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I received a transfer student this semester. Her parents requested 30-min lesson and demanded that I "progress fast" with new songs each week. They quit their last teacher because one of the songs was reviewed for four weeks, which made them think there's no progress.

After a few lessons, I noticed she's very poor on note reading, and decided to talk to her parents about extending her session time to give us enough time for theory and sightreading

They rejected the idea because of the cost and says they already dropped a sport class for the child to have piano class.

As much as I love this student, there's no way for me to push her with "new songs" each week and at the same time having no time for theory. And I totally see her previous teacher doing the right thing: focus on the song she has at the moment and reinforce note-reading before moving on to new material.

The parents seem to have unrealistic expectations from me: fast progress with only 30-min lessons. Should I ask them to seek another teacher?

Can you tell the parents that this is your structure for lessons:
Week one: 30 minutes, learning pieces from method book (I assume this student still in method book)
Week two: 30 minutes, reviewing flash card, doing sight-reading, explaining theory
Then go back to Week one, week two, week one, week two....

In this way, student will have two weeks of practice at home to polish her pieces. Also, you will have enough time settle down with notes learning. Parents will not complaint that it takes four lessons to pass a song, it is literary 4 weeks, but only two lessons to pass a song. Basically you are slowing the pace down 100% without raising the tuition fee and hopefully not receiving any complaints from parents because this is "your structure".

Just my 2 cents!

You might consider whether you'd rather ask them to leave, or just wait for them to drop you like they did the last one.

Which is less stress for you?

Hi ezpiano,
That's definitely a structure I can follow through. I appreciate the input! Yes the student is still in method books, performance and repertoire from Faber Adventure to be precise. Each week I've been asked to give one new song from each book, and that's two new songs every week, 8 songs a month. I can definitely try this plan, indeed if I only have to give one new song every two weeks it would be much less stressful already.

I've had some students who got through CM Level 5 with 30-minute lessons. Their parents absolutely refused to pay for 45-minute lessons, so I just taught the absolute minimum required for each level.

Honestly, assigning 2 pieces out of each performance and lesson book is not a lot of work. If the student is not doing well, then consider quantity over quality. Sounds like this student isn't a great one to begin with.

Not all note-naming activities need to be done during lessons. You can always assign more written homework (note-naming worksheets, theory books) and put the onus on the parents to monitor, time, and grade the homework. And then blame the parents for not following through.

I like it!!

There is one way for a student to catch up to things like missing theory and reading ability without extending lesson hours - do a lot of work at home as per the teacher's instruction. Are they willing to go the extra ten miles, consistently over the long haul?

Addendum: and correctly

I'm a parent, not a teacher. I'd just like to give a parent's perspective.

Is the parent asking for faster progress, or is the parent just asking that the student not spend 4 weeks on the same piece? Is it possible to give 30-minute lessons but to work on much easier music?

If I could only afford 30-minute lessons for my child, and I didn't want my child getting bored with spending 4 weeks on a piece, I'd ask that the teacher just work on easier music that is possible to master in 1-2 weeks. It would take longer to get through the levels, but if that's where I've set my priorities, then I wouldn't mind.

I'm just opening up the possibility that "progress" to the parent may mean just getting more number of pieces mastered rather than progress in piano levels.

You sound so reasonable, and know you would be as either a student or teacher or parent.

The problem is that most parents will:

1) Promise to help, but won't.
2) Try to help but will screw everything up.
3) Make excuses you would not even believe about not taking ANY responsibility.

AND: the more they gripe about not having enough money, the more you will find out that they DO have money for everything else in the universe but what we are asking for.

There are exceptions, but they are rare.

All the more reasons to put the onus on them to monitor the kids at home. And then blame them for their kids' lack of progress. I recommend something concrete they can do, like a signed log for daily practice and a stack of music worksheets (and make sure they have the answer key so they can grade those papers before each class).

I was thinking of actions that would actually created learning. That's why I added the caveat about also being able to do it properly. How is the student practising so that it is effective? What is the student doing with the theory besides writing in "right answers", and what would the teacher have done during that time? If a parent doesn't want time to be "wasted" in the studio then they have to be able to duplicate the efforts at home.

You can't have parents dictating the rhythm of your teaching. Too bad you have already bonded with the girl, because this relationship sounds bad.

I don't fault the parents for not being able to afford a longer lesson, but I do fault them for not respecting your teaching.

Doesn't work for idiot parents. They ALWAYS find excuses, and half the time IF I can get them into lessons, they are disruptive, trying to interrupt.

The intelligent, cooperative parents are already there, doing the right thing.

