All,

I'm restarting my lessons this week and was asked by my new teacher if I wanted 1/2 hour or 1 hour. I always had 1/2 hour lessons in the past, but he said most adults he teaches take 1 hour lessons.

So, how long is your lesson?

Usually 45 minutes to an hour.

Ditto here.

30 minutes once a week

An hour. If no one is after me or before me
usually talk or get her to play.

One hour once a week or so, depending on our schedules. Pretty regularly during the school year and lighter, say every two weeks in summer.

Devils are you near W. Milford?

One hour per week too.

Sometimes when I didn't get enough time to practice during the week, I will call up to postpone the lesson to the following week. :p

I am taking a one hour lesson each week.

Usually 45 minutes, but during the summer I will typically "hang out" for about 1 hour.
Devils: I would probably start with 30 minutes and see what happens. If you find that you guys need more time then add it to the schedule.
Jon

An hour a week.

I take from two different teachers...

1 hour a week on Mondays with one, and one hour a week on Tuesdays with the other.

tl91pink,

You have 2 different teachers? How do you find time to practice for both?

Do they know that you have another teacher?

Neither of them know that I take from the other. I work on different things with each. I learn different things from each.

I am able to keep up with all of my music for both. If I couldn't keep up, I wouldn't do it.

I was only taking from one for an hour a week at first and I needed and wanted more and another aspect that wasn't being covered as much as I wanted and needed at my first lesson, but I did need all of that lesson for the things I was learning there.

So, I made this decision, and it is going great. Now, all aspects are covered regularly. One lesson for one hour wasn't cutting it for me. It wasn't covering everything, but I didn't want to take another hour with the same teacher. I wanted another aspect, additional ideas.

I take a 45 minute lesson every other week. Works out good for me.

Kirk

tl91pink,

I have been curious about others who have two teachers. I have one private teacher, and one who teaches the adult group piano classes at the college. There's no problem there except when I bring up to my private teacher things I'm learning at the college which she hasn't taught in years, so in a way, I think I'm making her work harder for her money by bringing up theory she doesn't remember.

My college class will end soon; I already know that my private teacher is not right for me anymore so have interviewed a few new ones and really like two of them so I'm having a hard time choosing. I believe both have a lot to offer in their own way and I can only benefit - but can I afford it? That's the question! I tried three teachers at once for a month when I first started lessons again last year because I couldn't decide. Maybe I should try both of these new ones for a month...........I'd feel guilty if I didn't let them know about each other.

Do you think you'll ever let your teachers know about each other? Do they ever give you conflicting fingerings or advice, and if so, how do you deal with it?

I take a weekly 45-minute lesson. Husband takes a 45-minute lesson every other week. (He's busier!)

45 minutes+ once a week.

Cathy

sleepingcats,

I don't plan to ever tell either of my teachers about the other, and I hope they don't find out so I'm not put in an awkward position and don't have any explaining to do.

The truth is, when I first decided that I wanted to take from an additional teacher, I told my teacher and gave my reasons. She was really upset and gave me all the reasons why I shouldn't do it, which I did not feel that any of them applied to me and my plans. She said you should have one teacher and stick with them, and that if I wanted to take from someone else, that I should just take from that other person and not from two. She also talked about how much I had learned and the progress I had had under her teaching.

When I tried to get another new teacher, I told her that I was already taking from someone. She called my first teacher and talked to her about it, and my original teacher tried to talk her out of it. The second teacher didn't take me on as a student because of "ethical" reasons so as not to cause problems in the "business."

So, I tried doing upfront, and it didn't work.

I take from another teacher now and my original teacher doesn't know. I don't tell my new additional teacher, because I don't want her to say the same thing or refuse to take me as a student, or tell my other teacher. I don't want my first teacher to cancel me as a student. I do want and need to take from her, I just need additional teaching from someone else too.

As far as them conflicting, I work on different things with each of them so that this doesn't happen. That's one of the reasons my first teacher gave me for not having two teachers, because she said they would probably have different methods, conflicting advice, etc. But I work on different things, different songs, different playing styles with each of them. She also was concerned that I would say, "Well, my other teacher said this..." and she didn't want that. I can understand why not. I obviously don't do that since I don't tell them of the other.

Officially I pay for a 30 minute lesson every week but we always go to about 45-50 minutes every week...by the time we go over all my songs and she shows me stuff, we go way over.

I have had to stop lessons for the next month or so due to my schedule, can't wait to start them back!

Same here, officially, I pay for 30 minutes but usually it's 45 minutes, occasionally 60 if we end up talking a lot. I used to feel guilty that it went over 30 minutes but I decided it wasn't up to me to make sure we were done in 30. Sometimes we only take 30 minutes so I guess it all evens out.

