Hiya

I just read the looooong thread about results in the teacher's forum (yes I'm behind the times!) and it got me thinking.

What do you think of your teacher(s)?

My clarinet/piano one's brilliant, if I can't be bothered or am fed up, he'll find me something that I can be bothered with to do that lesson. If I'm stuck, he'll sort it out, even if he makes a fool of himself doing it!

What's your opinion on yours?

I really like mine, I think I'd get shot if I didn't hehe, but no they are great really

slightly mad,but cool all the same!

I've had three clarinet teachers, the other two left because of me not really. But my current teacher is really good, we always have a laugh and she helps me whenever I need it!

My piano teacher...well, I don't really like him, he's an amazing pianist, but when it comes to teaching, he seems so lethargic about everything, as if he doesn't really care. But I'm changing teachers, because I feel I would do better with another teacher.

My sax teachers great! (Yes he is the same as Elmo's piano and clarinet!) My piano teacher is great too, but i have no enthusiasm for violin since i got a new teacher, but that might just be me not the teacher!

Had to change teacher just before Christmas as my previous one was sadly taken ill

Usually takes me an unbelievable amount of time to get used to a new teacher (luckily not had to do it so often) but this time it is really good.

My piano teacher is fab. Thats the only way to describe her She's the nicest person ever, and the best teacher I've ever had.

My violin teacher was not really my type of teacher, he was sarcastic (and sometimes I felt it was directed towards me ) and I just didn't really get on with him.

My flute teachers quite nice. At first I wasn't too sure, but it just takes a while to get used to him. He's a fantastic player, and a good teacher. And when my lesson over runs he says "well if your maths teacher has a go at you for being late, blame me..". And at the church garden parties when he is playing as the entertainment... I'm his one-person cheering crowd...

I get on really well with my piano teacher - even though she's half my age! I have children older than her!

She's really encouraging and involves me in her own music life as well. She's also the most patient person I know - my last piano teacher was also very patient - which gets me thinking - how do they do that?

My teacher is also very tolerant and flexible - I often have to re-arrange lessons due to family/work commitments, but this never causes a problem - she'll always fit me in at a time to suit.

Definitely a role model for teachers!

Anne

This is a difficult question for me... I've complained lots of times about my flute teacher, and yet I can never be persuaded to go and find another!

In terms of liking her, she is quite nice, though rather strict and not very humorous. She also smokes, which I think is amazingly stupid if you play the flute, and she's always yawning during my lesson which sort of puts me off!

In terms of teaching, she has taught me a lot (getting me to grade 6/7 standard in 3 1/2 years) and I benefit from her teaching, even though she rarely says anything positive and she doesn't seem to do praise! Yet I'm learning lots, as she is good at conveying what she thinks I should do to play the piece more musically and she's taught me some theory etc. just on the side in normal lessons, which I'm grateful for.

So, I don't really know what I think, really!

my teachers are great (the peri techers anyway)
my jazz techer is the most fun and my trumpet techer knows loads of useful people

I have the same teacher for violin and piano and she is fantastic. She's very encouraging, a great teacher and a fantastic player herself and we always have a laugh during lessons.

I'm really close to my sax/clarinet/piano/guitar teacher. He's great! I'm in a saxophone quartet with him and two other pupils and we all get on really well. I do have times where I spend half the lesson talking and joking with him and half actually playing tho! hehe
The only prob I'm going to have is that when I go to uni it'll be too far away for me to continue having weekly lessons with him which may be a bit difficult as I doubt I'll find another teacher I get on with that well. I also get on with my A level music teacher at school really well too! I think I must've been lucky with my music teachers. I dont think I'd be as happy with my music if I didnt get on with the teacher, prob wouldn't motivate me to do well? Just hope I get on ok with any future pupils when I qualify for music teaching!!!

My clarinet/sax teacher is more like a friend now. I have dinner with her, go out for the day, go to concerts etc I suppose this is because I've known her for 12 years and she's watched me grow up.

I would hate to be taught by anyone else - she is a truly special person (if not a bit mad at times!)

