A friend of mine's son has been having piano lessons for 18 months with a local teacher. This teacher is very good and has got him up to a reasonable standard in that time. The son enjoys going to the teacher and looks forward to his regular lessons.

The problem is, the teacher is now cancelling ALL teaching on that particular day of the week because they have been messed around so much by parents/pupils who miss lessons, cancel at short notice, pull their children out etc. The teacher is now left with an unsustainable number of regulars on that day and has had to take a job with a music service instead which means they can no longer teach privately on that day.

This teacher has no free slots on the other days when they teach privately so my friend's son now has to miss out because of the selfish attitude of other parents and pupils.

It is very frustrating for all concerned and the teacher was naturally very upset that they have to let an enthustiastic, able child go because of the situation they have found themselves in.

I wanted to post this experience to show that there can be a knock-on effect from the actions of selfish parents and pupils. We hear a lot about how it affects the teachers, but in this case it has affected able and enthustiastic kids as well.

Grrrr...........

Oh no, what a shame for the boy. I hope he manages to find another teacher who can keep up the good work with him. If he is truly enthusiastic about playing, a change of teacher shouldn't derail him too badly.

If ever there was a case for charging in advance for the term....

How sad for this child. Is there no way he can continue through the music sevice?

with the same teacher? they are working in a completely different area now on this day in question - i guess in the current clime you have to go where the work is..

of course there are other teachers locally but given it was all working out so beautifully with this teacher, it is a real pity

I know it's easy to say - and I don't know the teacher's circumstances, of course - but I think I would have slotted him in somehow! What a shame to lose such a promising student. And for him to lose his teacher

Because of the school day, there are only a finite set of slots he could do on either of the two days the teacher does private practice - he is fairly young so having a lesson at 8pm, for example, is not an option...

seems like the solution is get another teacher. There are lots of very good music teachers available.

I had this problem recently. My teacher moved to the other side of the city, in this case London. Insetad of finding a new teacher, very easy as there is one at school I could have gone to, I spend the extra time to get to his new flat for lessons as he is such a good teacher.

I tend to agree with Jenny and with Violin Hero: where there's a will there's a way. In the case of a very promising student, it's usually possible to slot him - her in somewhere. Instrumental tuition is one of those things which really does depend a great deal on the teacher. In my early forties I had to change teacher because I simply didn't click with the very highly qualified guy who had been recommended to me. I never felt comfortable with him, but changed to an older lady who was exactly on my wavelength, thought like I did and after she got me through my ATCL, I was very happy to take advice from her for my own teaching on repertoire, methods etc for each grade.

If that is true of a middle aged person, how much more so does it apply to a young person who's just beginning? The transition can be devastating from a gifted teacher who's interested in the person and loves music and has a desire to communicate that love to the pupil. Especially if the next teacher, how ever gifted, is not a people person and for whom the whole thing is just a job.

Naturally, from the teacher's perspective it's a business and has to be accepted as such. However, though I don't operate a policy of charging termly in advance myself, being someone who does piano tuition part-time and on the side, it is indeed a valid suggestion if scenarios like the one mentioned are to be avoided.

LR

Sometimes it just can't be done, Lone Ranger! Once or twice I have asked an older student to move to a later time to make space for a younger one (although only when absolutely necessary) but when you're full, you're full. I hate saying no to people wanting lessons, but have reached this stage for the present. I have other commitments apart from teaching, and I need to have some private life too.

But this situation is very sad, and I hope that any parents reading this thread who have a tendency to cancel (and it's always the same ones) will take note and realise that their actions impact on other people.

Do you seriously think the parents reading this thread are the type to cancel lessons on a whim?