Description your relationship here...

My teacher at school was great- he didn't play clarinet, but he still knew how to get the sound I needed. Very laid back and easy to talk to.

My teacher at uni stresses me out sometimes! Although I have improved a lot since coming here so I can't complain too much!

Get on with my teacher very well. Have a cup of tea, usually a laugh about something, I respect his opinion, he generally respects my judgement provided it's not contrary to his. I only have fortnightly lessons but still feel that I am progressing at a fast rate.

My piano teacher has known me since we were both at sixth-form together. At that time he was my accompanist, a role we are set to reprieve.

As far as the pupil-teacher realtionship goes, we are great friends and I trust his judgement implicitely. I trust him as much as a fine pianist in his own right, if I were teaching him singing, he would also defer to my extra experience. We work well as we are both accomplished musicians who work by batting ideas of each other as well as having someone to correct my bad habits.

All my teachers are good friends and good musicians. What more could I ask for?

Katyjay and I have found that it adds a new dynamic to the relationship when we swap roles half-way through. We behave completely differently depending on who is teacher and who is student.

My clarinet teacher is barking mad, or an eccentric intellectual depending on your point of view...

'Tis a truth universally acknowledged. Depends on how much practice my pupils have done

I suspect the answer to that is "never enough" !

My piano teacher is also a good friend, we've known each other almost 4 years, he's been my teacher for about 1 and half ish? Maybe a little more. He rarely goes "teacher" ish on me but when he does I usually giggle...

My flute teacher (who I must arrange another lesson with... ) is a very talented musician, she can be a bit scary but generally she's very encouraging... she doesn't beat about the bush, she always seems to know what is wrong and how to correct it, and we seem to get on well. I just find she expects an awful lot of me sometimes

My singing teacher I haven't had very many lessons with but thus far we seem to be getting on ok...

Quality is just as important as quantity, mrbouffant

I've been having lessons with my violin teacher for about 10 years now so we get on really well! i get on with my piano teacher too, although she's more "teachery" and fussy. i don't know about my singing teacher-I've only had a couple of lessons. He seems nice though, he's very patient!

My piano teacher (you know who you are ) is very nice and helps me whenever possible.

As for my guitar teacher, he is good at teaching me good techniques, which now I've got the hang of!

Car Expert

I have a good relationship with my teacher, she is encouraging and has helped me so much in the past 2 years! I have become such a better flute player.

I've had two piano teachers.

The first one was fun, vibrant, lively and encouraging, though she still made constructive criticism. She made me try out all different genres of music, and she was always willing to let me try something new. I suppose she was a bit unconventional at places, but I think her personality was the reason why I never had those "OH I want to quit right now" phases at all.

My second piano teacher is much older (nearing her 80s), and perhaps more focused on the technical side than my previous teacher. But I think this was an improvement; now I know my scales inside out. She also likes to go into great depth into something completely off-topic which is always fun She is a good pianist and a lovely 'granny' type lady. I get on very well with her.

My clarinet teacher... I've had two for this too:

The first one was really, really, really nice. She never made me feel small, or ashamed, or bad on the clarinet. I suppose she didn't make as much criticism, but it was fun going to her lessons.

My second one... uh.... she's OK, is all I can say. She has a tendency to play along with me, which REALLY puts me off. I get on with her well enough.

Well me and my piano teacher are more like frineds and what's more she's one of my really good friend's mom. Me and my guitar teacher are also really comfy too. My flute teachers have always been school ones so I've always felt slightyly less comfy but nevertherless I like them.

all my music teachers are completely wacky and adorable! i love being with them, doubt they like being with me though (apart from when i randomly decide to tidy up the music room....) i have chats with my peris, though probably more with my flute teacher than piano teacher, and i chat to my school teachers too (though generally more about music rather than the completely random topics i talk about with my flute teacher!)
hoxie
x

My violin teacher has known my parents longer than I've been alive, and known me for longer than I can remember. I've been learning with him for 8/9 years now. It's a bit strange, I think he knows me quite well but I'm not sure...because we don't chat about non-music stuff very often but then on the odd occasion something will make me wonder how he knew that...