You can't change people...

How do the parents know that the song is played well? I listen to my daughter and it sounds great, she goes in to her lesson and it sounds much better. If I went with my knowledge, a song a week would be fine, but I'm paying for the teacher's knowledge.

Anyway - we are 30 minute a weekers and her progress is fine for us. I would ask the parent what their goal is and let them know what needs to happen if they don't extend the time or to let them know their expectation is unrealistic.

Sometimes a piece takes 4 weeks. Along with it are usually simpler pieces and the student can also play older pieces so they shouldn't be "bored".

I've been giving your problem some thought, and see two sets of problems and some possible alternative solutions.

Problem number one is offering 30 minute lessons in the first place. You already know that when you give short lessons, progress is going to be painfully slow, incomplete, and/or deficient in some area. So, why offer them? Make it your studio policy that lessons will be at least 40/45 min. Period, No discussion, no negotiation. There are many teachers who will not offer less than an hour lesson, even for beginners. If you go to longer lessons, you will totally avoid the problem you are now facing.

Problem number two is how to switch your current student to an appropriate lesson length. The frontal approach is to explain, as kindly as you can to the parent, that learning piano is a difficult skill and it requires longer, more intensive practice and supervision/instruction than most other skills. You could explain that progress is greatly slowed with shorter lessons. If they are comfortable with really slow progress, you can continue with 30 minute lessons, but if they really want their student to learn at the rate they've expressed, they'll have to bite the bullet and go to longer lessons. The back door approach would be to go with what others have suggested, and that would be to find pieces which are easier for the student to learn, so that they can learn pieces, and by simply playing, will slowly progress.

You can also use the strategy of having students master and maintain repertoire. This forces extra practice to achieve memory and retention. My goal has always been 10 pieces. Once a month, you set aside lesson time for repertoire review. Nothing new. And at lessons, you always hear at least one piece from their repertoire. There's the AAA Club, where students receive an award and certificate from you when they can play 10 pieces anytime, anywhere, for anyone! Worth considering.

Generally they don't. They just think they do.

It is also about pace. I don't talk in lessons except directly in response to musical things, and I do not lecture. I am about action, and I think I can get as much done in 30 minutes as many teachers do in an hour.

For the record, now and then I have students I would like to work with for 45 minutes or an hour. But for most of them what I do after 30 minutes - even before 30 minutes is up - is to go into Personal Piano Trainer Mode. That means that for most students I can easily cover everything in 30 minutes or fewer because they do not do enough work.

pianoheart, I have read your post, here:

subject: Parents Can't Afford 45-Min Lesson

I received a transfer student this semester. Her parents requested 30-min lesson and demanded that I "progress fast" with new songs each week. They quit their last teacher because one of the songs was reviewed for four weeks, which made them think there's no progress.

After a few lessons, I noticed she's very poor on note reading, and decided to talk to her parents about extending her session time to give us enough time for theory and sightreading

They rejected the idea because of the cost and says they already dropped a sport class for the child to have piano class.

As much as I love this student, there's no way for me to push her with "new songs" each week and at the same time having no time for theory. And I totally see her previous teacher doing the right thing: focus on the song she has at the moment and reinforce note-reading before moving on to new material.

The parents seem to have unrealistic expectations from me: fast progress with only 30-min lessons. Should I ask them to seek another teacher?

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It is a situation where parents could be looking for a "fall guy". Let me explain. If a parent wanted to change a situation, they can make it so the person or in this case the teacher makes a decision like you said, "Should I ask them to seek another teacher." So you as a professional can make the decision either way as you choose. If you ask them (the parents) to seek another teacher, the parent can say to the child, well, that is it. Forget about getting another teacher, you will have have to quit having piano lessons. So the parents in the end get what they want and nobody is to be blamed, so in everybodys' eyes everything is good!

And as you say in the posting, there was no piano progress and they already dropped a sports class.

I just remembered something. When I was a teenager my parents said to me that maybe it would be a good idea if I would go to a boarding school. I guess my parents thought I would appreciate them more (I am a teenager) - but I called their bluff because I knew they wouldn't want to spend that kind of money sending me to boarding school, so I said that I thought that was a wonderful idea - guess what - my parents never mentioned that again.

3S25PAR

2 new pieces each week? that's sounds like a lot to me, How did you do that? Your students must have worked diligently at home!

Two new pieces a week means nothing before we put it into context. A piece can be 1 page, or 10 pages, or 50. It can be of any difficulty.

The speed at which students learn new material has do with their reading ability and general level of accomplishment. And of course their desire to learn.