If one of your pupils whom you had been teaching for a year and had come to you scraping grade 8 piano, and wasn't a particularly good player, and asked you how long it would take them to be able to become a teacher would you be able to tell them from the year you had spent teaching them how many years it would take them to achieve that?

I don't think I would! It's like asking 'how long is a piece of string', and depends on so many things, not least of all how much work the person was prepared to put in. Scraping the Grade 8 isn't the issue; some like this could be terrible and some could be great. It's how good or bad a player they really were, and whether or not they knew what to do to improve things, because if you don't know what's lacking in yourself, how can you hope to know what's lacking in your pupils? If you're not getting something because your technique is wrong, it would be wrong to teach without at least knowing that your technique is wrong in that area, and that that is why you're not getting the result you want - assuming that you know the musical result that you should be aiming for, and aren't simply in the dark as to why the exam was 'scraped'.

But I don't really think the Grade 8 result is all that important; it's knowing what you're aiming for and how to bring that out in others. And being aware that you'll never stop learning. By the time the first beginner hits about Grade 3 the teacher in question will be many more steps ahead - not necessarily in exam terms, but in real terms.

With any pupil I always say that grade 8 'standard' (not necessarily having the exam) is the bottom rung of the ladder with regards potential to become a good player and/or teacher. I was lucky enough to always have great teachers who made me question how and why I did things - I do the same with students, and more so with the grade 6+ . It's really important that they can explain why things are going wrong, and equally, why things are working well. If they can't articulate these points to themselves they won't be able to help others. Over the years I have coached quite a few teachers - the most frightening was a saxophone teacher who had started to play the flute and wanted to teach it - he couldn't get the hang of tonguing at all, so I asked him what he did on the saxophone - his reply was that he didn't have a clue. My next comment was along the lines of ' well, how do you explain it to pupils?' Reply 'I don't, they just do it'. When you start asking these questions in lessons most 'potential teachers' realise that there is more to it than they thought.

I have to agree here. Grade 8 is definitely the bottom rung of the ladder when it comes to teaching, a good teacher will always want to carry on their personal development by continuing to study afterward, whether that be a Diploma like the DipABRSM Teaching (or even Performance) or a degree or further study.

Everyone makes mistakes when they first start to teach, but it's important I think to consider whether they really want to teach in the first place and how much work it involves. Too many people I know see peri teaching as an easy option... and I know that people on this forum, myself included, will vehmently tell you the complete opposite! It takes a lot of work and dedication, and being open with yourself about what your strengths and weaknesses are. Perhaps you could ask your Grade 8 student to come and watch a few lessons and see what it's like, and go from there? If they really are serious about it....

Thanks everyone for your helpful replies. I spent yesterday considering all the things I would have to do to be a good piano teacher and when I typed it up under projects on my computer it ran to two A4 sheets, double-line spacing. At this moment in time I have far more weaknesses than strengths as far as music is concerned but do have commitment and have some really serious hard work to do. On this project I have put down the dates when I have to achieve most of these things and appreciate that is really is going to take years. Thank you all for helping me to focus.