Why do you teach?

[Mayla]

Hello there everyone... I am feeling rather frustrated and I am wondering if your anwsers to my question could provide for me a little inspiration and a deeper understanding of what 'we' as piano teachers are trying to "accomplish" in teaching.

Why do you teach?

I started off on my musical path very inspired and very serious about it all... very hopeful, yet quite unsure about what lay ahead.  Suddenly, here I am teaching.  While there are issues with that in and of itself (like still trying to figure out exactly what I am doing and the like) and I don't know exactly what lay ahead... my responsibilities are different now, and I definitely do not feel as inspired as I once did.

I am trying to re-evaluate it all.  Does anyone have helpful thoughts?  I would much appreciate them.

Thanks,

Maylafox

[Swan]

Why do you teach?

Boy, that's a mighty big question!!!

Well, it's not for the money!  If I gave up teaching all together, it woudn't effect the household income that much because I just don't make that much.  (and what I do make usually goes back into the business on resources or instruments).

So for me, it really is something I can do that makes me happy.

MMmmmm, long story or short story?  Compromise:  tell you the medium lenght story!  

For as long as I can remember (before school) I have always wanted to teach in some way.  I would line up teddy bears and would teach them things.  THen I'd do it with my friends, and 'teach' them things.  I don't remember what, but I remember writing on a blackboard!

When I was nine, I announced I was going to University to become a teacher.... of what, I didn't know.  

High school I did a stint of journalism (wrote for a few newspapers), and thought, well, this is what I'll be.  Then a did drama!!  and suddenly I knew what was supposed to happen in my life.  I would go to University, study drama, become a teacher in a school for a bit of experience, then own and manage my own drama school complete with playhouse and company!  

Did the Uni, teaching thing, then got very sick and had to just rest.  It took me a whole year of literal rest before I started to feel better.

Music has always been a part of my life and something that had always come very naturally to me.  Played many instruments by now (and had also done music at Uni).

A young friend asked me to teach her the piano.  I agreed.  Then one of her friends asked.... and to cut this long story down to a medium story, before long I had a music studio.  That was ten years ago, and I'm still loving it!

Why I wanted to teach, I really have no idea.  It was something that was just there.  Even with Drama, although I did the acting, it was behind the scenes I loved - direction!  Perhaps it just comes down to the fact I like tellling people what to do!

Why I continue?  I don't have kids of my own, and I really, really enjoy being in their company.  I feel a great sense of satisfaction teaching, seeing people go from not having certain skills to gradually mastering them!  I love music, but I also like developing the teacher relationship with all of these individuals that you just don't have a chance to in the class room.

and I definitely do not feel as inspired as I once did.

Is this because you wanted to be a performer and not a teacher and you see teaching as being the 'make do' option?

Does anyone have helpful thoughts?

To be helpful, I think I'd need to know what you're frustrated and uninspired about.

I find it a real shame that people really buy into the 'if you can't do, teach'.  

deeper understanding of what 'we' as piano teachers are trying to "accomplish" in teaching.

"We" as a collective doesn't work.  Private piano tuition is a very personal thing.  You have to find out what you are trying to accomplish.  

Personally, I am not breathing just to find a child prodigy who can become the next 'big thing'.  I'm very happy just teaching preliminary to grade 8 students.  

If I was feeling a little more profound I could give you a much better answer.  Today is a 'brain tired' day.

What do you THINK piano teachers should try and accomplish?

[ahmedito]

I love teaching. That is why I studied the piano. I really think that you must keep your goals when starting a profesional career. Unless you're Kissin, you will most probably study to become a piano teacher, not a concert pianist or profesional performer. If you dont love teaching, I dont advise studying to be a profesional pianist (unless you're like Kissin, as I said). I love teaching, I love giving others the gift of music, if not through performance, directly teaching it to them. Its the whole point of why I study the piano... to be able to give music to others.

[Mayla]

thanks Swan and Ahmedito, I very much appreciate your responses.

