Thinking of changing piano teacher.

[Vicky13]

Has anyone out there changed teacher because of not being happy with current one?

10yo dd has been learning for nearly 3 yrs and she has done grades 1 & 2 with comfortable passes. Neither of us were asked if she wanted to do grades, and I'd have preferred her not to, but she seems happy to do them, so I haven't refused. My concern is that the first lesson after her G2 recently she was given (ie sold) all the G3 books and started learning the 3 pieces. She had been learning the G2 pieces since last October, and will aim to take G3 next December. That means that for 14 months she will only learn 6 pieces of music (plus scales & sightreading). She hasn't played anything else at all.

Do other teachers let their pupils learn some other tunes in between grades? Is it normal to be so grade focused? I appreciate some parents like their children to race through the grades but I certainly don't and I've never given that impression. I can't help feeling that she's not really learning to enjoy playing, she's just on a grades treadmill.

I'd be interested in other parents' views on this.

Vicky

Lazy teaching imo.

I like the "up-Grade" series of books for additional tunes.
I would take her to a music shop and let her pick some pop music, or whatever she fancies. There's loads of easy stuff out there.
Sounds like she's doing well though.
She should be able to play through the up-grade books 0-1, and 1-2 herself.

Will she have lessons over the summer holidays? If not, why not just let her do 'free practice' - lots of sight reading and some fun books over summer? I love the UpGrade books that 1805 mentions.

ds2 has always had "fun books" alongside whatever he's working on. He did gr4 just 2 terms after gr2 - distinctions for both - but I felt a bit like you about the exam treadmill. So I asked his teacher to suggest some non-ABRSM pieces instead for summer term and he's chosen some jazz repertoire, (alongside the gr5 scales). In September she's going to decide whether he should work towards gr5 or gr6 next.

I would have no problem with doing grades as long as they are happy, and also as long as it is not to the exclusion of other pieces of music! Have you spoken to the teacher? I would change teacher if the teacher is inflexible.

Dd1 generally does an exam in the summer. Spends Winter term doing "fun" pieces of hers and teachers choosing. Then starts gently onto grade pieces in Spring. She'll do still some fun ones and mix with the grade pieces, then in summer will concentrate on her exam ones.

Thanks everyone. You've all confirmed what I was feeling. I don't object to her doing grades while she's enjoying them, but I just don't think she's learning to enjoy playing, and that's what I want her to do. Every other child I know does fun stuff around the grade. Last year she did about 6 weeks of other tunes which although it wasn't much was at least something, but this year there's been nothing at all.

I have tried to encourage her to do some other tunes on her own at home around her other practise, and she is really keen to do it, but she tends to panic and say it looks hard (it isn't - it's a grade 1-2 book) because she just hasn't got the experience of learning a new piece on her own.

I'd quite like her to have a term or two off grades and just get some pleasure from it, and then decide with the teacher if she wants to go back to it. I have tried talking to the teacher but it's always a bit rushed after the lesson so I'm going to phone her this week. If she doesn't agree I think it will be time to go elsewhere.

Doesn't sound like a good teacher to me.. There are lots more to learning piano then doing 3 pieces for each grade.. DS always has 3 - 5 pieces on the go (say 1 might be for the exam) plus a study etc. Imagine someone doing G8 having ever only played 24 pieces in their life ..

There are musicians who only ever play 24 pieces!

My son has a range of levels on the go from grade 2-4. Your child is being taught to pass exams and may not even be grade 2 level. I'd definitely change teache.

What kind of marks does she tend to get in the sight reading part of the exam? If she is put off of new pieces, a lack of sight reading practise may be to blame. I'm not a pianist, but my violin teacher did duets with me at the end of every lesson which I am truly grateful for as it means I never found sight reading hard & could always play with others! ABRSM do accompanying exams now - might they be worth looking at? DH is a fantastic pianist but never passed Grade 8 & I've been trying to convince him to give them a go - they look like fun!