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First piano lesson. Didn't really like it. What do you think?

21 replies

ZZZenAgain · 19/03/2012 18:51

Dd had her first piano lesson today. I think it went too fast. Too much too soon but don't know to judge it. Dd was totally zonked afterwards, just went home and to bed and was not happy coming out, had to concentrate very hard and the teacher was quite strict. We met her two days ago and she seemed very relaxed and friendly but the lesson was totally different.

If you know a bit about beginner's piano, could you tell me what you think?

On Saturday she gave dd two pages from book 4 of a series for beginners which consists of 6 books. They are a Japanese series so I don't know the title. She asked dd to do the first 4 tacts. These were right hand 8 x quavers and the left hand holding down 1 note for that time, two tacts like that. Then the other way round 1 note held on the right, 8 x quavers on the left.

In the lesson she had dd play that and the teacher said she was doing great so to go on and play the whole two pages which dd had not practised. This involved then 8 x quavers with the right and consecutively 8 x quavers on the left, 4 tacts like that. Then 2 minims on the right hand with 8 x quavers on the left and v.v., then 4 crotchets with the right, 8 quavers with the left and a more complicated rhythm which I cannot be bothered with explaining for the last two tacts.

Is this not a bit much for someone who has never played the piano before?

Then she gave her two more pages like that each hand doing different rhythms, lots of notes etc Dd was trying to do it but it is a lot when you have never played the piano before, do you agree?

I asked her after the lesson if this was not too difficult for a complete beginner but since dd plays the violin, she does know the violin key and the teacher says she is good and she can do it. Am I right in thinking this is not the way it should be? I'd love some advice. If dd worked very hard, she might manage it all by next week but I don't want it to be like this really. Is this the usual way?

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ZZZenAgain · 19/03/2012 18:52

sorry so waffly.

I just think you need to get acquainted with the instrument. Isn't that right? What is quite confusing still is that the first finger on the piano is the thumb whereas on the violin of course it is the index finger. So when the notes say to play d with the 3rd finger, she automatically plays with the ring finger and not the middle finger IYSWIM.

I just wonder why the big rush and why she couldn't start slow and relaxed with book 1.

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ShellingPeas · 19/03/2012 19:00

My beginners, even when they've played another instrument never start with two hands at the same time. The co-ordination issues are such that it's too much too soon.

Generally at a first lesson I'd have students familiarise themselves with the keyboard, we'd play games finding notes (how quickly you can find all the C's for instance and timing it), picking out rhythms using one finger and rhythm copying games... things like that.

If they're keen, with previous musical knowledge then we'd move on pretty quickly through a first tutor book but you do need to cover the bases first.

Seems a bit extreme to me.

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AChickenCalledKorma · 19/03/2012 19:01

How old is DD? Did the teacher know that she already plays the violin?

It does sound very complicated for a first lesson. DD1's first lesson consisted of finding middle C, finding her way around the keyboard, playing loudly, playing quietly, playing with all five fingers etc. She looked at the music and began to learn to read it. She got as far as a very simple tune, using one hand, staying in the same position on the keyboard.

She didn't do anything with both hands together for a number of weeks.

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ZZZenAgain · 19/03/2012 19:37

she is 11 and the teacher knows that she plays a great deal of violin. Yes, I also thought she would not have to play both hands at once. Not sure what to do since I tentatively asked if it was not too difficult for a beginner and she said, no, dd will learn very fast.

Thing is I don*t care if she learns fast or not, I don't wand it to be stressful and rushed which I think it was. I agree shellingpeas, I would like her to have some time to get the basics. She does know where the keys are on the keyboard and she sight reads very fluentyl anyway since she plays another instrument so it is not entirely the same as when a dc is learning the first instrument and needs to learn about rhythm and so on. She is ablt to read and play without looking, she finds the keys or hears if she misses one. So I suppose the teacher had to start somewhere further than she would with a dc beginning music altogether IYSWIM

Thanks, I think really it isn't the right teacher for dd after all. Such a pity, she was so very enthusiastic.

