Piano Lessons

[rainbowmama]

If your tween has played piano for several years casually (practices every day but it's not a main interest), how long is their lesson?

 

We recently switched piano teachers, and again, this new teacher wants my kid to take longer lessons. They are expensive. She's not passionate about it. I'm not sure if my expectations around lesson length for this age is off.

 

So, how long is your intermediate tween's lesson?

[Julie Smith]

My kids have about 30 minute lessons. Sometimes the teacher goes over 30 minutes with Eldest, but it depends on their mood. My boys are her only day time students so she doesn't ever have another student waiting. 

 

If you follow the RCM levels then Eldest (13 years old) is studying grade 5 level music, and Youngest (Newly 12 years old) is studying grade 2. 

[craftymama]

My tween's lesson is 45 minutes.  Always has been.  Every time a new teacher tried 30 minutes it took exactly one lesson to go back to 45.  My tween started with his new teacher about three months ago.  He is starting to complain that 45 minutes is not enough time so I suspect we may be moving to an hour soon.

[HSmomof2]

When I was a tween/teen, and intermediate/advanced student, my lessons increased to 45 minutes. Beginner lessons were .usually 30 min.

[catz]

My kid has taken piano for 11+ years.  He started at 30 minutes at age 5.   At about age 9, he moved to a 45 minute lesson.  About age 13 he moved to a 60 minute lesson.  So I don't think it's unreasonable.  It's hard to work on longer or multiple pieces in a 30 minute lesson.

[SKL]

What about having a longer lesson but every other week?

[Amy in NH]

My intermediate tween pianist lesson's are supposedly 30 minutes, but end up more like 45 which is really what she needs.

[Alicia64]

My non-passionate piano player has been taking lessons for five years and they're 30 mins. each.

 

I once saw the most beautiful performance at my friend's church by a pianist.

 

After, I asked her, "Where does he work?" Assuming that he worked in a symphony or something like that.

 

She goes, "At Subway."

 

I was like, :huh:

 

She repeated, "At Subway." As in sandwiches. Couldn't believe it.

 

That's when I realized that my son is taking lessons because a) it's good for the brain and b) he honestly likes learning and loves his piano teacher, but it will never be an all consuming passion.

 

Alley

[Julie Smith]

My non-passionate piano player has been taking lessons for five years and they're 30 mins. each.

 

I once saw the most beautiful performance at my friend's church by a pianist.

 

After, I asked her, "Where does he work?" Assuming that he worked in a symphony or something like that.

 

She goes, "At Subway."

 

I was like, :huh:

 

She repeated, "At Subway." As in sandwiches. Couldn't believe it.

 

That's when I realized that my son is taking lessons because a) it's good for the brain and b) he honestly likes learning and loves his piano teacher, but it will never be an all consuming passion.

 

Alley

 

This is why my boys take lessons. 

 

Learning an instrument has lots of side benefits which I think are very important!

[Miss Tick]

My recreational pianists have always had 30 minute lessons. No one has ever indicated an interest in more time, but no one asks (regularly) to quit either!

[MinivanMom]

In my experience an intermediate tween really needs to move up to a 45 min or 1 hr lesson. The shorter 30 min lessons are fine for beginners, but intermediate and advanced students genuinely need a longer lesson to work through their material.

 

I have a teenage daughter who is an advanced pianist, but it is not her main activity. She plays another instrument that takes up huge amounts of time. When she hit that point as a tween where she needed to move to a longer piano lesson time, she switched to only having lessons every other week. So she moved from a 30 min lesson each week to a 60 min lesson every other week. It took a huge load off for her. She was really needing the longer lesson length, but the weekly lessons were creating a lot of pressure for her - more than I realized at the time - to master new material quickly. A longer lesson every other week has been the perfect solution.

[rainbowmama]

My non-passionate piano player has been taking lessons for five years and they're 30 mins. each.

 

I once saw the most beautiful performance at my friend's church by a pianist.

 

After, I asked her, "Where does he work?" Assuming that he worked in a symphony or something like that.

 

She goes, "At Subway."

 

I was like, :huh:

 

She repeated, "At Subway." As in sandwiches. Couldn't believe it.

 

That's when I realized that my son is taking lessons because a) it's good for the brain and b) he honestly likes learning and loves his piano teacher, but it will never be an all consuming passion.

 

Alley

 

I actually have a different child who has loved, loved, loved playing violin since he was very, very little. After seeing how many of his teachers have masters degrees in music but are now teaching tots to play violin and struggling financially, I definitely hope he doesn't opt to do it professionally. Still, there's something priceless about watching a child play who absolutely loves it...

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

The tween/teen years and intermediate level playing is usually when I suggest a switch to longer lessons for my own students. It really doesn’t have much to do with their level of interest but how long it takes to get through everything. A piece that’s more than a couple pages long is going to take a chunk of time just to play through. Working on sections, doing more than one piece, add in some exercises...it adds up quick.

[StephanieZ]

Lessons generally get longer as the child advances. 

 

My kids' lessons have typically been one hour long when they're 8+ old, but they've been serious about their music. 

 

General rule of thumb is weekly lesson length = length of daily practice (up to an hour). If the kid is practicing an hour a day, then an hour lesson makes sense. If they're still practicing just 30-40 min, then a 30 min lesson should be OK.

 

I always follow the teacher's guidance on these things, though. (But, again, my kids have been very, very serious musicians, so my experience may not generalize.)

 

At the point where the kid is practicing more than an hour per day, lessons can still generally remain at one hour, IME. 

[J-rap]

My kids only ever took 30 minutes lessons, but then we purposely stuck with a teacher who had a more casual approach.  It's what worked for us, and is what our kids wanted too.  If any of them had shown a real passion and interest in being more serious about it, we would have looked for a more serious teacher who had longer lessons.

 

Even the 30 minute lessons though provided a great springboard for many other musical hobbies.

[Zuzu822]

My kids start out at 60 minutes at age 6. They bump to 2 hours around 7-8, but that's half piano and half lab. My oldest (11) spends 75 minutes at the piano now, no lab unless he's recording. His organ lesson is an hour. My 7 and 9 year olds are talented and well-trained, but not highly driven, while the oldest is both very gifted and very motivated. 

Edited December 6, 2017 by Zuzu822

[IsabelC]

If your child were serious about piano, then yes, lesson length should increase as she progresses. However, if your tween is playing as a hobby and not wanting to work towards exams or competitions, it is fine to stay with shorter lessons (and shorter practice sessions at home). You will need to make the situation clear to the teacher, and then it is up to her/him whether that is something they are prepared to work with. There may be some teachers who only want to take on 'serious' students, and of course that is their right. But many teachers will be willing to work with your preferences / requirements as long as these are clearly communicated, and are understanding of students who enjoy piano but don't want to make it their main thing. (It's no different (from the teacher's perspective) from having a student who is learning piano as a third instrument, for example.)  You just have to understand that progress will be slower if it takes three or four lessons to get through everything your daughter is working on. 

Edited December 7, 2017 by IsabelC