Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum My learning material for my "self-course"; judge it!

Maybe I should explain myself: If completely honest, I do have time for a teacher. But that is only at a certain time during Thursday and Friday evening(and the weekend of course). I am actually busy the rest of the week. So that is some free time that would be taken away. I've also had some odd experiences regarding my other instrument, the electric guitar. At the age of 12-13, been playing for about 2-3 years, I had developed better technical skills in certain areas than my teacher; this, I had learned at home by myself. He did point out some basics, sure, but at that age I didn't really analyze things as I'm able to today(considering my age back then). Today I'd fix those things he pointed out by myself. My point is that this guy wasn't as proficient as an actual teacher(in my opinion) should be, so if I were to get lessons from him today it would be a waste of time.
The only piano teacher in my area is part of the same "squad" if you will, which mainly teach school kids at the age of 8-15. I'm not sure, but I have the feeling my experience will be the same with the piano teacher; but I'm yet to find out though.
But I also realized that the traditional, or standard, piano teaching method is much more "evolved" than that of electric guitar; for example, physical analysis(Edit: 'technique analysis' was what I meant) of electric guitar is close to non-existent; there is no standard repertoire or pieces graded by difficulty etc. Anyway, considering this, it may be possible that my assumption about the piano teacher not being able to teach me stuff may be wrong.

That is all

I thought my schedule would be complicated, but when I spoke to my (then potential) teacher, he suggested Saturday afternoon, which works great for me.

Some of my lesson stuff is completely as I would have expected--you know, use a method book, practice stuff, pass it off, and get new stuff. The rest of my lesson stuff is completely new news to me. My teacher teaches me stuff--has me try different ways to play, provides insight where I am confused, and direction when I flounder.

If you have a good teacher sitting beside you during your lesson ...

In my opinion, the main advantage of a teacher is to help you with your playing technique and also directing you with what things to do to help you improve as a player.

It is not so much WHAT you play as it is HOW you play it.

A good teacher will help with that.

Assuming you practice one hour per day (inclusive of one hour with a teacher), you only have the guidance of an instructor 14% of your time each week. The good teacher prepares you for the other 86% of the time when they are not sitting next to you.

The right time to find a teacher is when you've gotten as far as you can without one.

I like Janet Vogt's Mastering Music 1A-2B books. Throw in a couple of her simplified repertoire books and some scale practice and one has a pretty comprehensive study plan for the beginning self-taught. In my humble opinion, of course.

In your non-playing time read and watch everything you can find about the piano and piano playing. Never have piano down-time. ;^)

In my (humble) opinion, that is just a recipe for becoming a burn-out, in anything, piano and whatever.

At least if piano is supposed to be a hobby and something that gives you enjoyment. To never take my mind of piano, would at least make me feel piano playing as a burden.

Something tells me your opinion is never humbly given. But, hey, TheodorN; see that little winky-eye at the end of that statement? That sort of means "not to be taken too seriously".

This is why I spend such little time on Forums.

I'd at least find out first. It's true that many teachers aren't all that qualified to teach (I see this a lot, especially in the voice world). But at least with your previous bad experiences, you know to be a little more cautious. It would still be a big benefit to do a little research to find a good teacher. Even if you only plan to take a few lessons, it would still be a way to get off on the right foot and help you focus on what you should be working on.

By the way, I've gone the other way. I play a little guitar and try to apply my piano knowledge. I've learned a lot with books and videos, but I still have taken lessons from time to time to make sure I'm using my practice time wisely. I obviously think online learning is a great new tool, but I also believe that nothing can ever beat a skilled teacher watching you play, showing you how to improve, and personalizing lessons to your specific needs.

Try just one little book, or just scales (once you find some approved fingerings). A little bit of instructional material goes a long way -- the rest is having someone to help you, and actually practicing of course.

I really do think you should try to get a teacher, at least for a few weeks. If you don't like or can't stick with lessons, then don't. But try them for a bit first so that you can have a head start on how to play and which materials to use! I.e., use the same materials that your teacher would give you if you had one :P.

Sorry, just missed the winky-eye. Don't let me scare you from the forums, there are a lot of nice people around here.