To answer your first question of me Swan, I don't know exactly what I set out to be.  Well, actually I did have major fantasies of being a performer... but mostly I just absolutely loved the art itself.  I loved music, and especially that which is demonstrated on the piano.  Piano has been an important facet of my life since I was 2.

But, when I really decided to take it seriously, it was quite late.  I decided to study in University, and consequently, had the opportunity to study with some of the most well known pianists in my state, and decided to seize the opportunities head-long.  During this time, frankly, I did a lot of metaphysical work, deciding I would not let the human concept of time be a barrier to the art I knew was inside of me (very cheezy, I know).  

Consequently, I believe I accomplished a great deal in 3 years.  However, I don't have any idea whether I am "talented" or not (I do have a point in mentioning all this, I promise).  During this time, I thought that even a teaching career would be wonderful, thinking that it was close to the art that I so loved, but I didn't even expect that to work out necessarily.

It has always been important to me to have my career be something that I love doing, and when I was graduating, it seemed natural to start a piano studio, although it was very meek.

At this time though, I had major beliefs about what music and piano meant to me, and about its role in society, its influence on humanity, and many other things.  I mostly felt a deep sense of compassion for people who want music to be a part of their lives, who want to play the piano, but feel intimidated for whatever reasons.  In these cases, it was and is all about breaking barriers and helping people to discover within themselves something beautiful and profound, and something beyond what they even thought to be possible for them.  I want to help them see their own and very real importance in the world of music.

I mentioned the word "talent", not knowing what that really means at all.  I believe that everyone has some sort of talent for music and the piano.  Who's really to say that they don't?  What makes somebody more talented than another? Nobody has ever given me a definition that convinces me of there being something out there called "talent" that some people have and others don't.  So, along with my above paragraph, I have wanted to give all people the opportunity to discover their own "talent" and have deeply believed that everybody is capable.

As far as children go, I have a particular sense of compassion for them also.  I think about my own upbrining, and how important piano has been for me, and I wonder how things would be for me now if my opportunities had been different as a child.  I desparately want to give kids the opportunities they need to grow and develop in ways that will be helpful and conducive for any future desires they may have with music and piano.  There are many more things I believe along these lines, but I will not mention them right now since I seem to be writing a marathon!

I also wanted to teach piano because I have been deeply concerned about the state of the world, and also the survival of pure art.  By teaching in a one-on-one setting, I feel I have greater opportunity to reach the individual and give them what they need to aspire to greater things than what they could have fathomned before.

I believe that music and piano is not an isolated aspect of an individual's life.  I believe it is all tied together, so ultimately, I want to help each individual be more of the person they can be, in all areas of their lives.

what I am frustrated about... please look below  

[Mayla]

Perhaps it may be obvious why I am frustrated.  Obviously, not many people feel the way that I do.  

There are so many things I feel frustrated about, that I hardly know how to begin.

Aside from the things in human nature that seem to be able to turn even the most beautiful and precious things about life, into something fiercely ugly, there are more surfacey things that I am feeling frustrated about.

I want to teach excellence and, while I do not have a certain model that I expect anybody but myself to mold their lives to, there are some basic things that seem to stop anybody else from finding their own.  

Like... kids doing way too many things and not being dedicated to any one or two activities.  Living in a new-agey small town where it is virtually impossible to impart any sort of disciplined aspect about life.

But my most recent big giant revelation as of yesterday, was realizing that teaching in and of itself is not actually about the art that I love and had set out to experience with people.  The only thing in common is the fact that a piano is involvled in both.

I feel it is impossible to reach my ideals the way that things are going right now, and I don't know how to change them.  

Pretty much, that's it in a nut-shell.

I realize that I may need to grow.  But, perhaps I am in the wrong profession?

Again, I would very much appreciate any helpful and constructive feedback people have for me.

Thanks,

Maylafox

[reinvent]

Maylafox,
What did you mean when you said (I'm having a problem cutting and pasting)
something about a major revelation you had yesterday.
What happened?

