Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Teacher Search

Thanks, dogperson. That’s definitely true. I’ll most likely go with the traditional approach. She said I could supplement with jazz lessons in a few years.

This makes sense and I think it's a good sign that she said you could take jazz lessons in the future. I don't think it makes much sense to take jazz until you have some foundation. Kind of like most people don't study the organ until they've had some background on the piano.

I agree! I’ll stick with her I think.

My teacher switched to Zoom lessons as soon as lockdown started. She also teaches my two grandsons (almost 9 and just 7). The 7 year old just started during lockdown. My daughter and I pondered for a while whether to wait until when he could start with in person lessons again, but in the end decided he was so enthusiastic to get started that it would be worth a trial to see. So that is what we did.

It has worked out fine, so much so that both grandsons are having extra lessons during the summer break. And its the younger ones enthusiasm that is driving that.

The only important thing about zoom lessons is that you get a decent microphone. Lap top mikes tend to drop off very rapidly as you move away from them so it is hard to get consistent sound. I have a Blue Yeti that I use and its perfect, but my daughter has its cheaper brother, the Snowball and that works fine also.

Good to know, AKC. I’m interested to see how Zoom goes. I have two trial Zoom lessons next week. I’ll also take a look at those mics.

Just as an aside, one of the YouTubers I follow, Bill Hilton, has a ebook "How to really play Piano" which is intended to backfill stuff one needs for jazz and stuff.

https://www.billspianopages.com/how-to-really/

Another vote for the Blue Yeti microphone.

Another element that has vastly improved reception to others listening to my broadcasting is the fact that I upgraded my Internet speed: download 75Mbps and upload 8Mbps. A minimum upload speed of 5Mbps for good transmission is recommended. I also connect directly to my router via an Ethernet cable rather than using Wi-fi.

In Zoom, make sure that "Turn on original sound" is enabled, and disable "Suppress Persistent Background Noise" and disable "Suppress Intermittent Background Noise" in Audio/Advanced.

Regards,

Thanks, Bruce. I didn’t know Zoom had those options. Good to know.

Had my first trail lesson via zoom...and 30 minutes felt way too short. What’s your opinion on lesson time? I’m going to have to go longer.

Book she uses is Faber Piano Adventures for adults. Anybody else use this?

Next trial lesson is tomorrow.

My lessons are an hour and we always run out of time. But I do only have lessons every other week, my teacher talks a lot (sometimes about nonsense), and I tend to work on too many pieces at once. In my opinion you should aim for at least 45 min, and you may find that an hour is best eventually.

I agree with 45 min to 1 hr weekly for adult lessons

There is a running Faber discussion group... ignore the ‘graduates’ in the title
http://forum.pianoworld.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/2295775/faber-graduates.html#Post2295775

Awesome, thanks. Yes, 45 minutes minimum I think will be the way to go. Thanks for the link dogperson!

I'm a little late to the party, but figured I would chime in.

Last year I started using Adult Piano Adventures with adult beginners who cannot yet read music. I'm not totally sold on it, to be honest (and may experiment with Alfred at some point in the future), but it's not terrible.

I recommend 30 minute lessons to most of my beginners. Most will move up to longer lesson after a few months. If 30 minutes feels to short, feel free to ask your teacher for longer lessons. But you might have to be content with another timeslot, or maybe even wait until a longer timeslot opens up.

I also prefer 45-minute lessons, but I only take lessons every 2 weeks. I find 30 minutes too short, and an hour too long.

I also started on Faber's Adult All-in-One Book 1 when I first started with my teacher. It was fine. I liked it for what it was. I would recommend it to other adult beginners. I have since moved to the RCM curriculum but that was on my request.

Lesson time you can work out with your teacher. It varies. I take 30 min lessons. I feel that's all I can absorb. As it is now, as soon as I get in my car I immediately write down everything that had just happened. And the more I prepare for my lesson, the more stuff she throws back at me.

I’m interested to see the difference between today’s teacher and tomorrow’s. Today’s teacher was pretty loose, but I’m sure we’d have more structure once I got the books and we worked them.

I’ve been playing non-stop since I got my board a few days ago. I can’t stop! Definitely wayyyyy more my instrument than guitar. That’s just the way it is.

Don’t forget to discuss your goals with your prospective teachers— and you’re right in not hastily making a final evaluation based on the first lesson.

One more caveat: take the playing easily... and stop with any hint of pain.

I feel you...I got back to playing about 2 1/2 years ago. At first I would play up to 3 hours at a time, with no breaks. Unfortunately I was not taking lessons yet and did not realize how bad my posture was. I was having a lot of discomfort in my shoulders/back. Make sure you are not pushing through any discomfort, and if you are feeling anything bad, make that discussion a priority with your new teacher.

My left hand was getting tight and achy after playing for hours yesterday. Back, shoulders, etc, are good. Sides of my thumbs are tender. Overall, I think it’s just muscles that haven’t been used like this before.

Had my second test session, and I’ve decided to go with the teacher. I was much more comfortable with her than the first. She also have me a lot more information and things to work in right away. She immediately corrected my technique and explained why the sides of my thumbs were sore. I really like her. She’s more expensive, but I think she’ll be worth it. Thanks for all the insights on this thread! I look forward to my first lessons in 30 years!