Two instruments with school music teachers: too many lessons out of class?

[Pip290]

DD currently plays the piano and will be taking up a second instrument next year. The visiting music teachers at school are very good, and it would be difficult to find an equivalent calibre of teacher outside school in the area.

My question is about time out of lessons. Is doing two instruments in school too much? Should I be looking to have lessons in one of these instruments outside school, even if it comes at the expense of musical expertise?

The teacher who would teach her a second instrument next year is widely regarded as being exceptionally good (although I’m sure there are other outstanding teachers I do not know where to find them), as they are also Head of Strings at the top musical secondary within an hour of where we are. They have also played in many of the top orchestras and continue to teach at various top youth orchestras. They are also nice, which is a pretty hard to beat combination. Her piano teacher is very good and very lovely too, but it might be easier to find equivalent expertise elsewhere. DD loves her piano teacher though and has made good progress.

Logistically in school for both is obviously easier too! I am a glorified taxi already for different ages going in different directions .

If I were to move one of these outside of school which one?

I think it depends entirely on how she is doing academically…as a teacher I had some kids who missed lessons 2 or even 3 times a week for music and I didn’t mind as they came back in slotted in to the lesson and cracked on. Others who really, really needed steady maths and English teaching, missing even 20 minutes was a complete pain for both them and me.

@modgepodge thats a good point. In
Maths she is very far ahead so it wouldn’t impact her at all. English is would not be ideal though as she is much more middling and clearly benefits from being in the lessons. I will ask if it’s feasible to avoid English lessons.

I think it depends on how studious and self-motivated she is, and whether she can crack on with her work when she comes back into the lesson without needing much teacher input.
You’ve said she is well ahead in maths so maybe she could have her music sessions then? I know at my school the peripatetic teachers tend to have their students on a rotation rather than a a fixed time, so that they don’t always miss the same lesson. It might be worth having a chat with whoever organises music lessons to see what’s actually possible.

It also depends on the type of school it is a at DS’s secondary, a huge chunk of kids have a lesson and many have two or three instruments so it becomes normalised. At parents evening the subject teachers mention it but not in a bad way at all.

If you did decide to drop one at school I think you are right that piano would be easier to find elsewhere.