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I usually don't post in this forum but I could use the advice of some piano teachers.

I have had a good piano teacher for the last 2 and a half years. During this time she has probably missed 2-3 lesson each year with various excuses. Most having to do with oversleeping her alarm clock or transportation issues.

Also, she is consistently late for the majority of my lessons between 5 and 15 minutes. Sometimes up to 30 minutes.

I'm considering getting a new teacher because this behavior doesn't seem professional to me. I've asked her to come on time and her behavior does not change. I've made good progress with her and we get along well as teacher and student so I'm hesitant to start over with someone new (devil you know vs. the devil you don't) but I'm starting to become annoyed with these disturbances in our schedule.

I wanted to know what teacher here think of this, is this behavior normal for independent teachers?

Would it be reasonable for me to look for a new teacher... and possibly fire this one for the reasons stated above?

Your piano lesson is a paid for and scheduled appointment for a specific amount of time.

Would you have such patience for any other profession? (well, doctor offices, but that is not a set time limit per appointment.)

Does she stay longer to make up the time? And, are you ok with doing that? Does she make up the missed lessons promptly?

I have a wonderful friend that is ALWAYS tardy to whatever we are going to be doing. I build her tardy time into my schedule, so I wait with a book, or leave later, myself. But, I do not pay her, and we are not on a tight schedule.

It is really your choice.

Does she do the same for all her students, or is she (unknowingly) taking advantage of your good nature and good relationship?

Missbelle,

She does stay longer to complete the total length of the agreed lesson but I don't generally find it acceptable to be consistently late. I'm very diligent about time so I'm the type that always arrives to things early and she strikes me as someone who is consistently late. I'm not sure how she behaves with the other students.

She makes up the missed lessons promptly. In addition to missing these lessons she also will usually re-schedule lessons a few times a year for various things. But she does ask in advance for those.

It's completely up to you.

My opinion is that the quality of teaching is vastly more important than starting lessons on time. The teacher does sound quite reasonable.

If you are this bothered, it's not much of a relationship. Try someone else. But don't call me, since I usually am tardy.

Rescheduling is often an absolutely necessary part of our profession. I just rescheduled four lessons last week because of a performance obligation. Next month I'm rescheduling two entire teaching days because of a performance obligation. If your teacher is a performing artist, that life requires some flexibility.

As far as tardiness, only you can make that decision. I run my studio on time almost to the minute. But not everyone chooses to operate that way.

By the way, I don't think "firing" is the best term to use. You're considering moving on to a different studio, which you have every right to do. I hope you don't actually want to communicate anger toward your current teacher.

My lessons consistently start 15 minutes late as I am the last student of the day.

Would I personally change my teacher for this? Not this one! I have learned so much that it is really irrelevant whether it starts late or not. I have made the personal decision to not be irritated by the lateness and adapt. I have the complete lesson so it is irritating but of little real concern... I could change to a teacher who is punctual and then have lessons of no value.

And that is why I don't like to run my studio behind schedule. The end of the day gets significantly delayed. I absolutely agree the quality of teaching is what's important, however.

I'm not the most punctual teacher in the world, either, so my view may be skewed.

This:


And this:


Before you fire your teacher, consider what you may encounter in new teachers:
poor teaching
poor communication
impatience
inconvenient time and location
no sense of humor
lack of consideration for you and your needs


And of course, a new teacher may also run late, have excessive cancellations, or need to reschedule even more than your current teacher.

Good points, Malkin. Add: inflexibility.

To the OP, do you ever cancel a lesson? For 10 years I rarely took off, then had some serious health issues and had to take a considerable amount of days off from teaching. Parents received credits, and no one complained. If they were dissatisfied, they were more than welcome to find another teacher. The only issue I have with your teacher is that the teacher is offering excuses that seem to indicate immaturity or irresponsibility. IMO, the teacher should apologize for the lateness, make it up but not explain.

One should definitely look at both quality and the timing aspect. How does a student of one or two years go about assessing the quality side of it? What does "good progress" mean? (One can go ahead in grade levels as actual progress, or an illusion of progress, for example.)

A piano teacher is a professional who is paid to perform a specific service at a specific time. To consistently shirk that responsibility by arriving late is unprofessional and unacceptable. Clearly explain to the teacher that if she wants to keep your business, she is going to have to respect your time as much as you respect hers, and arrive punctually to the lessons.

Then I guess you would fire 95% of all physicians? They are notorious for booking timed appointments, and then keeping patients waiting for 30 minutes or more. The only time I was late for an MD appointment, they threatened not to work me in the schedule!!! when I had waited many times for previous appointments.

Exactly! You are expected to never be late from your appointment, but it's not uncommon to have to wait up to half an hour...vets are even worse and they cost more (because of no substitution).

I would only "fire" the teacher for such reasons if I knew I could find another one as good, unless it's more than just inconvenience that the teacher is late, such as missing my own important engagements and having to cut the lessons short. And I say this as someone who is really irritated by unpunctuality...

@Outo
I,as well, may be late for 1/500 appointments. If there is a work teleconference, I am the one that is online 3 minutes ahead and grit my teeth when others show up 5 minutes late. HOWEVER, in the case of a piano teacher where I am learning???? I would pick my battles....and let the tardiness go. I say this from the perspective of a student who has had several teachers and recognize finding one that is a great fit is not easy. I will settle for great and tardy any day. (and do, almost every week!)

Doctors appointments are different. They could have a patient suddenly unearth a new problem, or somebody could be slow-talking. Doctors have trained a very long time, and their time is at a premium. Their day has to be jam-packed where we are, so appointments could never be timed well enough.

But as to the original poster, I would drop this teacher. To me, even being five minutes late is a sign of disrespect and a lack of discipline. She should be five minutes early. I think her lack of discipline will show in how she teaches. I could not handle this. Piano studios should run efficiently. If a teacher is not efficient, she can build in time between lessons to help people leave on time, or she can extend lesson times. But to mess with people's schedules is just wrong. What if you had something you had to get to afterwards? Now she's making you stay late because of her lack of discipline?

As to her being able to wake up, you could buy her a second alarm clock as a parting gift, one of those small portable ones. I always set two clocks for morning lessons. One is on batteries in case of a power failure.

Some qualities are quite obvious, and others are less apparent.

If the OP feels the teacher is of good quality, that should be good enough.

Wow, that's quite a stretch. Are you sure you're not extrapolating a bit here??

I started as an adult student with no prior experience in lessons, and with no family member having taken lessons. I have also talked privately with fellow adult students sorting out this and that. No, sorry, we often do not know. There tends to be too great an admiration and respect, and for the wrong reasons. The teacher is "great" because he or she plays impressively in the student's eyes (which is not the same thing as being able to teach), or because of credentials. If there are difficulties, then the student must be doing something wrong, or not talented enough - there is a lot of self-blame and placing on the pedestal. There can also be strong feelings of guilt for even daring to think something may not be ok, because one must be loyal.

At this stage of the game I do know what to expect. If I started with a new teacher tomorrow, either the same instrument or a different one, I would not expect that teacher to be a clone of the good teacher(s) I have worked with. They may teach quite differently. But I would have some criteria to fall back on.