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Hi Everyone,

I hope you've been having great summers!
I will be heading to the east coast next week, and while there, will be traveling to four conservatories at which I've arranged trial lessons.

Since this is an important step for me, I want to go in feeling like I know something

My plan was to, perhaps, bring two pieces: one with which I'm very comfortable, and another with which I need help, so then I can see how good of a teacher each person is for my personal issues.

Good idea? Bad idea? Do you have better ideas?
Otherwise, I'll come up with questions to ask them about their schools and their philosophies.

Thanks in advance

I had very good chemistry with everybody from whom i studied piano. Whether this was attributable to my sweet, talented, cooperative nature and their brilliance, or sheer dumb luck, is debatable. 😂 With each it was a leap of faith--no trial lessons.

I did wonder if I could quickly recognize mediocre chemistry, bad teaching, slouchy learning on my end. Why, yes, right off the bat with both an officious little conducting teacher and a bad-tempered organ prof (who WAS under stress running a nearly bankrupt community concert series, and I was a complete organ idiot, I'll admit 😜).

So, getting a feel of potential teachers is wise, even just a taste.

Sounds like a pretty good strategy. Also make sure you do plenty of research on the teacher. Chances are they specialize in a certain area of music and that could influence which repertoire you bring to them.

Ahh...the big familiar step

I think your plan is a great one. It can be fun to even prepare the same questions (about technical, or interpretive problems), about the same spots in your pieces, and compare advice given by teachers. Out of curiosity, which schools/teachers are you visiting?

Thanks for your input, everyone!
I'll be sure to research each teacher more closely. I should really do that ASAP.
I'll let you know how they go

Great plan! Which schools?

For conservatory lessons, you'll usually be expected to have fully learned a piece to the best of your ability before bringing it to a lesson. So a piece in that condition would probably give you the best sense of what it would be like to be a student there. You could even play the pieces you're planning to play for auditions!

If there's something specific you're looking for from a teacher right now, like a specialist in a certain composer/period or someone who knows a lot about physical technique, bring something that will show you how the teacher works in those areas.

And you definitely should research the teachers enough to know what you admire about their playing. Nowadays video makes that so easy.

Unless you study with somebody like Menahem Pressler, John Perry, or Arie Vadri, I wouldn't say this is necessarily true. Although you definitely need to come in having practiced (and practiced a great deal), it's virtually impossible to bring in a new, fully learned piece to every lesson. I had a teacher at a conservatory who would stress that a lesson is NOT a performance (unless you're nearing a recital), and it would be perfectly okay to bring in only sections of a piece that we would practice together, or discuss technical issues as they came up and experiment together with solutions.

^ I didn't mean a new piece every lesson. (Although I know of teachers who do require that.)
But thanks for sharing your experience with your teacher too, it is good to remember that not every teacher/conservatory is the same.

Be yourself at each lesson, go on w/out too many preconceptions, and check out the chemistry you feel w-each teacher w/whom you take a lesson. Are the teachers, if any or all of them, interested in you as an individual? Do you feel a bond w/any of the teachers? Who intrigues you the most after a lesson? Who seems like they can help you the most?

Basically, it's about you and your (informed) choices ...good luck! Report back about your (good, bad, or mixed) experiences!!

Thanks, everyone, for the advice.
My lessons start this Sunday!
Here are some questions I've thought of so far:

What separates this school from others?
What is your competition philosophy?

Based on my playing:
What do you look for in a student for your studio?
What are some specific aspects of my playing that I should think about to prepare for auditions? in general?


These questions can be answered by any of the teachers as they are unspecific. As I do more research (about to now!) about each individual professor, I'll create some more personalized questions.

Are these valid? Any that are pointless?
Thanks, everyone, for the feedback so far! I really, really appreciate it.

Listen to Mark Polishook's advice: it is wonderful. You don't really need a checklist of questions, though yours are ok. These four lesson-interviews will unfold just fine, and then see how you feel.

Remember that many classical musicians are fairly inarticulate, and speak in cliches. Interview situations are also often stilted. But you can most likely discern a committed, caring teacher.

While your interaction with your teacher is probably the most important element, I think your first question would be good to ask of any piano students you might encounter while you're there. I liked the information I got from the students I talked to when I was auditioning because it was from them that I got a feel for the general atmosphere of the school. One student told me he had switched schools after his first semester or year because he didn't hated the cutthroat competitive atmosphere in the studio at his former school!

For myself another question I asked was how the professor dealt with difference of opinion - I'd had teachers in the past who wanted me to play something a certain way that I didn't agree with. I wouldn't do as well with a teacher who dictated how everything should be played, but maybe you wouldn't have this issue.

I got back yesterday from my trip: 1 week with family followed by 5 days and 4 schools. I had 6 lessons. The first and last were the "worst" (generally less positive reaction), but the middle 4 were "good." I learned a lot from every lesson; they were all magnificent teachers. There were three teachers at three different schools from whom I think I would benefit a lot, and two of these three seemed to like me at least a little bit
Although it was tiring (due to the fact that I had consistently early wake-up times and long travel days), it was vey rewarding, and I am very grateful to have been able to take this trip.

Great news! Welcome home.

Care to elaborate? For example, what were you doing/playing when you appeared to be resonating the most with teachers? What were your most challenging moments? What were the things you felt you needed the most work on and what made you feel as if specific teachers would be best suited to guide you? Why did you feel as if certain teachers might not? When this happened was it more because they didn't appear to be excited by the prospect of you or because you didn't really feel good about them even if they were into you?

What was your proudest "nailed it!" moment?

What a delightful dilemma! Now you need to also start comparing the rest of the musical and general academic offerings of these three schools. It's quite likely that you would have a fine experience at each institution.

If you wish to share more details of the auditions, we're all ears.

Being musical and not being (too) nervous.
When I wasn't playing well and wasn't able to fix the problem immediately due to stress! What I need to work on: creating a big picture not overwhelmed by the small details by which I seem to get bogged down. As for good teachers? I need help with using my body. I need a teacher who can tell me, logically and matter-of-factly, what I can physically change to produce the right movement/sound. Two teachers were able to do this for me. The third teacher I really enjoyed seemed incredibly wise, beyond the usual amount for a professor; I know he would teach me a lot. There were two teachers who I know are good, and who could do me a lot of good, but who didn't click with me as extraordinary, I guess-but that's just me being spoiled The teacher who I felt discouraged me most was actually maybe my favorite. She is incredibly knowledgeable, frank, blunt, and what I need. The other teacher I didn't like too much (and who didn't like me) seemed to treat me as if I knew nothing, (not that I know all that much!), so I felt really awkward and dumb, which would not be the best environment.
Well, I can't say I "nailed" anything, but I did play a movement of a Beethoven sonata pretty well two times.

Well, sadly, I know now that most of my schools will be "reaches." No matter how much they liked me, when (literally) hundreds of amazing kids walk through their doors to audition, my chances are vey slim.

I am not understanding. In the end, will you be able to choose or do you have to wait to see if you are accepted in any of those schools?

And good luck

In the application, we get to choose two to three teachers we would like to have (we rank them, too). As I understand it, the schools then try to have those teachers I ranked present at my audition.

In the end, I first must be accepted. Then, taking into consideration my preference for teachers, the school assigns me to a studio.

Did that clear it up, Albunea?

Yes, it did. Thank you.