Beth did her Grade 3 piano exam in the holidays and used the rest of the time to pick a piece from the Grade 4 exam syllabus and taught herself how to play it. She did a good job too.
I told her teacher that she had done this at the beginning of her lesson yesterday and her teacher said she would try and guess which piece Beth had picked.
She started by saying it will have been the C piece, which was correct, and then quickly looked at the C pieces and correctly guessed which one Beth had done, she used her own book because Beth has written on our copy.
I am so impressed.
Beth has only been having lessons with this teacher since September but she has really understood how Beth thinks and works.
She is wonderful. Lessons are really exciting and we get a lot done. In half an hour yesterday they worked on the piece Beth picked, did two new scales, two duets by sight reading, which sounded lovely, and looked at the A pieces.
Dora

It's good to hear there is such a rapport between Beth and her teacher, and that Beth enjoys her lessons so much.

I'm a bit puzzled, though, as to why Beth is immediately starting on the Grade 4 exam pieces without even pausing to draw breath. Is there some sort of time limit to pass Grade 4?

Not by me David.
I am very very lucky with our teachers and I know it.
I have managed to find teachers who inspire and support both my children and I'm hanging on to them. I also do everything I can as a parent to ensure that what goes on at home is as good as possible.
Dora

Did she choose Honky Tonk Piano Rag, by any chance?

This was not mine or Beth's teacher's idea!!!
My son did his Grade 3 in November and has been working on Grade 1/Grade 2 repertoire work since then. His teacher went "down" with the music in an effort to boost his confidence and build his sight reading skills. It didn't work and he spent as long learning a Grade 1 piece as he did learning a Grade 3 piece. So before Easter she decided on a change of tack and tried to see if the Grade 4 would inspire him.
Before Easter he started on one piece and I took to listening to him while reading the piece while he did the right hand. He had no idea of the rhythm and while it was mostly right he was playing crotchets as minims and so on. After all these years of sitting in on lessons I could manage to work with him to get that right so he went to his last lesson before Easter with the right hand technically correct. No dynamics obviously.
We then had the two week holiday and I suggested to him that if he learned 2 bars a day both hands he would be able to play the piece at the end of the holidays. Amazingly he did it. I'm sure this isn't the best way to do it and it would be better to work in phrases but it worked for him.

Beth is much much better than Jamie at the piano but because she has had two different teachers at the Conservatoire she is taking the exams later than him. obviously that doesn't matter at all but I guess does explain how she was able to work out one of the pieces in just over a week.
Beth could see what Jamie was doing and was about half way through the piece before I even realised what she was doing. It seemed silly to try and stop her.
Her teacher is not exam focused and most weeks she does repertoire work with Beth even in the week before her Grade 3 exam.
Beth was working on one of the other Grade 3 pieces before her Grade 3 exam for the fun of it in her own time too.
I don't think it is significant that this is a Grade 4 piece and only mentioned it because it was relevant to my story.
I assume Beth will take the Grade 4 when her teacher thinks she is ready and I have no idea when that will be.
We have loads of music in the house for Beth to chose from.
That said her teacher asked her to prepare an A piece for next week.
I do understand where you are coming from.
Dora

Nor I. I've had two splendid oboe teachers who have been supportive, a bit pushy and ambitious on my behalf and even inspirational. Without them I wouldn't have made the progress I have.

Going back a few years, I have also had good relationships with guitar and viola teachers - in fact I can't think of a music teacher I haven't got on with.

Nor me! My current teachers are brilliant! And having read your web site as well as your posts, David, you sound like a very good teacher too


Dora, nice to hear about the progress your children are making

That's all good to hear.

So, was it Honky Tonk?

I was just thinking that on the whole, the parents who post in the parents' forum are very pleased with their children's music teachers.

Viohazard finished his last guitar lesson for the month just before 8 pm last night. 9:30 Sunday morning, and the teacher was on the phone to say he'd had a thought about the fingering in a certain passage, and was faxing some ideas...

This is a teacher who has mentioned that he got a lot of advice from senior teachers before he started teaching, and his attitude toward his teaching and his own performances really shows in every lesson.

I can add to the good teachers position. We are very lucky that all our instrumental teachers are very supportive, we get on well with them all. My daughter changed Piano teacher just over a year ago and in that time has made amazing progress. Her teacher is a fantastic support, accompies her exams and gets lots out of her.

Emsoboe is taking G5 Piano on Friday, she was in a bit of panic over one of her pieces but it all got sorted calmly yesterday.

To be honest my general experience of musicians is that they are friendly and supportive whether they are our teachers, members of the forum or other people we meet.

She sure did.
I'm very impressed.




Good luck Emsoboe.
Dora

I'm not aware of any threads (except one which bangs on somewhat tediously about a school teacher and system rather than a private music teacher) in which private teachers are slated by those who use their services - and see far more threads in which teachers whinge about their pupils. It is nice to hear about this good teacher, but in fact many of us also sing the praises of our teachers - I know I have, frequently, for one, and there was even a thread started on the topic, a while back. There have been threads slating other professions, mine in particular, but not teachers...

Meantime it's good to hear of Beth's progress, though I hope Jamie doesn't suffer in the comparison - it's a difficult course to tread along, when siblings, as they almost always do, show aptitudes in different fields.

I am blown away by Jamie's progress this holiday. It was completely unexpected and totally delightful. He knows I'm thrilled. I am planning to attend his next piano lesson because I want to see the look on his teacher's face. She is going to be amazed, unless she's read this thread
I think I did post here about him earlier in the holiday.
Dora (completely in love with both her children)

All my instrument teachers are really nice. The reason I want to move to a specialist school is because of the pressure of non-music stuff I would get in in a normal college, the amount of people who wouldn't understand my music-madness and not really because of the teachers.

Nor me!

Our teacher is fantastic and I look upon her as a friend. She is my piano teacher, theory teacher and my sons flute teacher, she used to do piano with my son too until he decided not to proceed any further with it. I am also hoping that she is going to teach me clarinet too if I manage to get on with it ok.

I reckon that we have the best teacher ever and no way would we ever want to change her!

ET

What a lovely thing to post! You sound like you have a very happy home.