My 1st drum teacher was just cool, an amazing session musician, used to have fights with the stereo, and only ever shouted at me once for not being loud enough But then he left, and my next drum teacher was younger and boring as anything. I quit lessons soon after.

My jazz piano teacher was SCARY. I shouted at me for not practicing even when I had, and when I got 132 in my exam he just said how badly I'd done in my scales! I hated every lesson, but loved playing. On the other hand, he was probably the best musician I've ever known.

Academic teacher - less said the better.

Going from bad to worse. I'm really glad now that I only have her for a couple more weeks and then I'll be off! At least saying goodbye shouldn't be too difficult! I'm sick and tired and have absolutely no motivation to practise anymore. Yesterday was just as bad as the last few weeks. I didn't cry, but almost!
Sorry about that

AN EXTREMELY SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP

I knew my teacher before I started singing lessons. In fact I first approached him for some voice projection techniques, and the singing side developed from that.

I trust him implicitly, I always feel safe with him. I know him to be a man of extreme integrity. Not only that, he knows his onions too. His knowledge of singing and music is ever increasingly evident. I could never envisage "outgrowing" him.

He is both supportive and challenging.

He is professional as well as friendly. Lessons with him are fun, challenging and so very, very interesting.

We share a sense of humour - it's good to have a giggle every so often!

I enjoy him for who he is, not just what he can teach me.

Lucky, aren't I

Amber
x

I don't really get on with my oboe teacher, I find him quite patronising and very rarely is his critisism constructive. However he is the teacher provided through my school and I can't afford to have private lessons outside of school.
I really like my cello teacher though.

My Horn teacher is probably the most teacherish teacher I have, although due to music school we're on first-name terms. We get on well but it is very much teacher-student.

My singing teacher makes me very nervous because I always get the feeling she dislikes me and is watching me. She's a good teacher, though, and she's not a mean person.

My piano teacher is very friendly and we get on well but still definitely a teacher.

My Steel Pan teacher (well...ex-teacher - I used to have lessons but since I can only do 3 instruments I now just see him at the steel band) is a friend. It's hard to see him as anything else - often just drop in on his room before a Horn lesson and have a good chat

Music Teachers: Well I've changed teachers a few times, need a new violin teacher really because me and the one I have been going to just don't "click". Dunno why, he's a great player and teacher but there's no "chemistry" there. I don't really get much out of his lessons. Used to have a fab violin teacher but she moved away . Wish she was still around - I'd have done my Grade 8 by now if I was still with her!!!

Singing/piano teacher is very sweet, very nice to talk to, very supportive of me. She has a gentle approach to singing - prefers pupils to sing softly and sweetly but expressively and in tune rather than "big" and pulsing with vibrato and no voice straining or big operatic whoops - which sort of helps at the moment because I am starting to find out a bit more about my voice without stressing it too much. Have had previous singing teachers who made me feel like pants about myself and my abilities - (one even used to have a go about me as a person!)

Dance teachers - well, mucho respecto for my Guruji (in Indian Culture, Teachers are to be revered! It is customary to touch your Guruji's feet at the end of each lesson and show deference and respect to them, as they are your path to fulfillment) and my ballet teacher has children the same age as me and is very sweet and motherly towards me!

I've only ever had one teacher, so I can't compare her to anyone. The relationship has always been great - encouraging, relaxed, fun and never needlessly critical if I haven't practiced (which is useful at times). And over the last 10 years, it's turned from purely teacher-student to more of a friend's relationship (which I don't always find easy to get with adults). We've had discussions about school choices, subject choices (her son now goes to my school), work, personal issues. And I've been with her from when she was a full-time private teacher until now, where I'm her only student, and she teaches in schools.

I honestly have no idea what's gonna happen after Grade 8 (suppose I'd better start thinking about it) - whether I would still have full-time lessons, whether she'd still want or be able to teach me, what I'd even be working towards as a goal. But whatever happens, I'd hope to keep in touch with her since she's been a constant in my life for so long.