[Swan]

Teaching in any form is so much more than the subject!  Especially one on one every week for years on end.  
It's not just about piano, it's not just about music - it is about art and life - if that's what you want it to be!  But it takes time and it takes patience and it takes fortitude and it takes constant trial and error and the ability to self evaluate and self motivate! If you can do these things then, yes, you are in the right profession!

For some people, teaching the piano is about 'teaching kids to play the piano' and that is much easier than what you have in mind Maylafox.  But don't give up on it just because it is difficult and you run into some very high walls.

I don't have any idea whether I am "talented" or not

Many people believe 'talent' as being something given to you by God, or something innate you're born with.  I used to think this way because I grew up with people saying how 'talented' I was.  And a person could go mad trying to work out whether it is nature or nurture.  The point is, it doesn't matter.  It doesn't matter if you are or aren't talented, it doesn't matter if your students are or aren't talented, it's how much you love and how much you work and how much you're prepared to dedicate that matters.  Do yourself and your students a huge favour and don't bother wondering about 'talent' ever again!

I have wanted to give all people the opportunity to discover their own "talent" and have deeply believed that everybody is capable.

Sometimes it's a matter of the teacher finding their particular 'talent' first and nurturing it to the point where the child can see and believe in their own 'talent'.  And by talent, I mean, whatever they're good at!  Reality necessitates that our criteria for 'good at' begins humbly.  Can they find all the notes on the piano and name them quickly.  "You have a great talent for that!"  For a young beginner, this is entirely appropriate.  You wouldn't be so quick to give the same praise to an older student who has been learning for many years.  So our expectations need to be appropriate.

And this point ... appropriate expectations ... takes some trial and error and time and patience on our behalf.

If we are flexible with our 'ideals', frustration won't kill our positive enthusiasm.

I'm not saying, give up what you're after and just accept whatever life throws at you.  No way!

Work out new and different ways to get where you want to get.  It may take longer than you first thought.  I've been teaching privately for ten years now, and still am thinking of new ways to inspire, encourage ... reach a particular student.   I hope in another ten years, I'm STILL experimenting, trying new things.  

I had major beliefs about what music and piano meant to me, and about its role in society, its influence on humanity,

You 'had' - past tense.  What were they, and why did you allow them to disappear/change?  Be as specific as you can.  Point form helps!    

is all about breaking barriers and helping people to discover within themselves something beautiful and profound, and something beyond what they even thought to be possible for them.

What age group are you hoping this for?  This can happen very often for adults and older teenagers. (Just yesterday I had a 13 year old exclaim, 'I can't believe I've been playing for two years already!'  She was very excited and pleased with what she'd been able to do.  This was a nice moment for both of us.  Small, but it's 'little' things like this that can be very fulfilling - if you recognise it for what it is: a major self realisation for the girl.   And she felt close enough to me to share that with me.  That made me feel good.  Always allow the little things to register on your accomplishment metre!)
For young children, they are learning new things every day of their life and just take it for granted.  They're not likely to say "I can't believe I can do this now!"

This same 13 year old had sat for her second exam just a little while ago, and we had both worked hard for it.  No thank you's, or I'm grateful or any acknowledgement for the effort I had put in, but when she got an A (which she wasn't expecting) she burst into tears (happy ones) and threw her arms around ME - not her mother (who was standing beside her).  Sometimes kids don't let you know how they're feeling, but it doesn't mean they're not feeling it.

also wanted to teach piano because I have been deeply concerned about the state of the world, and also the survival of pure art.  By teaching in a one-on-one setting, I feel I have greater opportunity to reach the individual and give them what they need to aspire to greater things than what they could have fathomned before.

I absolutely agree with you.  It's a little like seeing all the starving children in the world. Sponsoring one child is not going to change the situation a great deal, but it will effect that one person for the better.
We as teachers, can have a mighty effect on individual's lives - and it's the individual that makes up families, that make up socieites, that make up nations, that makes the world!  Just imagine if every teacher in the world felt as you did.  Reality, it's not going to happen, but you don't know now if just one of your students is going to grow up with the same conviction you have "I'm going to teach the way Maylafox did, because it made a difference to me and I want to make a difference to others."    

