Poor Pupil!, A strange kind of practise.... Options

[amanda41]

One of my very young pupils was playing her first hands together piece today! When she'd finished I asked her "didn't that sound nice?" She said, "it does on this piano, but it all sounds the same on my keyboard!"

When I asked what she meant, it turned out that something had gone wrong with the keyboard she practises on, so that every key is now tuned to the same pitch (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

The poor soul had been practising on it all week! Imagine how her scales must have sounded?! I was very impressed with her that she had still played it despite the monotonous sound, and even though she only got to hear the melody of her tunes when she played them today!

Thankfully she is getting a new instrument soon!

xxxx

[sbhoa]

I wonder whether this situation is more common with children learning piano.
Are there any other instruments where it is fairly common for parents to expect their children to decide whether they like playing before they get an instrument or to manage for a long time on an instrument that is no longer suitable (when the keyboard is broken or no longer has enough notes)?

[sneekymum]

It's probably better than the opposite effect

- I spent the 1970s learning the electric organ (against my wishes) because we already had one.

[amanda41]

I wonder whether this situation is more common with children learning piano.
Are there any other instruments where it is fairly common for parents to expect their children to decide whether they like playing before they get an instrument or to manage for a long time on an instrument that is no longer suitable (when the keyboard is broken or no longer has enough notes)?

It possibly is more common with the piano. If they don't own one to begin with, it's a major purchase and frequently finding room in the house for one is also an issue.

Our family has always had a piano in the house, so naturally I prefer and am used to a real piano. It used to be more common for people to own pianos, even if they didn't play them, but not as common now. A few of my pupils use digital pianos. Obviously I prefer an acoustic above anything, but I don't have any complaints about the pupils' progress on the digitals, and they are still on the lower grades, so I'm happy enough.

Even the pupils who practise on (and like) the digitals admit that the sound my piano produces is so much different from the sound their's does - even though they can't quite put their finger on it - it shows they are aurally aware!

xxxxx

It's probably better than the opposite effect

- I spent the 1970s learning the electric organ (against my wishes) because we already had one.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Poor you! I see you've kept up playing the piano though, so some good has come out of it in the end!

xxx

[Susie]

I think it is more common with the piano, and I find that it's the pupils who have lessons in school who tend not to have pianos. In the past, we've assumed that the family has a piano, or at least a large keyboard or electric piano, until we found that someone was learning to play on one of those tiny toy keyboards.

Now the head of music checks firmly that there's a suitable instrument at home, and believe it or not, one parent actually said that they wanted to see how the child progressed before getting an instrument!!!! Parents would not have dreamt of saying that if child had been going to learn the clarinet or violin. And there are piano suppliers round here who will rent out pianos too.

[sneekymum]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Poor you! I see you've kept up playing the piano though, so some good has come out of it in the end!

and I know all my chords (though I loath the sound of electric organs now)

[andante_in_c]

Now the head of music checks firmly that there's a suitable instrument at home, and believe it or not, one parent actually said that they wanted to see how the child progressed before getting an instrument!!!! Parents would not have dreamt of saying that if child had been going to learn the clarinet or violin.

I'm not so sure about that. I've met several families who have expected their child to learn on a flute that belonged to one of the parents when they were younger, in one case with so many leaky pads the teacher couldn't get more than two notes out of it, with the attitude 'If it was good enough for me, it's good enough for her'.

Others buy the cheapest instrument possible, which easily goes out of adjustment. They won't countenance parting with the £300-400 necessary for a decent student instrument until the child has proved her worth.

[oboist]

Now the head of music checks firmly that there's a suitable instrument at home, and believe it or not, one parent actually said that they wanted to see how the child progressed before getting an instrument!!!! Parents would not have dreamt of saying that if child had been going to learn the clarinet or violin.

I'm not so sure about that. I've met several families who have expected their child to learn on a flute that belonged to one of the parents when they were younger, in one case with so many leaky pads the teacher couldn't get more than two notes out of it, with the attitude 'If it was good enough for me, it's good enough for her'.

Others buy the cheapest instrument possible, which easily goes out of adjustment. They won't countenance parting with the £300-400 necessary for a decent student instrument until the child has proved her worth.

