I recently introduced (to my teacher) a friend of mine who has been playing the piano on and off for quite some time. He is self taught and is quite modest about his abilities.

I caught up with my teacher and she was flummoxed how he could play such difficult pieces (from memory obviously), yet couldn't sight read a thing! And I think his fingering was all wrong. He probably doesn't know scales etc either.

So I was thinking about whether that would be an interesting project for a teacher, it's like needing to teach someone from the very beginning, yet they already have the technique needed to play difficult pieces.

Then I also wondered about what range of pupils a teacher generally has. Does he/she have mainly children that start lessons from scratch? Or what about adult learners. Do most adults start from scratch or they predominantly re start later on in life? What about advanced adult pupils? Do teachers get many of those? Do you get many transferred pupils. Is that a teachers nightmare?

What type of pupil do you like to teach the most or do you like a lot of variation in your pupils? Variety is the spice of life as they say.

Obviously everyone will have a different range of pupils and preferences, but it will be intriguing to know.

I have in my 14 years of teaching encountered just about every ability level, and ages from 5 to 80. On the whole I teach a large number of child beginners from scratch and a handful of adults, some beginners and some re-starters. Post-G5 students are sorely lacking, and I've only ever had one pupil pass G8. For me, it's not the age or the ability that matters, it's the responsiveness of the pupil. The most enjoyable lessons for me are when the pupil smiles, talks and appears to be enjoying themselves. The hardest lessons to teach are when pupil just sits like a brick wall and gives nothing back, regardless of age or ability.

In my private teaching I generally see beginners, but some of these have been with me for a while now and are advancing to Grade 5, which is great to see how far they've come. At the music service I have a range from complete beginners to Grade 7ish. Last year I was teaching up to diploma level and that is something that I miss this year, but it's what happens! I teach a few adults but mainly kids from the age of 8 to 17.

I'm teaching mostly beginners, of all ages. Two or three will be approaching intermediate level shortly, but they are returners/had lessons before. I'd like to have some more intermediates, but that will happen slowly.

Just about all levels, although more beginners and lower grades, with a few grades 5 to 7. Currently no-one above.

Several adult returnees of intermediate level, including some started this term. No adult beginners at the moment, although that is unusual.

More boys than girls at the moment, and slightly more men than women.

My teaching is about one third (14 pupils) taught solely by me and two-thirds (25) inherited pupils (although some had only been learning a term when I began teaching them). Levels range from beginner to post-Grade 8 standard; ages from 8 - 18 plus two adults who were both total beginners when they came to me. All are female.

I teach mainly children, from 5 to 18 & a few adults (I'm quite happy to teach adults, but am mainly asked to teach children & I do a lot of work in schools.) They range from beginners to grade 8 standard - at the moment I've got quite a few beginners, 4 teenagers preparing for grade 8 & everything in-between. There always seem to be more girls than boys, although I do have quite a lot of boys at the moment.

I teach a lot of them all the way through, from 5/6/7 to 18, but also get quite a few transfer students, particularly in music centres & the one secondary school I teach in. I prefer to teach them from the beginning where possible, although I do get some good transfer students occasionally. I also get quite a few with real problems & I think it would have been easier to teach them from scratch. It is lovely to keep them for a long time & see them develop. A lot keep in touch after they've left & it's nice to hear of graduations, weddings, babies etc.

I've taught a couple of adults, some as beginners, and some as returners, but mostly I seem to get beginners, which is what I want, and the majority of them seem to hang around till they've gone as far as they are able. For some, that's Grade 3, for some it's grade 5, and for many it's 6,7,8. I prefer teaching the higher grades now, but I prefer it when they've been my own beginners! Though, I must say that I have one or two who came from very young teachers who taught before going away to university, and I couldn't have done a better job myself.

Abilities? Highly variable! Like somebody said above, the ability is less important than the attitude.

Do you mean as far as they are physically able to or when they lose their interest and desire to continue?
Is that more frequent in children as opposed to adults?

EDIT: Actually just reading the "How long have you been teaching thread" it mentions about the longest time a teacher has taught a student for. That would be interesting to know too.

This is reassuring to me as an adult beginner. I thought I was the only one and I worried I might not be much fun for my teacher but I'm getting so much from my lessons and working hard to follow my teachers instructions and suggestions, so I hope he enjoys it nearly as much as I do.