Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Teachers Forum A question for teachers

I know one lesson per week seems to be the norm, but I'm wondering ...
Do you have any students taking more than one lesson per week on an ongoing basis?
Is it beneficial for a student to do this, assuming they are serious about learning?
How much practice time does a student need to be able to put in to make it worthwhile to take the extra lessons?
OK, that was three questions. Please tell me your thoughts on this.

In all honesty jaz... A good teacher would give you enough to work on lasting months and months, and say come back when you need to...

Sweep88,
I've often thought that myself - in fact I can give myself an assignment that could easily take months or even years to master. But then I wonder, what's the point of a teacher at all, if just to make assignments?
I've mostly learned without a teacher. Nevertheless, the question remains, if once a week is good (we'll make that assumption for the point of discussion), is twice a week better?

It maybe benificial if can understand what you are learning really fast, but if you are just an average learner, in order to understand the concept, then master it on your instrument will require you a good amount of time. If you are a quick learner, but have a busy schedule outside of music, you may just know them as a factor, but in order to apply you will still need more time to get hands on experience.

So, in result, weekly lessons give you a good pace to understand and master concepts in a reasonable amount of time, you see your teacher often enough to ask questions, and discover problems if there are any.

Hi,
It really depends on what level of study you are at to properly answer your question.
Some of my students come more than once a week when they are getting ready for a big live show. Others come more often when they are making an album. Some only come on an "a la carte" basis-I give them a lot to do and they come back when they have mastered the assignment ready for the next step.
In your case, you probably will be fine with weekly lessons, but less frequent lessons might work to your disadvantage. Good teachers will pump you up and get you motivated to work for the next week and that may be important at your level.
One thing you can do is record the lessons if the teacher allows it, then you can have that information with you during the week to keep you going.
I still use the one hour of practice per hour of instruction rule with most clients, you may want to ask your teacher if that is something they feel important for you.

Rob,
I'm not sure what you mean by this - do you mean you expect one hour of practice per day with one hour weekly lesson?
I practice a minimum of four hours per day - I'm never at a loss for things to practice, I'm just wondering if a little more contact with my teacher might help keep me on track better.
I've recorded lessons in the past, and thought about starting that with my current teacher, but haven't asked him about it.
Thanks for the input.
p.s. I've spent some time with your cds/books and have gotten a lot out of them.

Hi,
Yes, I mean one hour of practice per day per hour of instruction. You might be surprised at how hard that is for some people to do, but your four hours a day is quite commendable.
Re contact with your teacher, they can best advise you about that dependent on your situation.
Glad you are using my material and it is working-whenever I need a lesson in humility, I just try and play the B major Etude at 230 bpm from memory and that gets me grounded pretty quick sometimes!

Thanks for the input Rob.
I have one of your CDs - "Straight Ahead Jazz". I've listened to it numerous times, and love it - obviously, whatever you've done to get where you are has worked!
Guess I better pull out that B major etude.

Hi,
Well, if you are going to work on the B Etude, I will work on the stuff for the new album today, yikes, we are cutting it live in five weeks from now! I have been tempted to do the Eb Etude with the band, I think I'm going to pull that out at rehearsal.

With one beginner I tried twice weekly lessons because she was so smart. And they really helped. She advanced at about 150% the rate of other students her age.

For your level it wouldn't hurt. I'd just go ahead and give it a try for one month, and decide from there.