In fact, this post is making me rather nostalgic

What a lovely post, Trebor!
With the pupils who are with me for a long time (I've had quite a few who I've taught for about 12 or 13 years) I really enjoy the way our teacher/pupil relationship changes and develops over the years. It never seems quite the same when the pupil is already at secondary school age when he/she comes to me, somehow, although we all still get on very well. There's just so much shared stuff that can be built up over a span of many years - musical and non-musical - and it's so nice when pupils feel they can talk to you about almost anything!

And I'd urge all you students to keep in touch with your teachers when you have left. We do think of you often, you know, and wonder how you are getting on in the wide world! It's easy to do so nowadays with the occasional email, and it makes us very happy! Some of my ex-pupils are brilliant at keeping in touch, but others seem to vanish completely, which is a shame.

my school music teacher is so nice, he gave me a leave for a 200 miles long journey last time and help me a lot on grade 6 theory in his free time.

my piano teacher and clarinet teacher are amazing.

my flute teacher just can't teach

Ummm, my 4 recorder teachers (1 for large ensemble, small ensemble, theory/aural and technique) are all REALLY friendly and are all very wise and helpful! Can really have a laugh with them

Piano teacher we get along very nicely Share various stories in lessons which are pretty good to listen to e.g. something going wrong in a Grieg Piano Concerto performance or something (think it was a rehersal and she missed the pedal or something)

My ex clarinet teacher is a moron, bigheaded and has low self esteem, can't teach to save his life or play flute yet he's taught Grade 8 flute, DipABRSM sax and teaches nearly every woodwind player in school!!

I have 5 piano teachers

I love my old school teacher who inspired/taught me to sing (my sis loves her, too, though she can't sing at all, my sis) but sadly after I left school, I became a workaholic (used to be very ambitious) and we lost touch. Tried very hard to contact my former school mates back in Malaysia but no one seems to know where she went. I remember her quite a lot and it makes me very sad that I'm so ungrateful. Now I tell my kid who loves her elderly teacher that she must, she must, she simply must, keep in touch with hers, post grade 8. Forgive me if I sound trite but I really mean this - Good teachers are one of life's treasures! They don't just teach you music, they teach you, life.

I have noticed that the people who get on best with there teachers are ones who have private lessons. Do you think this is because you pick them which you don't get to do with a teacher provided by a school or do you think there is another reason?

I didn't pick either of my teachers............

In our daughter's case it wasn't because we pick him since we had only 3 highly recommended ones to go by. One was much too far in terms of distance, one was too fierce and she also said that she didn't like teaching young children (under 9s) so we picked the 3rd partly because he was highly rec and partly bec he likes teaching kids a lot! He happens to be a peri, too. In this case it was because he spent quality time with her. You cannot form a good relationship so easily if you have to rush thr your lesson every time. So those who manage to teach well as a peri in schools and yet, find the time to make the student feel comfortable before and at the end of the lessons, well, what can I say? Amazing!

In my own case, I certainly did not pick my school's singing teacher! She was just great.

my teacher is the most amazing pianist and an even better teacher.
She is very focused on piano and technique and being russian is very serious about piano, but shes been my teacher for nearly 9 years, so we have a laugh and a joke.

I find i get on well with her because the atmosphere is relaxed, she never has to shout or scream to get her point across, and because of the summer piano courses she and her husband, who is also an amazing pianist, do, its a chance to get to know her and her family even better.

My teacher's cool - he's rather old, tells me little tips every lesson - usually the same ones as he told me last week. Sometimes they're not even tips, but things like how he used to play with the school Wind Band....gets quite annoying after a while....oh well!

lol oddball - mine doesnt really do the "when i was playing with...." long stories. she just really focuses on the technical things!

My teacher is amazing, I don't think it would be possible to find a teacher that I'd be happier with. She's an amazing musician but is also brilliant at teaching; she's inspirational and encouraging and I have so much respect for her. If I ever move away from London I'll arrange to travel here specially just so I can keep having lessons with her!

Honestly, if there's anyone in East/Central London looking for an oboe teacher, I can't recommend her enough