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But you do have something to discuss:

• "We are very happy with Junior's progress and your teaching."
• "You mentioned transferring Junior to another teacher. What kind of timeframe are you thinking of, and what would the other teacher provide that you feel you can't provide?"
• "What is the purpose for this video? What is the purpose for showing it to another teacher?"
• "What is the best way to contact you and have conversations when we have questions?"

None of that involves any supposition on your part about Junior's talent.

A teacher gets out her telescope. "I think I can see Carnegie Hall in this kid's future!" Gives the telescope to a fellow teacher in New York to get a better view. "Can YOU see Carnegie Hall too?"

This spotting of Carnegie Hall is exciting, but not useful. The bottom line is that this 5 year old needs to paddle his boat through elementary music at this point. We can hope that he still has enthusiasm for music at age 10.

It is like trying to locate future NBA players by looking at 5 year old kids play basketball. There are unknowns that will matter a great deal. Which kid will grow 7 inches in one year remains to be seen.

Ann, splendid post!

Thanks Peter! My hope was that someone would appreciate it.

PianoStudent88, I may just use your words verbatim, thank you!

Ann in Kentucky, thanks also for your wonderful analogy. A large part of my concern in the highly improbable, miniscule potential "spotting of Carnegie Hall" is that it might create undue pressure to the point my son no longer possesses the enthusiasm for playing that he currently has. His teacher had expressed the same desire to prevent burnout, which is why I was surprised to hear of her recent suggestion. But sending a recording for consultation purposes seems innocuous enough, I think.

Actually, having 3 such students at the moment, I find that it is most helpful. It is something to discuss with parents concerning goals for the student, how they feel about it, etc. We all encounter highly talented students, but not all are musically motivated.

Secondly, I enrich the student's curriculum considerably, broadening their musical experiences. Obviously, the student is going to cover the basics, but far more quickly than your more normal student.

Point taken. However, this parent is talking about a 5 year old. From your posts I gather that you begin teaching kids at age 8. There is a lot more to analyze at age 8. All this analysis and enthusiasm over a 5 year old would be better spent in teaching kiddo to read music IMO.

OTOH, John, the right kind of analysis leads to a plan of action and a discussion with the parent. So far this teacher has only hinted at the child's talent, hinted that another teacher will soon be recommended, hinted that she is consulting another teacher. It has only served to generate excitement. No plan. All it really means is "Dang! I never seen a kid learn so quickly."

Actually, I do take, and have several students younger than 8. Currently I have both a 6 yr old and a 7 yr old. I have taken quite a few as young as 4.

What I see in the sketchy information provided by the OP is obviously different from what many others see. Short of being there in person, passing judgement on the teacher seems a stretch to me.

I think the parent should direct the teacher to our thread.

OK. Fair enough. It was a bit of a stretch on my part. A lot of unknowns.

But sending a video to New York was what seemed like overkill to me. As though there is no one locally who has experience teaching kids with this degree of talent. (Barf.)

But we don't know who that friend is. Could be a teacher at Juilliard. That would be something, don't you think? We had a situation similar to that when I grew up. A slightly older student (no recordings in those days) was sent to Juilliard for evaluation. You may have heard of him. Thomas Schippers. BTW, the wiki article is fraught with factual errors. His dad worked in a meat market. There was no Westinghouse branch in Kalamazoo.

Yes, I think it would be very interesting to see what advice a piano professor at Juilliard would have.

I did read that Yo Yo Ma started learning Bach cello suites one measure at a time starting at age 5. Maybe the professor would have kiddo leap to intermediate literature. But I doubt that would happen until kiddo has mastered elementary literature.

I showed a local professor a recent studio recital photo. He said he wouldn't know what to do with beginners. "I don't keep up with that." In other words, a college professor may not spend any time getting familiar with current elementary teaching materials.

I would like to observe the kind of teacher who gets a 6 year old to perform Knight Rupert though. I'm curious as to how they accomplish it. I'm guessing that they are teaching the basics and adding in learning intermediate pieces by imitation, focused on one measure at a time. Or skipping reading and just focusing on the one measure at a time memorization.

That would be interesting! And it could answer questions that may arise. Yet hasn't it been enjoyable to savor the mystery of what is going on?

Thank you all so much for your replies. As Ann writes, this whole situation is indeed a bit of a mystery, which is why I am grateful for the benefit of your various professional experiences and corresponding perspectives. Following John's advice to schedule a conference at the next lesson for the following one, that leaves another week and a half of speculation!

A follow-up question for any and all: Am I correct in thinking there are 3 main ways to play piano--by sight reading, by ear, and by imitation? Or does playing by ear go hand in hand with playing by imitation? My kid's sight reading is improving, but definitely lags behind his playing. At this point, I would say he primarily learns through imitation measure by measure as Ann guessed. As I assume most children do, he memorizes pieces very quickly, so we have to be sure to emphasize sight reading exercises or he just wouldn't do it at all.

Nah, there are only two ways to play the piano - correctly or incorrectly.



Why did the teacher bang his head against the piano?

He was playing by ear!

Something here is not adding up.

It's perfectly legitimate, (and even commendable), for a teacher to have an admission that the student is progressing (or will progress) past what his/her teaching skills will offer. But in this case, we know that it has only been four lessons, and we know that student has not shown particularly prodigious talents as of yet.
Even more strange - as John pointed out - is that any teacher who teaches at a level where she is able to produce and attract guild-level students simultaneously saying that a four year old will soon outgrow her...

Hi Opus_Maximus, I just wanted to clarify that my son, who is 5 years old, has now had 10 lessons (still not a lot, I know, but more than the 4 at the time of my original posting). Your point is still well-taken. However, I should probably also add that I may have underestimated his ability level somewhat, which I did not realize until another teacher on this forum gave me some helpful information via PM. Apparently, the kiddo is currently playing pieces that would typically be performed by the average student in his/her 3rd to 5th year. I know very little about piano grades or levels, so did not know this beforehand. I'm still not sure if him playing these pieces now really means anything, but thought I should mention it in the interest of providing as accurate information as possible.

Bravo!!!

There are basically two things to learn: (1) how to play the piano and (2) how to read music. For most beginners, the process would be much easier if we just taught by imitation. It wouldn't be doing them any favours, however, because then they wouldn't be able to read.

As an aside, for the general public, any kind of playing without sheet music counts as 'playing by ear'. So playing from memory, playing from imitation, will be called 'playing by ear'. That drives me nuts!

Now the picture is coming into focus!

In this situation it helps when a teacher is a member of a local professional teacher organization. You learn who is particularly successful with kids with special abilities. In my case, I know exactly who I would consult. She no longer accepts new students, but would likely agree to teach a lesson with a special kid and let me observe. And I'd take her advice from there as to whether to transfer the child to another teacher.

I have no experience in getting a young child to late intermediate literature. But I can take pride in knowing my own limits and knowing WHO to consult in special circumstances like this.

I recant! (Those who know me are aware that I use any opportunity for parody--no harm intended though.) I take back my criticism about Carnegie Hall spotting. But it is a bit of a hindrance not to have local contacts who are experienced in teaching special kids.