Deciding on piano teacher

[Mom-ninja.]

I need to choose between two piano teachers. I chose (but rethinking) piano teacher #1 (Beth) simply because her time slot fits our schedule better. That lesson is Mondays at 5pm and as my DH usually works from home on Mondays, he would be able to take ds to lesson if I needed him to. This will be very handy especially once the baby is born.

 

Piano teacher #2 (Becky) is Thursdays at 3pm. This means that DH would not be able to take ds to lessons ever. It would always be me and I would be taking my 4 yr old and the baby each time thus needing to keep them busy.

 

Yet, ds likes Becky over Beth. He says they are both nice but the Beth is more serious. I sat in on each lesson and I see what he means. Becky is a bit more relaxed although she still gets in a good lesson. Beth is much more, um, high paced. In fact, I think I felt a bit stressed just sitting in the lesson. She drills and drills fast.

 

So far we've had two lessons only with her. She says my ds is advanced for his typical age group. She brought up having him in a piano competition program as she feels he can handle it.

 

I've already paid Beth for the month and I would have to give her 2 weeks notice of cancelation. Plus, I need to let Becky (piano #2) now asap to keep our slot. She is usually booked solid and has a waiting list.

 

So, I'm undecided. Do we go with Becky who is a bit more relaxed and ds likes her better but the time slot is really not great for us, or do we stay with Beth?

 

I'm wondering if the extra nudging from Beth will be a good thing or not for ds. He's only had 2 lessons with her and he did fine both times. I don't want him to lose his love of piano by being pushed too hard.

 

These decisions should be easy. DH says to just stick with Beth on Mondays cause it's more convient for everyone time wise.

[Christy B]

In fact, I think I felt a bit stressed just sitting in the lesson. She drills and drills fast.

 

 

 

 

I think the above statement speaks volumes, though. If *you* felt a little stressed, just sitting in the lesson . . .

 

It depends on your goals for your son. If he is truly advanced, and he's only seven, he could have a real future in piano. (I'm not sure how a teacher could determine if a child is advanced after only two lessons, though.) If you want serious music training, the fast pace and the competition could be good.

 

On the other hand, if you really want to develop a love and enjoyment of music, I would be inclined to go with the warm and fuzzy teacher.

 

Wow. I don't think it's an easy choice. I understand being tempted to stick with what's convenient, and I understand wanting your son to be with the teacher he prefers.

 

Could you ask warm and fuzzy to keep you on her waiting list, and go ahead and finish out the year with drill sergeant? Two lessons is too soon to tell, IMO. You son may end up thriving on the more structured, no-nonsense approach. Or you may see that he is going to crash and burn. But you can't know that now.

 

If it's any consolation, they both sound like excellent teachers.

[Marie in Oh]

but I would go with the one who is more fun. Especially if she still teaches a good lesson. At your son's age, it still should be fun. Not fast paced, serious, and competative. There is plenty of time for that. We have several teachers in town, but we started with the one who has been teaching for 25 years, knows kids, and knows how to keep them interested instead of the ones with pedagogy degrees who teach the fast paced, serious music. When my kids get to the point of exhausting the fun teacher (and they are getting close), if they choose to continue, they will be ready for serious study. But at ages 6-8, I wanted it to be something they enjoy. HTH.

[Remudamom]

Since you've paid Beth for the month have a little chat with her and tell her ds is stressed. Tell her you know she considers him advanced but that you want him to develop a love for the music and lessons, not a dread.

See what happens and go from there. If she won't work with you, move on to Becky.

 

And remember that almost every kid that takes lessons wants to quit a little ways into them. Our musical genius moaned and groaned for a couple of months that she wanted to quit.

[readwithem]

Could you do a lesson every other week with Becky? Could Becky come to your house for a lesson?

 

At his age I would be inclined to make it fun as well, though I'm always amazed at how many little ones take from the "serious" teachers. Perhaps your son is a quick learner. :)

 

OTOH I would encourage you to listen to your dh as he's part of the equation.

 

The main thing with piano is consistent practice so which do you think would encourage that?

[Academy of Jedi Arts]

It depends on what your son's goals are. My dd7 is not cut out for nor considering a future in piano, so we have a nice lady down the street whom we love that teaches dd in a very relaxed way- but still is challenging enough so that dd does not get bored.

 

At 7, if they are talented, there is no such thing as pushing IMO- IF it is the child's idea to develop the talent. It's not like we're talking about a 2 or 3 year old, and most kids who are serious about anything by this age are in serious lessons with serious teachers.

 

Dd7 wants to be challenged in the things she is interested at excelling in, and that is not every single activity she does. She plays soccer for fun, she takes piano because it's challenging and fun. In dance she wants that teacher to tell her when things look bad and who push her to improve her technique. She started off with the "nice" teacher who had the cutsie little fun class and she was miserable. She begged for the harder teacher.

[Mama Anna]

I'd recommend going with the person that your gut instinct chooses. Schedules are flexible, even for piano teachers. They lose students, they have students who need to switch lesson times, etc. If you were to tell Becky that you wanted to begin lessons but would be looking to switch to a Monday time, chances are that you'd probably get it in a relatively short time - if you're willing to be flexible about the exact time, that is. Existing students usually have priority over new students in scheduling questions.

 

Certain students work better with certain teachers. I know that I do my best work for a supportive yet demanding teacher of whom I'm slightly in awe when I'm uncertain of my ability, but my dd would be the type that needs the constant encouragement and support that only a warm-and-fuzzy teacher would provide.

