Has anyone got any advice on what to do when you go to a new teacher?
Do you take music you know you can play well and easily (so it doesn't collapse under nerves) or things you can generally play (but may collapse under massive nerves)?
Also, if you've never taken any grades before but worked on the pieces of, say, grade 4 with a teacher a while ago, would you take those or would that seem a bit... presumptuous (sp?)? (Assuming you can still play them)
(I've never really been nervous but I do get panic attacks so I don't want to fall to pieces while playing a piece and the new teacher think I've over-estimated my ability when it's just nerves).

My old teacher was so laid back he was almost horizontal (but a very very good teacher) so I just took the books in, whatever I bought and we'd play it (including the grade 4 book...... )

I would take some music you've been playing recently - something 'easy' that you can play through quite well and maybe at an easier level that you can actually play at. Also take something as 'work in progress' which will give the teacher some ideas where you are at.

I think it always takes a few lessons with a new teacher for the teacher to work out where your strengths are and what needs work. It also takes a few lessons for you, the student, to get used to how the teacher works and how they approach teaching. If you think you will be quite nervous, then I'd play safe with music you take so that you can feel relatively comfortable and relaxed if you know the music you are playing well.

Hope that makes some sense!

Aw, I totally understand. I still get butterflies before my lessons after two years....and my teacher's lovely! I think it's because we (adult learners) judge ourselves.
Remember that your new teacher wants the lesson to go well just as much as you do. Tell them you're feeling nervous as soon as you arrive. Or even better, email beforehand to say you are feeling nervous. A good teacher will appreciate this and give you some reassurance of what to expect. Take something easy to play. Your teacher will get to know you and your playing as time goes on; you don't have to prove yourself in the first ten minutes of the first lesson. You may well take more time talking and getting to know each other than playing in the first lesson anyway.
Good luck!

I agree with Louise H.
When I moved to a new piano teacher I took music I'd been working on.
The 'scariest' part was when she brought her little girl down form her nap and announced 'This is sbhoa. She is going to play you some beautiful music.'

I took something I'd been working on with my last teacher and the piece I was working on for Stalybridge that year. That was all he'd asked me to bring good job he didn't ask me to bring all the books I had..........

Note to self: listen out for children in the background

I keep going through what-ifs like what if she's a really really strict teacher? What if she rips everything apart and makes me start at the beginning of Abracadabra (I've never really 'got' Eggy Bread)? What if, that day, I can't read music?
Also, what if she doesn't like me doing theory exams for myself?

Kate - I know what you mean about the butterflies, I still get them when I go ice skating (it's worse before my lesson) as I suddenly think I'll have forgotten everything and I really really want to make my coach proud!

Also, I think (in my case) it's hard because of my age. Some of the people I went to school with have now got their diplomas and everyone expects me to be quite good (I've been playing more off than on for 9 years, since I was 13 but have ony had 2x 6months of lessons) however, I'm getting into the Adult learning thing (if only I was 20 years older!).

Does this give me permission to play "An Old Tale" until the (concrete) cows come home?!?!?!
I love that piece.....




I have that problem
One of the last pieces I was working on was Jurassic Park but I don't think I'll take that

Edit: Also, breathing - what if she has a really really warm room and I breathe funny?!
I think I may have to have a lie down with all these what-ifs...

I would take a good selection of the music you have (and study books!) so that she knows what you have. If you have a lot then maybe just pick a few things - preferably that you haven't worked on yet and that you'd like to play over the next few months!

Every teacher will do things slightly different but my first lesson after a long break was really fun!

We had a quick chat about my experience, what my goals were.
She asked me to play something for her - I played a piece that I had been recently looking at, but which I had worked on with previous teacher.
We then looked at the music I had and especially at the study book and talked about where I had got to.
She picked a study for me to try and sight read.
She picked a first piece for me to start learning which was a new piece but something I already owned.
there was one technical point that she taught me so that I felt like I'd learned something and that my playing had already improved!

The most important thing that I remember though was that I was really, really nervous going in but I finished the lesson with a huge smile on my face just feeling really excited about having lessons again!

Your teacher will realise that you are nervous and, I'm sure, will do their best to make you feel comfortable. They are not looking to test you but just want to get a good idea of what you can do, and what you can't to enable them to pitch the lessons at the right level.

GOOD LUCK!

I went to my first lesson (after a 17 year gap) with a couple of books, with pieces I could sort of play OK-ish.
One book was an AB Time Pieces book, so although it wasn't a grade exam book, it was a piece from a syllabus, but only chosen because I loved it (Saint-Saens "The Elephant" )
I took with me a list of the music I owned, because even then it was too much to lug with me! I got asked if I had a few 'staple' items, which I did, so the next week we made a start on what music I had.

