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Hi! My 5 year old is interested in taking piano lessons and I was wondering what the consensus is among the teachers on the methods used? Would it be best to do a combination of Suzuki and traditional methods or just stick with one or the other. I found that the ones thru the piano shops only offered traditional while the schools I found offered a combination. Any thoughts?

Also is the experience of the teacher key or are there other ways to find out who is the best teacher? I think it's really hard judging on a first meeting even with a lesson especially for a child and I'd appreciate some input. I would really love for my daughter to excel at this. I think it's in her blood.

Thanks for all of your help!

Isn't music in everyone's blood?

Are you kidding???

Hi, there:

You will find in this forum (if you do the search function) that the topic of Suzuki vs. "traditional" piano teaching methods has been covered before.

My position has always been "it depends on the teacher." One of my close friends is a Suzuki teacher for piano, and she has given me wonderful insights on piano pedagogy. On the other hand, I've taught many transfer students who started with Suzuki instruction, but ended up with many common bad habits, such as poor sight reading skills, not keeping their eyes on the score, too much memorizing, and too much attention to producing beautiful tone (at the expense of speed and dexterity).

If the teacher is capable, any method should work, really.

It's a matter of degree. For the same reason, there are some people who hate sports, all sports, but I would wager that most people would at least like to be good at something. It's just that their interest is not likely to award them with any kind of unusual success, even with a lot of work.

You've already received good answers - "It depends"

Please provide some additional information. Where are you located? What kind of piano do you have, upright or grand? Is it in very good condition and tuned? Why do you think your daughter is ready to take lessons? What kind of musical activities do you do in your home? What kind of music do you and your family listen to? Do you play the piano? How advanced are you? What kind of practice environment will there be?

Can you tell us more by what you mean, "Music is in your daughter's blood?" Are you wanting her to win piano competitions? Are you wanting a music career for her?

These are the kinds of questions you should be prepared to answer for a serious teacher. Hope this helps,

John

Music is in everyone's blood. That's pretty much the whole point of what Kodaly, Bartok, Villa-Lobos, and Suzuki spent their lives doing.

Hi John!!
We're in Rockville MD.
We just got a Kawaii K3 upright. It will be tuned once it's delivered.
Lana has expressed interest in the piano for a while now. She has always enjoyed playing with a variety of regular instruments -trumpet, drums, keyboard, pick harp, recorder as well as the ipu.
She has very good finger coordination and can mimic us playing the keyboard with only one hand or the other as well as both.
We listen to a huge variety of music...classical, rock, jazz, hawaiian.
My husband plays the piano and a ton of other instruments. I play the clarinet. He's been playing piano since he was a child, but he's not that serious. His whole family plays music. He's dedicated to practicing with Lana. I'm in charge of the hula.

As for my comment, it's more that I can tell that she loves music and has the ability and talent to do it well. I surely hope that she will win many piano competitions, but I want her to grow up to be a surgeon and a mommy.

That is very useful information. Thanks for sharing. That is also the type of information a prospective teacher needs and should be asking. If they don't, move on without regret.

I don't know teachers in your area, although my daughter in law lived there and took lessons, I doubt her teacher is still with us. However, you are in an area rich with highly competent teachers, so I would not rush into lessons, just because she is ready. Teacher selection is really important.

I have recently become acquainted with a school in your area, the Levine School, with a roster of 40 or 50 carefully selected teachers. It is not cheap, roughly $90/hr of instruction. But one hour of good instruction is better than ten hours of mediocre instruction. Consider an interview with them. You can visit their web site here.

Perhaps other teachers who visit this forum will send you a private mail (PM) with recommendations.

Good luck.

John

PS I'm biased, but I'd recommend the classical standard approach. I've had too many problems with Suzuki transfer students who suffered at the hands of less than sterling teachers.

Leonid Hambro told me that when he was a child his dad booked lessons with at least half a dozen teachers in the Chicago area, sat in with them, and chose whom he considered the best. It obviously worked.

Thanks for your thoughtful reply John. I have heard of Levine. The problem is that they recommend group lessons for kids under 7 years old and I think my daughter would benefit from private lessons.

KBK, I think I should do the same. I think like alot of things not only technical things matter, but also the chemisty.

Here is a list of certified teachers of piano in MD:

http://www.mtnacertification.org/Fi...tate_province/MD/area/Piano/Default.aspx

It's great that you want your daughter to take piano lessons and you have a beautiful piano!

Just curious, what if she doesn't want to be a surgeon? =)