My violin teacher is great also - kind and thoughtful although is a bit forgetful!

I have had about 4 flute teachers, and the one I have at the moment is just amazing. As well as making me improve so much since I've had her, she has supported me so much, given me extra lessons for free, and if there is a situation where she can't give me a lesson she will make sure I get a lesson somehow. She is kind, and she is so easy to talk to. I just hope she thinks I am as good a pupil as I think she is as a teacher.

I've had 3 flute teachers and 3 piano teachers, and they've all been amazing! my current flute teacher is a brilliant player, and has improved my playing so much since I started with her (my 1st teacher was a peri, and my 2nd was also brilliant but had to stop for medical reasons)
my current piano teacher is great as well, I can tell her pretty much everything even if it has nothing to do with music

i had a violin teacher (peri) once (i was 11) who got so angry if we didnt play whatever piece up to standard that i stopped playing.

my piano teacher has taught me since i was 6 and we get along really well.

Gosh, you're all so lucky!

This could be interesting!! Any of my students like to comment?

My teachers were all fantastic except two.

QUOTE (noodle @ Apr 5 2005, 10:44 PM)

This could be interesting!! Any of my students like to comment?

Well they're not going to say anything bad if you're going to read it, not unless they really hate you (not that your not a good teacher!)

Ahh, but how many of them would know me as noodle??

Good Question! Probably none! But now everyone will be scared to say bad things incase their teacher sees them!

but even then would you know who your students were? they wouldnt put any names of teachers down

QUOTE (uberzoldat @ Apr 5 2005, 10:08 PM)

but even then would you know who your students were? they wouldnt put any names of teachers down

I know a few of them, but they don't know me if you know what I mean. This could be very interesting!

QUOTE (noodle @ Apr 5 2005, 10:16 PM)

QUOTE (uberzoldat @ Apr 5 2005, 10:08 PM) but even then would you know who your students were? they wouldnt put any names of teachers down I know a few of them, but they don't know me if you know what I mean. This could be very interesting!

Indeed! We will await with bated breath...

I find that my piano teacher can't understand why I can't practise as much as she'd like me to, since I have GCSEs coming up. I've had to blatently say that I am not going to do an exam in the next session.

Although she's a fantastic player herself, she is a traditionalist and if I came to her with a composition problem she'll resort to baroque harmony and tell me how many rules I've broken rather than advise as to how to resolve the problem, it's quite annoying really, since the suggestions she offers are never musical but "correct" if you understand what I mean?

She does explain things well but she doesn't get my jokes and she's sort of in her own musical world, disregarding anything else unless she's permitted it.

He is a man of integrity, who I trust totally. He puts as much thought and effort into my singing journey as I do with my clients' therapeutic journeys (which is a lot!). He also has a nice sense of humour.

He doesn't shout at me like the piano teacher I had as a child, and he's not weird like the flute teacher I had at school was!



Amber
x

Mine's a star and love her to bits.

Glad most of you have brilliant teachers!

I used to have one who used to shout at me if I played a wrong note when I was sight reading! I used to shake before my lessons, but then he turned really nice bout year 10. Don't know why though!

well lets see then the woodwind teacher who dont have lessons with is nice but scary looking and my strings teacher looks like count dracula although hes very nice aswell

my piano teacher is class!! she's about 70 but so eccentric (has a huge "beehive" hairstyle n is always like leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeean touch!) when i was younger she would make up stories to go with the pieces so i would understand the dynamics n expression better. My cello teacher is horrid n spends the lessons telling her life story, but my flute teacher is lovely n i did work experience with her, n was at her house pretty much constantly for about 2 weeks so i get on with her really well. worst thing though they still give me scales even though i HATE them soooooooooooo much (yes i no there is a lot of point to them but really? some of the grade 8 piano ones are pure evil!)

I've had the same violin teacher for 13 years, I think that shows pretty well that I think he's great!! I've had 3 piano teachers... the first one didn't like me but the second was really cool and my current one is really nice too! I've had 3 singing teachers who have all been great (although my current one isn't turning up to my lessons so I'm getting a bit annoyed with him) and I've had 2 horn teachers, the first of which moved away without telling me... I'm learning with my brother's trumpet teacher now, which is cool. Not forgetting my academic music teachers, who have all been amazing too!

