Son losing motivation. Do we need a new teacher?

[Mumof2andaZoo]

My son has been with his piano teacher since he was 5 (11 now). He passed grade 1 piano with a distinction 2 years ago. He also does singing with the same teacher and has got distinctions at grades 2 and 3 in the meantime. After grade 1 DS worked through several grade 2 piano pieces, but because of timing, we all decided to skip the exam and move towards grade 3. The teacher got in touch with me in January to say he was concerned at the lack of practice and progress. He wanted DS to sit the exam this spring session but he wasn't ready. DS has a practice book, so what he needs to concentrate on is written down for him.

DS is still not really practising. His school teachers always tell me how talented he is so it's really frustrating. Another mother at school has given me the number of another teacher and a few people have told me that this teacher is really good and gets them through the grades really quickly. A few people have commented that after this amount of time he should be much higher than grade 3.

I'm not musical at all, so was just wondering what others with more experience thought. Would a new teacher help? DS says he doesn't want to change teachers or stop lessons and as he's like an only child (sister is in her twenties) and it's the only activity he does I don't want him to stop.

Any advice would be appreciated.

I'm a bit stricter than you are - if there is a suitable music group or choir the DCs go to it! They enjoy it while they're there, but before going would sometimes rather be having a lie-in or watching a dvd!

Mine are like that! Sometimes they have to be coaxed away from a screen but always come back buzzing from music groups!
Sorry OP, I realize ABRSM was a red herring with the piano exam! But exams may still be part of the problem. Chat with the teacher and see what your instincts tell you. In any case, it's quite common for children to change music teachers when they finish primary school so if you do decide to make a move, next September might be good timing for a fresh start.
It's great that he does group musical activities as well, with the singing and violin playing, as piano is a solitary instrument and you don't get the benefits of ensemble playing!

NB with (not piano) instrumental playing (and to some degree singing) children can also do holiday courses, residential and (if you're lucky) non-residential. They absolutely love these.

Chethams does a summer course for pianists, including under 18s - lots of availability for interaction with other pianists. I'm sure there will be others as well.

Piano is not just a solo instrument. If you're a violinist, or a singer, or a flute player, who do you look to provide the accompaniment? Oh, a pianist. Can your son begin to accompany any of his violin teacher's junior pupils or with any other singing students? Most grade 1 pieces have very simple accompaniments so within his abillity and it's a really useful skill to have. I teach 2 instruments and I get my piano students (grade 3 upwards) to accompany my beginners on flute.

Agree with claraschu 100%- try a new teacher, it can make all the difference.
And I totally agree that he could be grade 3 or higher by now (I would expect not less than 5 tbh) I cannot see how the amount of time spent on grade 1 can be justified taking into account feedback from other teachers. It seems like there is a problem with this teacher. No surprise he is bored. It looks like he is not challenged enough.

Worried- thanks for picking up on what I said (and for agreeing with me).

OP, you started out thinking a new teacher might help, and I just want to repeat myself and say that a new teacher can make a HUGE difference. This doesn't even mean there is something wrong with the old teacher, just that a new perspective can be very inspiring and motivating for a child.

I don't know if this is any help ... -- for preventing boredom with practice.... these things worked for mine:

a list of clear goals when child leaves the lesson -

for example: play bar 5 3x/day -- (and WHY that bar(s) needs repetition (what is the child meant to accomplish - correct rhythm, notes, dynamics, phrasing etc)

practice charts (with clear goals, number of repetitions required) are good

not too long on one piece - max 3 - 4 weeks. Move on even if the piece is not perfect - otherwise ..boredom sets in

charts are good for learning scales/arpeggios for exams

child 'controls' of their practice time - ask him - 'how long do you want to practice - 3 min - 7 min?' give them a timer and INSIST that he stops when the time is up. he will be probably be surprised by how quickly the time goes by and want to do more.

Maybe structure the practice time.... (again - use a timer - for example -- .. 5 min on piece A, 7 min on piece B, 4 min on piece C .. & thats 14 min practice already ... nevermind the scales! (another 6 min)

children (and adults... like me!) have short attention spans .. one rule (that I heard) for kids is practice time = age of child (in minutes) + 2. For your son - this means 13 minutes - no more.

lastly - sit with him and listen when he practices .. this lets him know that you think practice is important! even just 2 minutes is meaningful!

maybe these things might help your son be more motivated? my own dc did grade 5 piano on just 20 min/day .. age 10 ..I say this only to emphasise that it's possible to do very little practice (but highly concentrated) and do well. As for grades... they might mean a lot when your child is younger but once they leave school - nobody really seems to ask... although actually - Grades 6,7,8 yes - they are theoretically useful in terms of UCAS points .... but this is an expensive and time consuming way to get UCAS points unless you are really into doing exams