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Think the secret to getting a piano teacher a good gift, is to ask!

Had one student who kept asking me and drilling me, about things I liked! So I told her some things I liked! Don't really know how she got this idea, but somehow she got the idea that I like sunglasses! So, she gave me a certificate for $50 to buy a pair of sunglasses at a store I had never heard of before. So, I go to this store, and the average price of sunglasses is $180!!!! Yikes! Did she seriously think I had $130 extra money just sitting around to spend on sunglasses?

Anyways, I asked the sales clerk if I could just have the cash, and she said, "no"! The clerk was very helpful, though, and did find me the cheapest sunglasses in the store that had been marked down from $100 to $53, so I took those! Now that I think about it, it was a good gift idea and I actually love them!

Would not suggest giving a teacher, that much of a gift, but asking about things "that" teachers likes is important! Personally, I like getting piano related gifts, but, all teachers have their own likes and dislikes, so asking is key!

I love to buy music so maybe a gift certificate to a music store.
rada

mr. peabody, i know you wrote this was not a "shout out" but i do have a few hardcovers available and would be happy to sign one (or more) and ship to you.

PM me for the details.

thanks, everyone, for your kind words about "grand obsession."

p.s. you can also contact me through my website:

www.grandobsession.com

I just wanted to thank everyone for a lot of ideas. This will be helpful as each year it becomes more difficult to come up with a gift. Just so you know, I also bake a whole bunch o' stollen (the German Christmas bread) and give them out as gifts to some of our neighbors, friends, and coworkers (and yes, to the piano teacher as well) each year for Christmas.

Mr. Peabody

You know what, I went to an authour talk and I decided to buy a book that he wrote. It was a paperback book and he signed it. When I started reading it I saw that it was far above my level of harmony and analysis ... I thought about wrapping it up to give to someone else but my name is signed in the book!

OK wrapping it up to give to someone else is skimpy as a gift, I am thinking of getting my teacher another gift certificate to a music store that he goes to buy music from. Same gift, impersonal but practical I suppose.

Today an ancient history class gave their teacher two buckets of whiteboard markers, an archeology set, the 300 spartan movie (they studied sparta) a framed painting (from an art student - the teacher remarked that she liked the painting) and a signed card from all the class. Now that is what giving is all about.

Piano teachers do really enjoy gifts. In Chicago, I gave my daughter's piano teacher an experience gift from funsherpa - www.funsherpa.com. Her teacher absolutely raved about it. Basically, you buy a voucher for an experience your teacher enjoys, they ship a gift card to the teacher, and your teacher gets to enjoy experiences ranging from a spa massage to skydiving.

Good luck!

I gave a music teacher friend of mine the Stephen Hough recordings, on CD, of the Hummel piano concertos. He loved it.
It's an amazing recording that was done in the 1980's and it's available at amazon.
One favorite gift I received as a piano teacher:
a wool scarf with a treble clef and music note design on it.
Really, though, there hasn't been a gift I didn't like from any of my students over the years.

One gift I would love to get is a magazine subscription. I like to have magazines available for parents to look at during lessons. The few we subscribe to aren't really of interest to general audiences, so I end up picking up a magazine or two at the grocery store now and then. Around here, our middle schools have magazine fund-raisers, and rather than have students coming here begging me to buy from them, I'd rather have a parent purchase something in my name as a gift. Their kid gets the fund-raising credit, and they get their Christmas shopping done, and I get something for my coffee table.

As an aside, I do get frustrated by all the fund-raisers. I hate telling kids no, and we used to have a policy that we'd buy from any kid who asked, but I'm getting hit over and over by the same students who sell for school, Brownies, football, cheerleading, etc.

However, something nice happened this week: one of my students handed me a coupon book for a local fastfood restaurant. No charge. Kid's football team was selling them, and rather than have the kid out hitting up friends and neighbors, mom bought a bunch and gave them as gifts.

Now that is a good idea. I'd like that too - as long as it wasn't some which-movie-star-has-split-up-with-which kind of one . I'm thinking more Gramophone, or BBC Music Magazine, or Pianist, all of which I buy occasionally.

Brilliant! She knows how to win friends rather than lose them!

One of the most useful gifts I ever received was a little wooden pencil-and-note-pad stand. To my shame, I can't now remember which kid gave it to me, but I've been using it for at least 20 years. Unlike John, I don't mind at all receiving coffee mugs - people in my house tend to be a bit careless and things get broken, so replacements are welcome
One of my adult students gives me great CDs - and, best of all, once gave me the complete Goon Shows in MP3 format. You have to be a Goon Show fan to realise how thrilling that was!

I love gift cards/gift certificates, I'm always buying music and music equipment (so a music store gift card/certificate I love), though I regularly visit Staples, Indigo, Sears, and HBC.

Meri