I'm quivering like a jelly at the thought of it!

I'm sure you're not, Suepea! I seem to have now given the impression to certain forum members that I'm a scary person

Ummmm .. I do this too and to be quite truthful I don't realise I'm DOING it until I get a hard stare from my teacher.
I honestly am not intending to be rude - it is just that when she suggests or explains how she wants something to be played my fingers HAVE to do it to understand. It isn't a conscious thing
I'd never intentionally irritate my teacher.

It is the same at the dinner table or in the car (on the dashboard) I'm really completely unaware that I'm tapping out a rhythm until Mum screeches " will you be quiet it's like living with a demented drummer"

Who me
I don't even know I'm doing it ... honestly

I'm a bit late on this, but will add my 2 pennies worth anyway

Sometimes I don't think kids just don't realise it's rude to play while you talk. It's just they haven't learnt that one yet.

So, if it happens when I'm talking, I just put my index finger to my mouth and say Sshh gently. If they carry on, I take their wrists (very gently) and place their hands on their laps. 3rd warning and the piano lid comes down. No harsh talk, no tellings off. Just action to get the appropriate behaviour.

Some kids have a problem listening and for those, I tend to ask questions rather than talk. How can we make this sound more musical? What about the phrasing? Did you put in any dynamics here? Or just "tell me about this piece and how you can make it sound better?"

Is that true? *looks at the trident on his desk* o.o

Well my new pupil is definitely the worst of them all! He just won't stop playing the piano so I can say anything to him and is constantly playing and fiddling about on the instrument throughout his lesson, despite polite requests not to. The only time he does stop is to "tell" me what he thinks he needs to do or know next

So, if anyone has a good cure for a 55 year old Catholic Priest, who won't stop playing the piano in his lessons, please let me know!

Well I was going to say tell him where to go, but this is a special case and I don't think he'd appreciate it very much. A catholic priest with ambition

(only joking by the way - i'd never tell a pupil where to go).

Er . . . no it doesn't. Sorry to disillusion you on that one, but disgusting habit though it is, fair's fair.

Ask him if he listens to confession, or if he just blethers through it . On the other hand perhaps you'd better not....

I thought it did, over a long period of time .

Trust me on this one (although in general you should never trust anyone on the grounds that they tell you to, not even a doctor).

I was a specialist in Upper GI surgery for the first 5 years of my consultant career (before switching to day surgery) and I still do about 1000 (yes, thats 3 0's) endoscopies a year, more or less: I've never seen or heard of a stomach ulcer that was due to chewing gum. I'm not infallible, but . . .

okay

one little boy i teach is a real monkey. he actually stands up and starts fiddling with the piano keys. I have often closed the piano lid or switched off the keyboard. Sometimes "hands on head" works for the worse fidgets.

it is so rude though to start playing when the teacher is talking.