My violin teacher was lovely. She was Hungarian and had just arrived in England when we found her - I was 6. She hardly spoke any English and lived with her husband in a bedsit in Belsize Park in London at first. When she gave me lessons I remember noticing a bed in one the corner of the room and kitchen stuff in the other which I thought was odd.

It was 1956 and they'd had to leave because of the Revolution - the Russian tanks had rolled in and some people thought it best to leave if they could. My teacher's husband somehow knew Anna Freud (Freud's daughter!) and that was his connection into London - all very exotic really.

Her English gradually got better and her husband got work as a doctor, and things steadily got better and better for them; they ended up living in a beautiful house in Swiss Cottage which I used to go to every week on a Saturday morning, first with my dad and then on my own on the train as soon as I was old enough.

I always loved the lessons; she was kind and warm and always enouraging. She only had half a dozen pupils at the most but every Christmas she would put on a little concert in her drawing room, and we'd all get a chance to play for parents and friends - sometimes solo and sometimes little ensembles or duets; it was great for our performing confidence.

As I got older she became a confidante as well, and I'd often stay over for an extra half-hour or so to chat about all sorts of stuff, and play with her baby. It was a very special part of my childhood, and in many ways I owe her an unfathomable amount.

We've always kept in touch even if it's just an occasional card or phonecall. She's in her 70's now; her husband died recently, but she still plays quartets and I still visit her sometimes when I'm in London. The house is exactly the same - nothing seems to have changed - even she seems exactly the same - she even looks much the same; it's very heartwarming to know she's still there.

Sometime soon I'm going to go up there and give her a jazz violin lesson as she's expressed a growing interest. It'll be VERY strange to be giving her a lesson of any kind... but fun I hope.

A very special woman, my teacher.

Violinia

"A very special woman, my teacher."

Yes and Music helps gets you through so much in this Life.

QUOTE

It was 1956 and they'd had to leave because of the Revolution - the Russian tanks had rolled in and some people thought it best to leave if they could.

Violinia, I was interested to read about your violin teacher.

It's a bit off topic - but I used to teach someone whose parents met while escaping out of Hungary in 1956. A lovely lovely family.

Maggie

QUOTE (Violinia @ Apr 8 2005, 10:00 PM)

A very special woman, my teacher.

Thats a really lovely story Violinia.
I still see one of my teachers regularly and she is a very special woman too. She is always there for me and has helped me so much. I know I wouldn't be where I am today without her. She is a fantastic teacher and without her patience, encouragement and inspiration I would probably have given up within 2 years. I often see some of my other teachers bringing children to exams in the centre where I would be accompanying instrumental exams.

aha,now we know your age Violinia!!

QUOTE

aha,now we know your age Violinia!!

Well, I told you I was old enough to be Hammerklavier's granny, so why not go all the way and let it slip...

Actually, I'm probably only old enough to be his mum but old enough to be your granny, Nat!

Violinia

QUOTE

PS It's a bit off topic - but I used to teach someone whose parents met while escaping out of Hungary in 1956. A lovely lovely family. Maggie

Interesting .... and I know you shouldn't generalise, but the Hungarians I've met all seem to be amazingly warm and friendly. My teacher's husband was the most wonderful man - ebullient and magnetic. He became my aunt's doctor; she was a heavy smoker and when she asked him trepidatiously if he thought she should give up smoking (when she was 80) he asked her if she enjoyed it. When she said she did, he replied "for heavens sake why give up one of your great pleasures?" Much to the rest of the family's disapproval she carried on smoking and lived (happily) to the age of 90. Very off-topic I know, but the advice was probably very Hungarian.