Yes, I've had that with the oboe - parents pick up a very cheap instrument from somewhere or have one in the cupboard that belonged to an aunt which just doesn't work well, even if they agreed to spend some money on getting it serviced (and often they won't do that either!). They expect their child (who's going to find oboe hard enough going in the early days anyway) to become a miraculous overnight sensation on this battered wreck before they'll consider upgrading to something that makes a reliable sound. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mad.gif)

My usual experience with pianists is that most are using keyboards at home. These vary from quite respectable instruments with sustain pedal and reasonable range (and for early days I regard them as satisfactory, though clearly not idea) through to "toy town" mini-sized keys instruments with barely two octave range. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif)

Just occasionally you get some real surprises. A piano pupil of mine is preparing for Grade 5 and doing the jazz piece from Spectrum which absolutely must have pedal. She has a large keyboard at home but without a sustain pedal on it. She's nearly 18 (so not a child anymore) and her parents are professional musicians (though not pianists) but will they equip this keyboard with a pedal? No. It would cost them about £14-20 to do so.

Therefore said pupil rehearses this jazz piece at her school on the battered piano there but, over the summer, has not had access to same and will therefore have worked without it. I did consider changing the piece when I found out but she loves it so much and has done a lot of good work on it already, so that seemed a shame. I offered her the use of my piano over the holiday period if she wanted to book some time on it - she hasn't appeared at all. I don't like to think what will have happened when we resume next week. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

It does still amaze me what parents are prepared to consider workable for their children's tuition but I am increasingly firm with them - no suitable instrument, no lessons. It may cost me a few potential pupils but it also saves me a lot of stress. I'd like to think it enourages them to think seriously about an instrument but I suspect, in reality, they just trog off to a teacher who is more accommodating! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

Happy teaching all!

Oboist

[oboist]

Now the head of music checks firmly that there's a suitable instrument at home, and believe it or not, one parent actually said that they wanted to see how the child progressed before getting an instrument!!!! Parents would not have dreamt of saying that if child had been going to learn the clarinet or violin.

I'm not so sure about that. I've met several families who have expected their child to learn on a flute that belonged to one of the parents when they were younger, in one case with so many leaky pads the teacher couldn't get more than two notes out of it, with the attitude 'If it was good enough for me, it's good enough for her'.

Others buy the cheapest instrument possible, which easily goes out of adjustment. They won't countenance parting with the £300-400 necessary for a decent student instrument until the child has proved her worth.

Yes, I've had that with the oboe - parents pick up a very cheap instrument from somewhere or have one in the cupboard that belonged to an aunt which just doesn't work well, even if they agreed to spend some money on getting it serviced (and often they won't do that either!). They expect their child (who's going to find oboe hard enough going in the early days anyway) to become a miraculous overnight sensation on this battered wreck before they'll consider upgrading to something that makes a reliable sound. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mad.gif)

My usual experience with pianists is that most are using keyboards at home. These vary from quite respectable instruments with sustain pedal and reasonable range (and for early days I regard them as satisfactory, though clearly not idea) through to "toy town" mini-sized keys instruments with barely two octave range. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif)

Just occasionally you get some real surprises. A piano pupil of mine is preparing for Grade 5 and doing the jazz piece from Spectrum which absolutely must have pedal. She has a large keyboard at home but without a sustain pedal on it. She's nearly 18 (so not a child anymore) and her parents are professional musicians (though not pianists) but will they equip this keyboard with a pedal? No. It would cost them about £14-20 to do so.

Therefore said pupil rehearses this jazz piece at her school on the battered piano there but, over the summer, has not had access to same and will therefore have worked without it. I did consider changing the piece when I found out but she loves it so much and has done a lot of good work on it already, so that seemed a shame. I offered her the use of my piano over the holiday period if she wanted to book some time on it - she hasn't appeared at all. I don't like to think what will have happened when we resume next week. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

It does still amaze me what parents are prepared to consider workable for their children's tuition but I am increasingly firm with them - no suitable instrument, no lessons. It may cost me a few potential pupils but it also saves me a lot of stress. I'd like to think it enourages them to think seriously about an instrument but I suspect, in reality, they just trog off to a teacher who is more accommodating! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

Happy teaching all!

Oboist

[angie]

Reading all these stories makes my blood boil (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mad.gif) And brings to mind my own story.

