and thereby not draw attention to it?

Steven

Sotto voce, it is a mindset I suppose. I've come out of something pretty nasty involving my first instrument, having started with a defective one. There was some damage in the form of stretched ligaments around the thumb, plus natural reflexes that were altered, and then what I did with the rest of my body to compensate. I overcame it, though I'm not completely out of the woods, and that is where I'm coming from.

Mostly it's a mindset. You don't set out to correct anything. You set out do learn to do something as though for the very first time. The tricky part is being able to understand what it is you should be doing in the first place, because it will be totally unfamiliar to the body (or mind). When you do catch it, then you must do that thing, and only that thing, because the old habit is stronger and will take over. The old habit is also "easier" because it's familiar. So you put your mind and body to the new thing and you stop as soon as you lose concentration or when you are slipping. For me in the beginning I might last 30 seconds, and then I'd be exhausted. This was for serious stuff. I would never think of the bad habit in order to avoid it - that pulls it in.

I applied that principle this year to the piano and reading music. When I was young and self-taught I learned to hear the notes that I saw, and play them that way. But I could be anywhere on the keyboard in any key, and if there were modulations or it was modern my audiation no longer served me. I wanted to learn to read music conventionally. I haven't been near a piano for 30 years so the old habits weren't that strong.

So what I did was not permit myself to hear the music when I looked at it. I concentrated on the configuration of the black keys, sensation of the notes, their names, intervals, and did a super-focus on those things. I did this every time I played piano, kept it simple, until it became second nature. I never deviated or played casually. 5 months later I can play a Bach choral prima vista if I go very slowly, and I can even play open score. It worked much better than I could have imagined. The thing is to put your attention strongly on the new habit or thought process etc. and then the old thing will fade away. You decide the old doesn't exist. Essentially you are undoing the old habit, but you don't think about it ever. That's the idea.

KS

I don't think it was at all a case of the teacher thinking Startulip was practicing on 'her' time. The teacher's job is to make sure the student understands what is expected, why it is important, and how to accomplish it. If the student doesn't understand, then there's a need for the teacher to adapt so that the skill can be mastered. If that means spending the whole lesson working through how counting and clapping works, at the expense of getting around to the scales, Hanon and music, so be it.

I had a similar experience in a high school algebra class when we had gotten onto mathematical induction. The teacher we had never varied from his pat little explanation, never tried a different way to reach someone who didn't follow their explanation, just kept repeating the exact same words over and over. As a result, I got a D that grading period - and I was a straight A student! Two years later when I was taking a calculus and analytics class my senior year, the NEW teacher introduced mathematical induction with such a different approach and it was crystal clear to me. Clearly the first teacher just didn't know how to explain it except in one set way. This is probably what was happening with the rythms, counting / clapping.

This is clearly not the student's fault. For one thing, often understanding the rythms and counting is far, far more difficult than understanding the notes. After all, on a piano (unlike some other instruments), each key is one and only one note (if you don't count double sharps, double flats, etc.). This is pretty easy to learn. But the rythms - at least in my experience in teaching - are more challenging to many students.

The right teacher will make this perfectly do-able and won't lose patience with you, Startulip, while you try to sort this out to really grasp what is needed. You did absolutely the right thing in dropping this teacher, who sounds extremely unprofessional and at the very least, unwilling to spend the time to explore a new approach if the first one confuses the student.

As you hunt for a new teacher, you might explain that you have difficulty understanding the note values and counting relationships when you are interviewing a new teacher, so they will have an idea of where you might need some special attention.

Hi

I started taking lessons, about 4 months ago. I booked two lessons of one hour with 2 different teachers. The first one was clearly not geared up for teaching begining adults. Fortunately the second one was/is a brilliant teacher.

Having been a professional trainer - I can appreciate all the skill elements that go into teaching an adult to play the piano - and I must say my teacher is brilliant at it.

All I can say, is that if you're not happy/comfortable in your first lesson - then it's unlikely to change much thereafter - so change!

Incidentally, If you're looking for a teacher in North London (England) then PM me and I'll give you his details.

Mark

Hey SantaFe_Player -

funny you mentioned induction, I had a similar experience in college. We were covering induction in a math class - and it made NO sense at all, seemed like complete gibberish. *Thankfully* the same semester we covered it in a computer-science class with an awesome prof who made it very clear. I was so incredibly lucky that I had both the classes at the same time - because no matter what I asked the first professor to try to clear it up, he couldn't explain it an a way that made sense for me - it was more gibberish (to me).

It was really an eye-opening experience.

Rhythms have been difficult for me as well (still working on them.) We just started trying some exercises in the lesson (he'll play something and I try to notate it - I asked if we could do it this way, rather than me playing something on the paper - because I'm trying to do composition work too, and I can't notate the (simple!) rhythms for what I write properly!!!) I've also ordered a book from Amazon, so we'll see how that goes.

