Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Teachers Forum The Serious Piano Teacher

I'm not sure if that question is for AZN or all of us, but I have come across that a couple times. No matter how hard I tried to convince a parent that it would be good for the student, they just wouldn't have any part of it. Aside from refusing the student (which I wouldn't do), I don't see how there is a lot I can do about it. I just keep trying

I have seen these students before, but not parents. I've never worked for parents who don't want their kids to play at recitals, etc. I've had students who don't want to play in recitals. I let them play in "non-threatening" situations before they dive into recitals.

My sense is that while many of these teachers may be sincere, they are not necessarily serious. Accepting the old adage that you cannot judge a book by its cover, there are still some indicators worth checking:

- Are they certified or are they pursuing certification?

- Do the engage in self-improvement, through conferences, classes etc.?

- Are they engaged in the community's arts program in one way or another?

- Do they perform periodically?

Just a few of the more obvious indicators.

This is what I’m serious about as a Piano Teacher:

Student led musical interests
Encouraging but not forcing
Proper technique, hand positions and posture
Teaching by ear as well as notes
Promoting creativity and song writing
Consistent practicing habits.
Getting excited about getting better.


As a students I competed in Sonatina Festivals, Composer Festivals and Certificate of Merit to the highest level.

But I don’t believe I attained my expertise and virtuosity from those things. Rather it has been the pieces and experiences that have pushed me. Those experiences were like the supplementary music pieces to my studies but certainly not the focus.

Here is where my own personal advancement came from:

It was my three months in France playing piano and violin duets with the violinist upstairs.

It was the summer in Germany when I fell in love with Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata (First Movement) and also watched a Poetry/John Cage/Bach performance at an old Castle in the mountains.

And of course as always and currently: being at home and sipping short little espressos while practicing for hours because I enjoy it and I have a passionate and loving relationship with my instrument.

I have always been motivated by my heart. Not by ribbons and trophies. This is what I am trying to pass onto my students. Whether this makes me a serious teacher I don’t know. But I know that I am very serious about what I do.

AMEN to all of this Trillingadventurer! It's all semantics "serious vs. semi-serious vs. not-serious"

My calling in life and goal as a teacher and a writer is to spread the joy of music to my students and give them a skill that they can enjoy for a lifetime.

Jennifer, with all due respect, it's not all semantics. We have teachers in our town who are teaching students just to earn pocket money. They can play, but not well. Their students progress very slowly - I know - occasionally I get some as transfers and your heart goes out to them. I'll be willing to bet you have quite a few in southern California as well.

I've encountered this in several communities where we lived and taught. These teachers seldom take the effort to improve themselves, offer lessons at cut rate prices to gullible families.

My guess is that few if any teachers active on this forum would be classed "not serious."

I couldn't agree more! To spend years learning how to play something "correctly" just doesn't jibe with me. Much more important to actually experience the joy of music making right from the beginning.

I could go into detail about all of this. I could, but I won't.

The serious piano teacher has a strong sense of pride, purpose and ethics in their teaching business. Besides that, having a vast reservoir of practiced literature and knowing the teaching points of any piece under construction, this teacher has to be very capable and prepared to communicate with the piano student and their family. With enthusiasm and energy and passion, the teacher takes the student through the universe of making music - a fun adventure and personal journey of development of the student's musical ability and their enjoyment and satifaction, as well as the relationship cultivated by teacher and student together being one of promise and mutual respect. The serious piano teacher needs to be secure in the process of teaching and show through leadership and determination the results of having chosen a good and thorough piano program to enroll in.

The fun of it is long term after everyone has earned their badges of being a good student, and being a good teacher, and being a supportive parent. The fun exists from the beginning when you are so fortunate to have found an experienced teacher who can act as a tour guide throughout your music study.

That's the possibility of it when there are serious contenders on the piano bench along side a serious and dedicated piano teacher.

Anything less than giving your all is equivalent to undermining the potential that students bring to us. If the student doesn't have a lot of potential in the beginning, why not teach him some potential. Motivation is one of the things we work with and when lacking in the individual learner, it needs to be heaped in by the wheelbarrow, just as though you have a serious garden project full of potential flowers in the future, but with a few weeds to deal with first.

The role of a serious piano teacher is yours if you want it!

+1

Cathy

John--

There are also teachers who charge the standard rate or higher, and their students are less than stellar. I got several transfer students from this kind of teacher. These teachers send their students to MTA events, but never do anything to help out.

Just today I read an article in the British Journal of Psychology on the "social context of musical success." It was a longitudinal study of 257 children who started music lessons, identifying the factors that predicted which children stuck with music and who quit. (Full citation: 2003, 94, pp. 529-549). Lots of fascinating data here, but the most relevant for this thread is that children were more likely to stick with music lessons if their first teacher was perceived as being friendlier, less "pushy", and technically LESS able. Interestingly, additional analyses focusing on the group of children who went on to become professional musicians showed that a "pushy" teacher was associated with later professional status. (The most important predictor, however, was the number of recital/concert opportunities engaged in.)