I wanted a flute at around the age of 12, and my mother wouldn't get me anything as expensive as that on one of my "whims" ........... but she would however, buy me a piano and i could have piano lessons !!!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif) - I knew i wasn't a piano player at heart, i felt to be most definately a woodwind player (i think you know by instinct - don't you ?) So i more or less told her to forget it. I waited until i was 24 to buy my own flute, did all my grades by the time i was 28 (with no other musical training whatsoever) and now teach full time.

My first flute teacher when i was 24 couldn't believe i had never taken flute or recorder lessons previously, and muttered something about if i'd have had the flute when i was 12 i would have been a prodigy (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif) but now i was too old for that !!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

oh well

angie xx
p.s. - i'm now 44 and tend to buy my daughter anything she wants lololololololololol

[Alison]

I wonder whether this situation is more common with children learning piano.
Are there any other instruments where it is fairly common for parents to expect their children to decide whether they like playing before they get an instrument or to manage for a long time on an instrument that is no longer suitable (when the keyboard is broken or no longer has enough notes)?

Many recorder pupils are expected to learn on toy recorders which are out of tune and have a horrible tone. Fortunately a decent recorder only costs £10 so I can persuade most of them to upgrade - but some won't...

[willobie]

Just occasionally you get some real surprises. A piano pupil of mine is preparing for Grade 5 and doing the jazz piece from Spectrum which absolutely must have pedal. She has a large keyboard at home but without a sustain pedal on it. She's nearly 18 (so not a child anymore) and her parents are professional musicians (though not pianists) but will they equip this keyboard with a pedal? No. It would cost them about £14-20 to do so.

Therefore said pupil rehearses this jazz piece at her school on the battered piano there but, over the summer, has not had access to same and will therefore have worked without it. I did consider changing the piece when I found out but she loves it so much and has done a lot of good work on it already, so that seemed a shame. I offered her the use of my piano over the holiday period if she wanted to book some time on it - she hasn't appeared at all. I don't like to think what will have happened when we resume next week. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

It does still amaze me what parents are prepared to consider workable for their children's tuition but I am increasingly firm with them - no suitable instrument, no lessons. It may cost me a few potential pupils but it also saves me a lot of stress. I'd like to think it enourages them to think seriously about an instrument but I suspect, in reality, they just trog off to a teacher who is more accommodating! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

I learned piano for 2 years without any keyboard instrument at home at all. I needed to get from scratch up to Grade 6 in 2 and a half years for college applications but we couldn't afford an instrument. I practised at school as much as I could (but was also trying to prepare for Grade 8 violin and wasn't allowed to practise at home) but could do nothing at weekends or during the holidays. Fortunately I was able to get hold of an ancient old wreck about two weeks before my Grade 5 but if my piano teacher had insisted that I had an instrument I'd have been completely stuck... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)
W

[sarah-flute]

When I asked what she meant, it turned out that something had gone wrong with the keyboard she practises on, so that every key is now tuned to the same pitch (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

The poor soul had been practising on it all week! Imagine how her scales must have sounded?! I was very impressed with her that she had still played it despite the monotonous sound, and even though she only got to hear the melody of her tunes when she played them today!

Wow, now that's dedication!!

Willobie: I expect that most teachers with any sense would have sympathy in a situation like that, even if they wouldn't be 100% happy about it.

[sbhoa]

I learned piano for 2 years without any keyboard instrument at home at all. I needed to get from scratch up to Grade 6 in 2 and a half years for college applications but we couldn't afford an instrument. I practised at school as much as I could (but was also trying to prepare for Grade 8 violin and wasn't allowed to practise at home) but could do nothing at weekends or during the holidays. Fortunately I was able to get hold of an ancient old wreck about two weeks before my Grade 5 but if my piano teacher had insisted that I had an instrument I'd have been completely stuck... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)
W

At least you had access to an instrument and used it when you were able.
I didn't have my own piano when I started but was able to practice in church. I went in most days.

Not so good when you do as my god daughter did. She had a 4 octave keyboard but was able to come to my house to use the piano every day. After a while she just didn't bother at all..... didn't come to my house and didn't practice at home (her music was quite often at mine).

Her teacher (same teacher as I had) said he would have been a bit more pressing about the need for a piano at home if she actually showed any interest in playing.

I heard her gramndmother telling someone how well her teacher thought she was doing...... this was the same week he'd said to me 'I don't know what her mother is thinking of...'

[Dulciana]

Parents need educated.