I started lessons 9 months ago. At the beginning I took a 30 min. lesson weekly but after 3 months, my teacher and I agreed that 45' would be better. So it's a 45 min. weekly lesson now.

Sleepingcats, how does a group piano class go? Are there as many pianos in a class as pupils? Or aren't any piano at all? What do you work on? Sorry if my question sounds stupid, but I've never have heard of one before.

I am taking 45 minute lessons, however will be jumping to an hour in the fall (community college) 45 is not enough for me. We seldom get through everything I am working on. I have a bout 10 years cumulative in lessons... just went back after about 15 years.

For the poster who is taking lessons both at college and from another teacher.... ASK your college prof if he/she does private lessons. Mine does. I was glad to get a grant for next year so I can continue to receive credit for my lessons, and not pay so much. But had I not received the grant, I would have her remain as my teacher. She is very good and teaches outside of her home studio in addition to at the college. I wouldnt lose her for any reason other than moving.

BeeLady,

No. I'm in western Morris county.

Neus A.,

Regarding my group piano class, it's at the community college and strictly for adults, focused for music majors but I'm not one. We each sit at a digital piano and class is conducted with headphones so we can all hear the teacher, and when the teacher wants to hear us individually, like for quizzes, she can "tap in" to our keyboard.

It started out very easy for me since I had lessons years ago, but once we started covering chords named with roman numerals, identifying inversions of major and minor chords, chord progressions, transposing and harmonization, it started to get more challenging! Those are all things I've never had in private lessons years ago. We do a lot of sight-reading too. I've enjoyed harmonizing with the right hand melody line, learning what type of chord (dominant, sub-dominant, etc) to play with the left hand, and which inversion of that chord is the most convenient or pleasant-sounding. We also play some easy repertoire.

Some people think group classes are not good, but I have enjoyed them and have learned SO much! It has strengthened my interest in piano even more and I can recognize patterns and chord types in other pieces, and that really helps with learning pieces. Since I'm a bit on the analytical side, I enjoy the theory.

neciebugs,

My college professor does teach privately, however she lives too far away, which is a problem for me.

However, I finally found a new teacher! I met with several this last week and found a wonderful woman just 3 miles away who knows all the theory that I'm learning at the college. I won't be starting with her until August, for 1 hour/week. She seems so much more in tune (no pun intended!) with what I want out of piano lessons and has more advanced knowlegde - also came highly recommended. I can't wait to start! Until then, I have my college class to finish and want to respectfully give my current private teacher a month's notice.

45 mins, once a week.

Sometimes if I've missed a lesson and we can't find an alternate day, I'll do an hour and a half. After the 60-minute mark, I'm pretty exhausted.

I think 45 mins is a good length. Long enough to get seriously into one or two pieces, but not so long you feel like you've been put through the wringer.

Of course, if you don't feel like you've been through the wringer after an hour, maybe your teacher isn't working you hard enough.

Thanks for your reply, Sleepingcats. It is interesting to know what others do. This is how I realized that sight-reading was important. I suggested it to the teacher and have since then included it in my lessons. Yet, I'm still missing many other things, like the harmonization you mentioned. I'll tell her about it. I should be able to try it because when young (younger) I had a good working knowledge of the theoretical (pencil and paper) harmony.

Neus

I think that the success or learning in a piano lab-type class mostly falls on the teacher. It sounds like sleepingcats teacher is doing it just right.

sleepingcats,
I love theory too!!! I have been learning those exact things you mentioned as well. And I also looked for teachers who knew and would teach me exactly what I wanted to learn.

My weekly lessons are supposed to last 30 minutes, but if the teacher isn't too busy we'll go to 45 minutes. It takes about that long to get through everything!

I just added another hour session per week, so now I go twice a week for an hour each. There's so much to cover, and I have a lot of questions. It's kind of like therapy too, and it's cheaper than a Therapist or Psychiatrist!

I figured that while I have the time and can afford it, I'll soak up as much as possible. We'll see how it goes.

After doing 1/2 hour lessons during the summer, I realize I want to take one hour lessons. My teacher is doing his schedule for the fall now and he says he might not have time to give me 1 hour lessons. I guess I should of taken one hour lessons to start.

Devils4ever,

Can your teacher fit you in for another 1/2 hour time slot on another day? Depending on your work schedule and how far away your teacher lives, that may be a hassle. I'm fortunate that mine lives 3.5 miles away.

Hopefully your teacher may be able to come up with an hour slot for you.