What this means to me is that if you want a child to stick with music, you're better off with a laid-back teacher... unless you're dead-set on having your kid become a professional musician, in which case a pushy teacher is better, though you run the risk of burning the kid out and dropping music entirely.

Incidentally, Ed, I know you'll find this other result very interesting: another significant predictor of who went on to become a professional musician was the extent to which the student in later years engaged in improvisation and "playing around for fun." More improv/fun ---> more likely to become a professional.

Can I interject something from my own experience here please? I was a PAINFULLY SHY child but I LOVED the piano. My teacher insisted that I play in her recitals. I did once and it was a horrible experience for me even though I played well. I just could not handle it emotionally, so from then on I purposely made mistakes when I had lessons so that she'd think I was too awful to play in the recital (which she constantly kept reminding me about) and in doing this, I really held myself back. It was like walking a tightrope -- trying to learn and do well but not so well that I qualified for a recital. It even got to the point where I quit lessons over this demand of hers and we fought for months (she was a neighbor) about my coming back. She finally agreed to let me take lessons without having to be in the recital and I felt free again to try to excel because the pressure was almost entirely off except that she kept speaking of how this or that student was going to play such and such in "the recital." I guess she was trying to get me to change my mind. As for my parents, my mother understood and told me I was free to do whatever I wanted.

I understand the importance of getting used to playing before others as early as a child can, especially if the child has talent and may go far, but as a teacher I will NEVER force anyone to do this. I don't want any student of mine vomiting before lessons, etc. like I did. To "encourage" a student is one thing, to "slightly pressure" a student who is on the fence is one thing, but to say "do it or I won't teach you anymore" I think is unreasonable. That's what my teacher told me and she was definitely a "serious" teacher!

Why learn if you don't play in public? For the love of music, the love of the piano! For creativity, for a sense of accomplishment, to gain self-confidence, to go into new territory and find something exhilarating! I want to see a child SMILE with pride when they master a piece and we will go outside and release balloons and celebrate! And I will ask them if they want to play in a recital. I will leave the decision up to them and try to work with how the child feels and try to help them overcome any obstacles in a gentle, nonpressured manner and I will still teach them no matter what they decide.

Perhaps the pressure of an upcoming recital makes a student more serious about practicing but I never want my students concentrating on the dreaded recital to the point where it affects their joy in playing and learning. I feel this will give me a better idea of how serious the student is and THAT is what I will concentrate on trying to foster as well as confidence building so the students will WANT to be in a recital.

My own personal measure of my worth as a teacher will not be sought in how many students played difficult material in a recital but how many lives my teaching has enriched and how much joy I have brought to anyone who studies under me; and concerning this, I intend to be absolutely serious!!! I feel this manner of teaching will make a student WANT to excel and WANT to perform for others. This will be explained to the parents before I ever begin to teach their child in case they have different expectations.

If I'm reading your post correctly, we agree on this point: playing in recitals and participating in MTA events contribute greatly to the student's progress in piano.

Absolutely!

Bingo! What is more important ... feeling the joy music making can bring or performing classical pieces and getting it right? While I understand the whole point of the classical curriculum, I often wonder why students bother. My hunch is pressure from parents and (gulp) music teachers.

You are serious because you at least offer the opportunity to perform. Some studios don't even offer that opportunity to their students.

I think we've been using extremes to demonstrate a point. Clearly, we all exist somewhere in the spectrum. And in many cases we do have the same goal.

I don't want to hijack the thread, but I'm curious. Did you teacher have only one big recital at the end of the year, or did you play with and in front of other students continually?

Teachers always have the dilemma of having to decide whether to encourage a student to participate, in the hopes that once they've encountered success, they will want to taste more, or to let them hang back until they are emotionally ready to surge forward.

I'm not a teacher, but I forced myself to perform at my instructor's studio recitals even though I was petrified - I knew I had to get over my debilitating nerves when performing in front of people. I used to stop playing the moment anyone came within earshot. Participating in semi-annual recitals has greatly helped me relax and even enjoy playing for others now. It still makes my throat tighten and my hands shake but much less - hopefully in time it will improve even more. I actually asked my instructor to add a few more performances throughout the year so I can get more performance experience. I think it is important for every piano student to share their playing and build up their performance management.

How do you figure that it's semantics?
That was a good question posted by AZN with many good points brought up by others.

Just because someone can play, does NOT mean they can, or should teach.
Just because you want to "spread the joy of music" doesn't make you qualified to teach.
I'm not saying you personally are not qualified to teach.

The word "serious" in this context can be construed a variety of ways. What is "serious" for me might not be "serious" to you or other posters in this thread. Unfortunately, some people feel that--if they don't fit another person's definition of "serious"--they are not being taken seriously for their work. This is because "serious" carries such positive connotations.

For example, as much as I have always disagreed with Ed's posts and his continual bombardment on classical piano teachers, I will not attack him for what he does with his job. It is his choice and we should at least respect that.