 

In the end, whatever decision you make now, as long as you keep an eye out for warning signs of boredom or anxiety, the results shouldn't be permanent. If your son is uncomfortable wherever you place him, just be willing to change later.

 

Just my 2 cents!

 

Mama Anna

[Michelle in MO]

I think it depends a lot on your goals and your son's goals for piano. If those goals are for ds to play piano primarily for recreation, I would definitely go with Becky, the more relaxed teacher. If those goals are for ds to play piano very well, I still might lean towards Becky, but first I would ask a few questions of Becky (or, you may have already researched these yourself).

 

Here's a few things I look for in a piano teacher:

 

1. Does he/she work well with students? Do the teacher and student "click"? This is very, very important! If your ds likes Becky better, even though Beth may push more, ds may perform better for Becky and learn better from her!

 

2. I greatly prefer classical music, so I look for a teacher that can and will teach classical music. Not everyone wants this, so you might ask yourself and your ds what type of music he wants to learn.

 

3. I watch teachers and students at a recital. If the teacher can play piano very well, he/she can lead the students to become at least as good as the teacher is.

 

4. I look for a teacher who wants the kids to memorize their music for recitals.

 

So, you might write down a list of your goals and your ds's goals for piano. You may have already researched both teacher's music background, style, and their goals for their students. If your goals and both teacher's goals are fairly similar, I would try to work things out with Becky's schedule.

 

In my personal history of taking piano lessons, I had two teachers who were *OK* but not great. Then I had a great teacher; she and I really clicked, plus she was about as advanced at piano as one can get. Really. She could play anything, by ear, by memory. If I had continued with the more mediocre teachers I probably would have lost interest. When I took lessons from the third teacher, I was able to progress fairly rapidly. So, the personality thing and her style, etc., was a big motivating factor for me.

 

HTH!

[GailV]

Since you've paid Beth for the month have a little chat with her and tell her ds is stressed. Tell her you know she considers him advanced but that you want him to develop a love for the music and lessons, not a dread.

See what happens and go from there. If she won't work with you, move on to Becky.

 

 

One day I mentioned to our piano teacher that she certainly seemed to pile dd up with work. She was surprised -- it hadn't really struck her that way. And she talked to dd about it, and then backed off giving her quite so much. I think she (piano teacher) was just swept away by the fact that dd kept trying to keep up and kept trying to please her, and didn't realize that dd was getting stressed about it. Well, actually I was getting stressed about watching dd try to keep up.

 

Anyway, do consider talking to the teacher.

 

(It helped that I talked to piano teacher while we were shopping for yarn one Saturday, just hanging around together.)

[Heather in the Kootenays]

It made such a huge difference. He relaxed, enjoyed playing and made so much more progress than with the other teacher.

 

Of course, it will vary from student to student but I'd ask the one you like better if she can find a better slot for you.

[Mom-ninja.]

Thanks everyone for your input. It was not easy to come to a decision.

 

I'm going to stay with Beth, the more serious one, and see how it goes. I told Becky that if things don't work out with Beth, I'd call her and have her put us on her waiting list.

 

So far ds has kept up with the work and it'll be intersting to see if he gets further this way. He's already memorized two songs which I didn't think he'd do as he has a hard time memorizing his poems I give him.

 

Plus, a *huge* plus is the fact that DH can take him to lessons while I stay home with the youngers.

 

We can always change things around if we need to.

[magistramom]

I'd go with Becky. Get the basics down. Spend the time with your 4 yo - get her excited about lessons as well. If you choose Becky or Beth - just make sure that they allow time for your student to practice songs of HIS/HER choice and not just be limited to the progression of books in one series. A good teacher will let a student plunk out STAR WARS or HSM songs along with technical work.

 

We've run into piano competitions that are more of an ego builder for the teacher (and for some parents, more than their child). Some competitions end up being more between the teachers and are used to build up piano businesses rather than truly be used as an outlet to help a student progress. Competitions can build confidence in the student, or stress them beyond what is necessary. Before the pre-teen years, and especially before Level 5 in most series, I'd observe one before I would enter my child...

[magistramom]

Oops. I came in after your decision. I'm glad that you are at peace!!!!

[Mom-ninja.]

I'd go with Becky. Get the basics down. Spend the time with your 4 yo - get her excited about lessons as well. If you choose Becky or Beth - just make sure that they allow time for your student to practice songs of HIS/HER choice and not just be limited to the progression of books in one series. A good teacher will let a student plunk out STAR WARS or HSM songs along with technical work.

 

We've run into piano competitions that are more of an ego builder for the teacher (and for some parents, more than their child). Some competitions end up being more between the teachers and are used to build up piano businesses rather than truly be used as an outlet to help a student progress. Competitions can build confidence in the student, or stress them beyond what is necessary. Before the pre-teen years, and especially before Level 5 in most series, I'd observe one before I would enter my child...

 

Very good suggestion to observe a competition first. I hadn't thought of that. Thanks!

[alpidarkomama]

I've been a piano teacher for 20 years... :) Definitely go with the one that your son is happiest with. In the earliest years, that nurturing relationship is crucial to developing a love of music. Whether he starts contests now or when he's 10 (or never, if his personality isn't suited to it) will make NO difference in the long run. A teacher that is warm and encouraging will let the music take root and develop deeply in him.

 

I love being a (mostly retired now!) music teacher. I just have a handful of students now after having had 50+ before my oldest was born, but I've had one family for 7 years and another for 10 years. It's a unique relationship because I've been able to watch them develop into wonderful teenagers instead of working with them for just a year and watching them move on to another teacher. There is nothing like it. Except teaching my own kids!!!!! :)