I was practicing one day at university, when a guy came in, told me I was brilliant but then said, I can play the first movement to the moonlight sonata (I was playing the last movement) but then said he cant read notes.

He then asked if I taught the piano, I said yes and then asked if I could teach him. He has been to teachers before, but then when they said to him, "i dont do exams" he just stopped the lessons. He wants to get some sort of qualification.

I said that I would help him along and that, help him with reading notes and playing and that. However, he wants to get right into grades and that, and I was thinking if he can co-ordinate his hands, and knows the notes on the piano (A-G), what grade should i jump into first with him?

I was thinking of building up his note reading with books that accelerate fast, doing some theory, do scales and all that, and then go into grade 3 or 4 with him after about 6 months-a year, depending how he does. The whole "dont think about exams just yet" is out of the question, because this guy actually wants to do the exams.

What do you think?

If he has never tried to read music before then your thoughts about teaching him to do so make perfect sense. There is far more to learn than pieces of course, as I am sure you know already. He will need to learn to play scales and arpeggios with a good technique, to do the aural tests, and to know about the different styles of playing needed for each piece. These will take time and it will not really be possible to think about exam grades until he has a good grasp of all these things. He may have to learn to be patient!

It would be very easy to discourage a student of this type; he will find the sight-reading, especially, quite demoralising at first. Despite that, if I was his teacher, I'd be very much inclined to launch him into an exam as quickly as possible - remembering that some of the best pianists around are poor sight-readers (comparatively speaking). What about starting him off on Trinity Guildhall, where sight-reading is optional up to Grade 5? I doubt if he will have a problem with scales and aural tests if he plays by ear. If he sticks with you, you can bring the sight-reading up to scratch in its own time, whilst giving him the sense of achievement that comes from passing exams, and allowing him to get credit for his playing. I have said before here that sight-reading in exams in the early grades (in my opinion) can actually be a hindrance to the teaching of reading music. As teacher, you are trying to get students to work out the notes rather than just play any old thing to keep going - and then as an exam approaches you suddenly have to turn all this ****-about-face and tell them that they have to keep going no matter what. With a pupil of this type, I honestly believe that sight-reading is better taught without the constraints of exams until it is well established.

As for what grade to start with - why not Grade 1, and use it as an indicator of how quickly to proceed?

You should definitely use his 'motivation to do exams' as a positive goal. Why not say that both of you will aim for Grade 1 and that you will teach him all the basics - pointing out what is relevant to the exam as you go along so that he stays focused? If you find he picks things up very quickly, then you can say 'perhaps we should skip Grade 1 and aim for grade X instead'.

The danger of setting to high a grade as the first goal can be demoralising for both of you if his progress is not as good as you initially thought it would be...

Hope this helps!