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ZZZenAgain · 19/03/2012 19:43

even for me, that is a lot of typos. Sorry bit rushed atm.

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ZZZenAgain · 20/03/2012 11:22

just reporting back, slept on it and decided that I also hadn't liked the teacher's manner in the lesson, although she was absolutely lovely when we met her 2 days earlier. After my dd played the homework piece we got on Saturday, she said it went very well and dd started to say something about it, she cut her off : "don't talk, I talk, we don't have much time". I thought it was all a bit stern.

Well I called her and it was an uncomfortable talk but she explained to me that she had been amazed how well dd could play the homework she had given her and had wanted to move her along quickly and she said to me that she had not expected dd to play all the new stuff straight off perfect (in the lesson this was not my impression) but she felt dd would cover it and master it easily in the week. She asked me what she had done wrong (!) and actually she was quite nice about quitting the lessons. I really don't think it was the right type of lesson for dd. Hope I made the right decision. Dd got up at 6 and went straight to the piano - but just to muck around on it.

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AChickenCalledKorma · 20/03/2012 13:35

Well done for biting the bullet.

"Don't talk, I talk" would have definitely been a deal-breaker for me. How rude and old-fashioned.

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RedHelenB · 21/03/2012 20:50

I think it a good thing that she started from your daughters abilities but if she doesn't like her you did the right thing stopping them.

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ZZZenAgain · 22/03/2012 08:28

I thought she went quite far beyond my dd's abilities in that it was too stressful because it was too challenging but I do see your point and I understand that it is much more straight forward to teach a young beginner who starts without any previous knowledge of notation or experience of playing music. I am sure it is much easier to gauge where to start and how much to do in those cases. I think as you said the teaching manner as well didn't fit my dd or my personal ideas.

Well I spoke to the teacher who I originally wanted dd to learn iwth but she is enormously busy. She has 36 pupils at the moment and she does want to fit dd in and may be able to if one girl she has move to another town for job training which she may or may not be doing soon. Otherwise I suppose I will keep looking.

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PushedToTheEdge · 22/03/2012 12:21

Was the teacher an oriental one?

In my experience oriental teachers tend to be more serious whereas Western teachers tend to be more touchy feely. Its just a cultural difference

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vanschuerbeck · 26/04/2012 13:28

Hello,

I was reading your post and that sounded even painful for myself!, I teach piano to many levels and styles and honestly the first approach to learn piano is to make you feel comfortable and familiar with the instrument. You need technique, your fingers haven't experienced this before, so that's the first step together with note recognition which is been able to note exactly where every key is placed on the piano, these steps don't take long but you do need the right person to get you into this, sorry you had an uncomfortable feeling with your piano teacher, make sure you do rhythm exercises with crotchets, minims and semibreves before getting into quavers, that will create a very strong base into your musical journey learning piano, there are many tips to learn fast and in a friendly way, if you are not enjoying it so what's the point? Hope this advise makes you feel better. If you have any questions just e mail me :)

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HeartsTrumpDiamonds · 26/04/2012 13:32

Agree with most posters here!

Learning an instrument needs to be fun and engaging, and OP it sounds like the teacher promoted neither.

Good luck finding a great teacher for DD, who sounds like a natural already!

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PooshTun · 26/04/2012 13:57

My experience is the reverse.

At the age of 10 DS said he wanted to learn to play the piano so we found him a teacher. After a few months it became obvious that the teacher was a 'learning an instrument needs to be fun and engaging' type which is great if that is what your child responds to. Mine doesn't. He just found the lessons so 'childish' - his words.

We switched to a teacher recommended by a friend. Apparently the teacher was a concert level pianist back in Russia. And this shows in the way she teaches. For example, DS is taught to 'perform' a piece as opposed to just playing it.

The fact that you said that "Dd was totally zonked afterwards, just went home and to bed and was not happy coming out" suggest that she needs a 'learning an instrument needs to be fun and engaging' type of teacher.

(I don't know how that translates into someone "who sounds like a natural already!")

