Learning piano is an exciting journey and like life itself is full of ups and downs. It is difficult at times and a good relationship with your piano teacher is very important. As in all human contact, not every piano teacher is suitable for every piano student even with the best will in the world. Pianolobby is fortunate to have a contribution from Tim Tarrant who is an adult learner and below outlines some of his experiences with piano teachers.

‘Rather foolishly I decided that I would like to learn to play the piano when I retired. Foolish in thinking that I would have more time available. However, I have persisted over the last 4 years and one of the interesting aspects is my contact with piano teachers. I have come to several conclusions – admittedly from a very personal perspective which will mean that my conclusions will not necessarily apply to other students. I am now on to my fourth teacher and before you assume that I must be a particularly difficult student I should add that one moved away, another agreed to just help me through the next exam and only one did I choose to leave. There was a fifth I tried for two lessons but she missed the next two and it became apparent that it was going to continue in the same vein.

The first point is that I think having a piano teacher is at least as important for an adult as a child. It is not just that developing technique is just as important for an adult, it is about maintaining progression and motivation – particularly, if like me, you do not come from a musical family or have any one interested in hearing you play. Children and teenagers taking lessons will normally have adults taking an interest in their playing and the opportunity of playing with others at school. They will also, of course, be linked into the principle of study and exams.  

My second point is the need for the adult student to maintain the student/teacher relationship. It is very easy to get into discussions about performers, styles and anything else which is not directly relevant to your progress as a pianist. Particularly if you have not put the time in for practice since the last lesson! The teacher that helped me through my last exam never wavered from the student/teacher model and I have concluded that it was one of the main reasons why I made progress during that time. I have also concluded that it is as much up to the student to maintain that relationship as up to the teacher. In fact I would go further and say that it is the student that has to ensure that the student/teacher relationship is in place.

My third point is that there has to be a structure to the lesson. My first teacher made it clear to me that he wanted  to teach to the ABRSM syllabus. I had no pre-conceived ideas on how to learn and was happy to go along with that. Had I not been we would have needed an alternative structure and one that worked for both of us. My own current structure, agreed with my teacher, is to improve on my weaknesses – such as sight reading – so that I gain in confidence and can be ready for the next graded exam – should I wish to take it.

The teacher should be prepared for the lesson and provide some variety to the lesson. This seems an obvious point but the teacher I left gave me the impression that no thought had been given to the lesson before I arrived. The onus on what we were going to do and how we were going to do it was entirely with me. This is in stark contrast to my current teacher who has relevant music and tries out duets and other strategies to develop my skills. I should have left the earlier teacher sooner than I did and this brings me to my next point. Some teachers would prefer you to sign up for ten or twenty lessons. Unless you have been with the teacher for some time and are absolutely confident about them, I would avoid doing this. I believe that it takes a number of lessons before you can be sure that the teacher is the right one for you and you are the right student for them.’

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