There's a lovely story that is relevent to this.

'There was a huge storm on the sea one day, and the tide washed upon the shore millions and millions of star fish, now struggling for thier very lives.
A young man looked upon the shore and was devestated with great sadness.  In the distance he saw an old man struggling as he bent over to pick up a star fish and throw it back into the ocean.
The young man was perplexed.  He approached the old man and said, "Why are you bothering, there are so many of them, you can't possibly make a difference!"
The old man bent over once again, picked up a single star fish and threw it into the ocean.  "I made a difference to that one."
Now there were two men throwing star fish back into the ocean.

(see, now we're both 'cheesy').  

But my most recent big giant revelation as of yesterday, was realizing that teaching in and of itself is not actually about the art that I love and had set out to experience with people.  The only thing in common is the fact that a piano is involvled in both.

I'm curious about this too.  What happened Maylafox?

[Egghead]

Perhaps it may be obvious why I am frustrated.  Obviously, not many people feel the way that I do.  ...

Dear Maylafox,

you do not know me and I do not dare to suggest I fully understand your situation. And yet, what you describe SOUNDS so familiar in many ways!

I agree with every single word Swan has said in the previous post. What I would like to add is this:
You DO teach excellence. You have taught me. Thank you!  

I have read many of your posts and found them inspiring. You dare to ask hard questions. It was a discovery for me to find there are people with this degree of dedication out there. Then I wanted to know more about a forum that has people like you on it. Now I am learning something new from this forum every day...

Trying to achieve excellence and more so, trying to get others to see excellence as a worthy goal can seem like fighting wind-mills. Amazingly enough, though, excellence does breed excellence - in all areas of life. From my personal experience all that is required is a kind of selfless stubbornness and an open mind. People eventually realise that striving for excellence is simply deeply satisfying.

A final note: please keep your lemonade-pizza-sense-of-humour active. Life is so wonderfully absurd. Please laugh at my silly post. It is intensely silly! So there. It is the best I can currently do and it is what I chose to do with this half hour of my life. And now it's time to get back to work. (heavy hint here, if you like  )

Thanks again and kind regards,
Egghead, aka Starfish.

[Mayla]

I appreciate what feedback people have given me.  

How kind you are Egghead, to voice such nice things to me.  I truly appreciate it more than I can say.  And, you're right, I do need to keep a sense of humor about it all, thanks for reading my posts.  Also, I appreciate what you have had to say about the pursuit of excellence.

And, Swan, you have more than once taken seriously my questions and concerns, and have helped me very much. Thank you.  I can tell that you take what you do seriously, and that you have fun doing it  .


To answer the question of what happened to cause my big revelation, I will do the best that I can, but some of it I can't really put into words.  I think that the stiuation I am going to describe is much more like the straw that broke the camels back...

I am teaching two sisters who live next door to me (they are complete beginners, and have been taking lessons for about a month or two), and with the arrival of the first sister for her lesson, their mother comes in to inform me that the other sister is feeling overwhelmed, with school starting and all, but in general.  I noticed this last lesson that I had with her and went to great lengths to slow everything down and explain in detail how to learn and practice a piece, writing down steps for her to follow etc etc., but she couldn't even bring herself to listen.

Anyway, her mother tells me that it will just be the one sister for a few weeks and that the other will be having a break.  This was not exactly what I wanted to hear, but I was relatively okay with it.  So I proceeded to have a lesson with the first sister, who is sharp and interested, but pretty raw.  That was okay.  Then, toward the end of the lesson, to my surprise the other sister shows up afterall.  Apparently mom wanted the break to begin after that pointless lesson.  I have to say that I felt fairly angry.