On the music stand he happened to have a print out of something from IMSLP, i.e. a facsimilie early eighteenth century thing. That was what I got to play in the lesson, and work on the first phrase of each movement for that week.

First lesson was utterly terrifying. I'd say play something you are familiar with, because a teacher will build up a picture of where you are over the next few weeks as you settle in to your working relationship. Then, you'll be able to try the more tricky stuff once you are feeling a bit more relaxed.

You may well have a chat about your musical past, in which case you can say what you've done and that you still have the music.
I had just bought the G4 exam pieces I'd taken in 1990 around the time I re-started lessons, though we never looked at them again in these lessons. It was good just to own them (and then, at my third or fourth lesson, when my teacher asked whether I wanted to do G5 or G6 [I'd said exams were something I'd happily do], I could logically go to G5 as the next exam I was due to do anyway!)

That might not be a bad thing.

OH has been playing the piano for many years and worked professionally as a pianist for several years, but his teacher (to grade 8) didn't really teach him anything in the way of playing technique. So now he's having lessons again, taking his playing apart and rebuilding it.

I have a violinist friend who similarly learned one way to create vibrato and was unable to vary it. Despite studying at RWCMD for three years she still has one vibrato and is spending a fortune trying to rectify that issue.

So in short - sometimes going back to the beginning might seem like a pain, but in the long run could be hugely beneficial (and cheaper!)

In this weather? I think it's unlikely Also, if we're dealing with a woodwind teacher, they are probably used to people breathing funny, you can put it down to being out of practice

Seconded. I'm not a woodwind player, I'm a pianist, but that's pretty much what my teacher has done (and in my case, I had a break of 20 years between lessons ). I knew that this was a possibility though, so I was fine with it. It has only been beneficial.

I would say I was strict, but no-one's complained that I'm an evil heartless ogre yet
It's most unlikely your new teacher will make you start right from the beginning again. Do expect the possibility that she'll change some parts of your technique, but that's perfectly normal.

I really wouldn't get concerned about the theory.



Butterflies are normal



I really wouldn't get too concerned about that. I had a music degree from what would be regarded as the typical age, but no clarinet diploma until I passed ATCL at the end of last year. And probably more relevant, I started the 'cello aged 36 (38 now)...



That's narrowed down the list of places you could be from down to one

I was in your position 10 months ago, having barely played for 10 years. When I went along for my first lesson my teacher asked me to prepare something that I enjoyed playing - not necessarily difficult - and that covered some of all three octaves. So I went along with something that was about Grade 5-6 level (I was post-Grade 8 when I stopped), that I'd practiced a bit but was far from perfect.

Try not to imagine all the worst things that can happen (after all, you're paying for the lessons so if it does turn out to be awful, you don't have to go back!) A good teacher will put you at ease, and know that things will be rusty after some time away from it - breathing, fingering, etc, etc. If you need to go back to basics with some things it can be a bit frustrating but it's so worth it. I doubt there are many 'returners' who haven't had to do that with at least one bit of their technique (I had to re-learn left hand position amongst other things, I'm still re-learning how to do vibrato properly).

I was so nervous before that first lesson but it was really a case of seeing where my playing was at and sussing out whether we got on with each other. And I came out so relieved and excited at what was ahead I still get little butterflies before lessons but at the same time can't wait to go to them now!

Remember to come back and tell us all about it

Thank you all!

I don't think I mind about picking apart the technical bits, it's more picking me apart.

And in this weather people put their heating on! I love the cold! So I'm scared of over-heating while breathing while playing!

I have just got to find a time where my other half (taxi!) and the teacher (lesson!) are free at the same time!

I suppose it's fear of the unknown. But others here seem to have done it and you're all still alive, right?

All the best! Any teacher who would pick you (not your technique) apart after you've taken a long break really doesn't deserve to be your teacher. Most teachers are quite happy to teach anyone who is serious about learning, regardless of level. (I did get fired by one teacher when I was little and didn't want to do a Dip, but fair enough, she only wanted to teach people who were serious about possibly going into it as a career and I wasn't)

As a teacher, I advise new pupils that if they're been learning before, or if they're working with a particular piece or book then it's useful for them to bring them along. It's good to be able to measure where they're at, though a new teacher will probably make a lot of these judgements in a much more general sense rather than just on one particular piece (especially as new pupils are generall very nervous!).