I am an adult who really wants to have piano lessons but cannot afford them. I could do with proper guidance and correction as needed. I passed my grade 5 at the age of 19 and am now aged 48. I have played on and off over the years but have always loved it. I do practice generally daily with a strong emphasis on improving my sight reading skills. (OMG, daily practice at this really DOES help you improve!!)

In terms of lessons though, my 2 daughters are the priority now and I feel I need to invest in them.

Whilst its my joy to do this, it is incredibly frustrating!! I am married and our income is okay but in these tough economic times, weekly lessons are out of the question for me.

I am however considering having monthly lessons.

Teachers and other adult learners out there, do you think this could work?

Yes it could work. Personally I would find it difficult and frustrating but there are lots of people who do manage to get on ok with it.
I too had a time when I prioritised paying for my daughters' lessons over my own but neither of them kept on playing.

Thanks for your response. I am hoping my daughters will continue. I keep telling them that they'll thank me when they're older.....

From a teacher's point of view, I'm concerned with meeting people where they are - some people can afford weekly lessons, and other people can't - that's fine. Monthly lessons can work very well so long as you can keep focussed and motivated during the time between lessons. Personally, I'd probably suggest a quick e-mail correspondance two weeks in to check how things are going and to offer any advice etc. 'en route' to the next lesson.

I'm an adult learner and if I was going to have lessons, they'd be monthly. I just can't squeeze in a weekly lesson + a day job. Already I'm not having lessons because I don't even think I can squeeze in a monthly lesson without either messing the teacher about or messing my job about..

I started having recorder lessons a bit less than a year ago and I have them every two or three weeks, although there's sometimes a longer gap, because they have to fit around work and a horrendous commute. Usually this works well, but if I've been working on something for a while I do feel the need for my teacher's input and start to worry that I might be going in the wrong direction.

I know there would be no point in having weekly lessons because that wouldn't give me enough time to practise what was brought out in the last lesson before I have the next one. So, I wouldn't worry too much about not having weekly lessons.

Yes monthly lessons can work well because it gives you time to practise sufficiently between lessons, particularly at the higher grades.

Thank you for this. Although I passed my Grade 5 theory in 2007, I am not planning to take the higher grades. This is mainly because I play in church, largely by ear but as mentioned earlier, seeking to improve my sight reading skills. I do however have pieces of music which I have purchased or downloaded from the internet which I would dearly love to play properly despite teaching myself. One of these pieces is by Enaudi and its called 'Le Onde'. I also want to learn to play 'I Giorni', another Enaudi piece.

in short YES!
Once a month lessons is better than none, and will help a lot. You must already have some idea as passed grade 5. I find you can achieve quite a lot in a one lesson.

I achieved Grade 5 too, in the dim and distant past, and used Einaudi to get back into playing. With respect, I think that you will find Le Onde a bit easy for you. Don't know about "I Giorni". I did "Questa Notte", which has more oomph than Le Onde, and also "Passagio", which is nice and tuneful too. They are both out if the "Le Onde " book.

I don't have weekly lessons and normally it's OK, but sometimes when I go, my teacher suggests an alternative way of playing something, which means I've got to unlearn what I've been practising and re-learn it in a different way. This is a bit dismal at first, and it's one of the downsides of not having weekly lessons, but it's my choice not to have weekly lessons so I've just got to get on with it. Apart from this downside, not having weekly lessons works well for me.

Thanks. I agree that Le Onde is not particularly challenging, bit its such a lovely piece, which switched me onto Enaudi. I will bear in mind your other suggestions though..




Thanks. Its useful to consider the disadvantages of monthly lessons as well as the benefits..



Thanks. Its useful to consider the disadvantages of monthly lessons as well as the benefits..



Thanks. Its useful to consider the disadvantages of monthly lessons as well as the benefits..

My OH teaches me but I am wondering if a monthly lesson with a specialist may help me too with my piano playing?

Well my first lesson is on Thursday and I am looking forward to it..

Great news.

This is the main reason that I didn't have weekly piano lessons whilst also working full time. I found it really frustrating to go to a lesson when I hadn't yet been able to implement all that I had been taught in the previous lesson.

I think that once a month would have been too long for me. Old pieces would have become stale, and I would have gone off and started working on new pieces which might not have met my technical needs. Fortnightly lessons worked well.

Well, costs are a factor for me which is mainly why I am going for monthly lessons but also it should give me plenty of practice time but we'll see!!