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ZZZenAgain · 26/04/2012 19:37

Sorry, I lost track of the thread. THanks for the replies everyone. Well, just to update: I tried a different teacher and she said that she felt the other lesson (the one this OP was about) had been quite mechanical, a bit like a typewriting exercise and not about music. She would do that very differently. And yes, someone asked, that first teacher was Japanese so maybe that is the traditional Japanese school.

Well dd went for a trial lesson which went well and the new teacher said she is very musical, she would whizz through learning the piano so I jumped in and said my piece which is that I am not expecting her to become a concert pianist, she should just take her time with it and I would rather they don't rush it. However my experience with music lessons is this is exactly what always happens for some reason.

Then she had the first proper lesson and the teacher took her 3/4 of the way through the book. The problem is she can do it by concentrating enormously hard on the new stuff because she plays the violin to a pretty good standard already and she is used to hearing the music as she reads which means she always knows (at this level) how it is supposed to sound. So there is some musical background there which makes the understanding straight forward IYSWIM and the mechanics she doesn't have a problem with yet (at this early stage). She does learn piano very fast but I had to speak to the teacher about that. Dd wasn't happy with the pace. She'll do what she is asked to do and concentrate hard and manage it but she doesn't signal: enough I've reached saturation point with new material and it needs to settle a bit. THe teacher said she is very fast and she hadn't wanted her to be bored but she realised after what I had said that she had moved her at an "absurd pace" and she has never done that with a pupil before.

Dd had a second lesson with this teacher today in fact and they did all kinds of boogie woogie improvisations and things like that, it was a mixture of pieces from the book and freer work. Not just more and more notes, more and more rhythms, piece after piece. So that was good. She does like the piano.

Glad your ds found the right approach Ph, thanks everyone for the advice. I did just want a gentler progress in piano. She does an enormous amount of work for violin each week but I don't want the same situation with a second instrument IYSWIM

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ZZZenAgain · 26/04/2012 19:38

OMG so long-winded! Sorry about that.

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pianomama · 27/04/2012 10:43

You know , what you call a "typewriting exercise " actually might be a good thing. And it is about music really - hand/finger action is super-important in producing the right sound. Just the same as bow hold on the violin.It is very boring at the beginning but will pay later.

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ZZZenAgain · 27/04/2012 10:53

I think it was just pages in an exercise book (finger exercises, different rhythms, different notes) as opposed to having any recognisable melody is what the second teacher meant IYSWIM. THe book she uses (Aaron I think?) has recognisable melodies to all the pieces. I think that is the difference she meant

I am not musical myself so maybe I cannot express it very well

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ZZZenAgain · 27/04/2012 10:59

for violin, dd did several books of etudes and those would be IMO the equivalent of finger exercises for the piano, but the violin lessons were never just play one etude after the other IYSWIM. THe studies have always just been something to do alongside other practice, 3-4 a week to train the left hand fingering and the bow movements. The violin lesson was always focused on actual pieces or whatever arose in conjunction with playing those. I thought piano would be similar. Is it very different then?

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pianomama · 27/04/2012 11:40

There are many schools/methods of teaching piano I guess. We always have a study on the go alongside the pieces as well. Just wanted to point out that the typewriting exercises not necessary a bad thing on the first lesson. We had a bad experience with teachers saying how "very good naturally" my DS was whizzing through the pieces and even grades only to find that he had to go right back to basics as he had not been taught any technique at all . I guess a good teacher would incorporate both in their lessons.

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ZZZenAgain · 27/04/2012 11:42

If she perserveres, I suppose I will learn more about it. Good technique is important I agree. I absolutely do not want any whizzing about at all in the beginning but I am becoming a bit resigned to the situation that this is how music lessons go. For now, I think it is ok. She can continue till the summer holidays and see how she feels about continuing in September. IF it is all hugely stressful , I don't mind if she gives it up.

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pianomama · 27/04/2012 12:16

Good luck! At least the practice sounds is not anywhere near as trying as beginners violin :)

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