My piano teacher's great! But she hardly ever says anything nice.... and is a bit mad as well! Sometimes she can really annoy me, but she's really good so I tend to put up with it!
My oboe teacher is probably my favourite. She's not pushy - lets me play what I want to play and we talk a lot and get on well. I've had about 5 oboe teachers, and she is DEFINITELY the best!
I HATE my saxophone teacher though! He's completely useless, and whenever he tries to accompany me on the piano, he gets it wrong and blames me! He didn't understand why I was doing less sax practice when I had my grade 8 piano (btw my oboe teacher did and was v nice!), and he really gets on my nerves, and I've had to basically teach myself as he tends to spend the whole lesson showing off his saxophone skills and wasting my time!

QUOTE (sax_girl @ Apr 9 2005, 02:09 PM)

I HATE my saxophone teacher though! He's completely useless, and whenever he tries to accompany me on the piano, he gets it wrong and blames me!

My old clarinet teacher was really good at clarinet, but couldn't play the piano to save himself! Even grade 2/3 stuff was taxing for him. It just meant we had to get one of the full time music teachers to accompany us for everything. He didn't blame me for playing wrong when it was him, coz he used to sit there cursing himself everytime he made a mistake!

I'd love to have a foreign teacher, then you'd get to play some of their music! Did you ever play any Hungarian stuff violinia?

QUOTE (elmo @ Apr 9 2005, 02:19 PM)

I'd love to have a foreign teacher, then you'd get to play some of their music! Did you ever play any Hungarian stuff violinia?

Absolutely.

The first music I ever played with her was the Bartok pieces for children, so for the violinists here - I was more familiar with the key of D minor (or the D minor pentatonic scale) than D major, so didn't end up with the second finger problem that besiges beginners if you're not careful (getting fixed on the F# position).

Consequently I grew up loving the minor modes and scales, and having a real affinity for them. Your teacher's preferences can certainly be a very strong influence. She also liked gypsy music so I think that influenced my taste as well.

Her teacher was Zathureszky, who arranged a lot of Bartok's pieces for violin and then gave them to her, so I was getting it from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

Recently I went to hear Georgy Pauk playing, and he played some complex arrangements of the very same pieces; his teacher was also Zathuresczky, and his daughter is now married to my violin teacher's son - the baby I used to play with! It was so stirring to hear that music again - it sent shivers up and down my spine and took me straight back to that room and those days...

Mmmmmm....

Violinia

I love my piano teacher. She is so nice! She gives me things to do when i look like really tired or bored or she tells me jokes, she can always makes me laughs she really considerate. She have so much patient with me i just can't believe she even said one thing i will never forget.

QUOTE

When i stop teaching piano lessons to my other pupils i will choose four pupils to carry on teaching with and i will choose you.

ever since she said that to me i've been playing loads ( no comment Nat unless it nice ) i really like her she getting quite old now i hope she dosen't die on me soon. I really love her to bits i get excited when i see her too it's great she one of the best teacher i could ever ask for.

I love my violin and flute teachers, they're soooo nice and really easy to talk to- especially the violin teacher. She always seem to know when somethings wrong! I think i get on better with them than my actual school teachers cos its one to one lessons and u kinda get to know them a bit more.

QUOTE (Hulk @ Apr 5 2005, 09:59 PM)

But now everyone will be scared to say bad things incase their teacher sees them!  :lol:

That thought crosses my mind a lot especially my thread on the GCSEs :S

QUOTE (Jade @ Apr 10 2005, 03:25 PM)

QUOTE (Hulk @ Apr 5 2005, 09:59 PM) But now everyone will be scared to say bad things incase their teacher sees them!   That thought crosses my mind a lot especially my thread on the GCSEs :S

does your teacher come on here?

I hope not

lol, mine does occassionally. so i now have to watch what i say!

i wonder who noodle's pupils are hehe

lol, and everyone else!!!!

i don't need to worry about my teacher. I'm pretty sure she doesn't know how to work a computer.

lol

Well maybe I'd need to worry about my clarinet teacher on here, but our head of music doesn't even have a computer, and the school net work will block him out of this at school, the other one struggles with computers, and the other one.......well I dunno bout him!

QUOTE (clarinetlover @ Apr 10 2005, 02:33 PM)

i wonder who noodle's pupils are hehe

The ones who have suddenly taken a vow of silence since this topic started!!!