Startulip - have you had any luck talking to new teachers? I wish you the very best, and hope you're able to find an awesome teacher that you really connect with and feel comfortable with, and who is able to teach in a way that works for you. Lessons can actually be a blast with the right teacher

As a teacher, I am particularly sensitive to issues such as these.

Many years ago when I was taking one of my first physics classes in college, the teacher, flustered by our ignorance, would say, "Come-on this is only physics I concepts. This should be easy." He did this probably 3 or 4 times before a young girl finally exclaimed in frustration, "Excuse me! Am I in the wrong class?" "Why, what do you mean," questioned the professor? She said, "Well you keep telling us this is JUST a physics I concept, but I could have sworn that I signed up to take a physics I class. If I should already know this stuff then maybe I need to be in a different class."

The professor never said it again and the rest of the semester was actually quite enjoyable.

The fact is that there are good teachers and there are not so good teachers. I interact with both each day. And it appears to me that as some teachers become more and more skilled in their chosen field, they have more and more difficulty imparting their knowledge to students. Many cannot lower themselves to the levels of the students and many become frustrated when difficulty with elementary concepts occur. I have had teachers come to me in tears saying, "I have taught it this way for 10 years and it has always worked before." My advice is always the same, "So teach it a different way, maybe this group of kids needs to see it from a different angle."

There are some facts about the teacher/student relationship:

1) The teacher is the expert and should know more than the student - duh! As such, the burden of learning lies with the teacher.

2) Questions are the lifeblood of learning. If a student asks a question, the teacher must take the the time to answer it to the student's satisfaction. I find questions a joy when compared to students who sit there and don't do anything.

3) In many cases, the student is paying for the classes, therefore, the teacher is employed by the student and works for the student. The teacher must find a way to meet the student's needs. Teacher's must be flexible and have many different tools in their bag of tricks. A teacher who is so rigid that it is "his way or the highway," is not a good teacher at all.

4) Patience is the number 1 virtue of a good teacher. It must exist 100% of the time. If a teacher loses it or even hints at being frustrated or uncomfortable, learning immediately stops.

In this case I suspect this is not a good teacher. It may appear that she is good with kids but that is probably a false impression. She is probably OK with kids because they do not question her or challenge her. She can say, "Do it this way and practice at home," and the child will nod in approval and pay his money and go home. When you asked her questions, she felt out of a control and didn't know what to do, so her reaction was simply to attempt to blow it off. When you persisted, she felt even more out of control and challenged. And she felt you were questioning her teaching abilities. You did the right thing by terminating her services.

With all of that said, teaching is a very difficult profession to do well. I was once told that if you think you really know something or if you think you are really good at something, try teaching it to another person. I can say that I have learned more about physics in the years I have been in the classroom than I ever did in college. Students have a knack for asking the tough questions and challenging the teachers knowledge.

Good luck in finding a new teacher.

#5 the burden of communication lies with the instructor. it is his duty to be understood, not the student's duty to understand.

#5) the burden of communication lies with the instructor. it is his duty to be understood, not the student's duty to understand.

Pianexcellence - ten-four! In my ed-psych classes (the only education class I found remotely useful) we were reminded that if the students do poorly on an assignment or test, this is an indictment of the teaching, not of the students (or possibly a very poorly designed test). I agree with Physics Professor, having done my share of not only university teaching bue also public lectures and group tours of the lab, etc. - the transmitter of information needs to pay attention to assess whether the information is being received and processed. The best vehicle for establishing this is for the student to be encouraged to ask questions, not treated with exasperation because there are questions! Jeeze, at least the questions indicate the student is trying to understand and hasn't just glazed over for the duraion.

If the piano teacher is not taking the time needed to help the student with the concept, then it's a bad match and is very unlikely to be the student's fault.

Startulip, I'm so sorry you've gotten this kind of treatment from a teacher. That should not ever happen.

It's important to have a teacher that can bring you along while making adjustments for your adult learning style - the teacher I'm using knows that I tense up if he's sitting right next to me while I'm playing through something, so he'll sit all the way across the room while I'm playing at the beginning of the lesson.

After I've warmed up, he'll ask to see certain sections up close to make sure that fingering is right, or if pedaling is working like it's supposed to, but for the most part, he gives me a wide berth.

One thing that really helps me is being able to 'loop' a section to put it in muscle memory (I do that with recordings while I'm practicing), and he'll loop through a passage several times, as well as let me do it.

I'm sure that I might progress even faster if I did things differently, but I seem to be making good progress. It's been 2.5 years, and I've gone from playing a simple grade 2 minuet to playing Beethoven's Adagio #2 "Pathetique", so something must be working right.

We just moved on to Chopin's Valse Op. 64, #1 ("Minute Waltz"). I'm all thumbs with it, but the goal is progress from lesson to lesson, not perfection out of the box.

Keep looking - there's a teacher out there that will "click" with you.