1)  I could not assign her anything for the next time I see her because that wouldn't be a "break"

2)  she had no idea why she was there, nor did I and she seemed to be on the brink of tears the entire time

I was so mad at the situation, for several reasons, that I hardly even knew what to do with her.  I just had her play through stuff that she had been half-heartedly working on.  It wasn't so good.  As much as I hate to say it, I could hardly stand to listen to her play.  

The whole time she was here, it was just dawning on me in full color that my goals in teaching vs the goals that probably most of my students have for taking lessons are not exactly equivelent.

I am coming from the standpoint of having already committed my life to this thing that I love, and have wanted others to share in what it is that makes it so beautiful.  I am wanting serious and committed students, who will practice and dig to figure things out and in the process experience art.

I have wanted to find the best way to teach, to cover all bases if possible right from the get-go, requiring patience and diligence on both the student's and teacher's part.  But to be fair, I don't think I am really doing that, and to be even more blunt, I don't think I even know how to begin to accomplish that.  So, what am I doing?

I realize that it is my responsibility as the teacher to help a student find their inspiration and love for the art, but I guess I realized that what I myself love about studying the piano and learning pieces, is not actually what I am trying to teach at all.  It may be the impetus, but not the actual substance.  My students will not actually understand what it is that I am trying to teach until years into their study, and I don't even really know how to motivate somebody to love the art and instrument enough to actually study for years.  I mostly just hope.  

Most people are just looking for a hobby, and I truly feel this is okay, but, it is not just a hobby for me anymore.  Maybe there's something to be said for that in and of itself.  

I guess I realized that I need to teach somebody how to begin having an interest, not just keep one going.  I don't actually know how to do this in anyway that could be described.  I need to teach parents how to see the importance of music, so as to help their child's development in it.  

It is no longer just about my own interest in the art and the instrument and in teaching.  I guess I need to learn how to be more selfless... huh, that's a big and somewhat shameful realization...

Furthermore....

[Mayla]

I have read many postings here.  I have read a portion of what Bernhard has generously provided.  While I respect and appreciate and agree with most of it, I don't really know how to put it into action.

In one post within a thread discussing something like good and bad teachers, I can't seem to locate it, Bernhard talked about teachers who drive to student's houses and some other things that I can't remember right now.  On the brink of vommitting with shame, I am one of those teachers.  I feel that I have to be right now.   Although my business does not generate loads of income, my husband and I do actually depend on my working to be able to fully pay bills.

I am a teacher who feels as though I do not really know what I am doing, I have stopped attempting to make formal lesson plans because I don't know how to design a curriculum to follow, that will sufficiently teach my students what they need to know pianistically, musically and personally, all at the right time and in the correct order.   I feel if I can't figure out how to have them reach an end goal, and a lofty one at that, then I am not really following a plan anyway.   So, there that all is...

I want to implement other people's ideas, but especially Bernhard's way of teaching everyday (which I completely believe in), could never happen for me (it seems) on account of a general lack of interest, time and trust from students and parents.  

I feel all tangled up so I am going to stop writing now...


Maylafox

[Daevren]

I would love to teach piano.

Currently I am teaching someone theory/harmony and I could probably also teach rock/jazz guitar within a few years.

But I have a long way to go before I can be a piano teacher. Well I am still young...

The great thing about teaching is that for a muscian its one of the few reliable ways to make money. And compared to session work, playing pop music on parties it has a much better influence on your own musical skills.

Plus teaching itself is a good thing to do, sharing knowledge, inspiring the next generation, and also influencing other people with your musical ideas.

Teaching is a good way to have more influence on the development of music as an art form.

I also like teaching, when I read this forum I always thing "I would love it to become a real teacher".

[monk]

Hi Maylafox,

many of the things you write sound familiar to me.

Again and again I have to confront the fact that what I love in music, what interests me in music, is NOT what interests 99,9% of the other people, and will never interest.

From early on, the different intervals, harmonies and rhythms intrigued me; I tried to compose, to improvise; I again and again played through some sonata because of this awesome passage with an interesting modulation or so.

In MOST of my students, this love for the actual sounds and details is NOT there. And I'm mostly UNABLE to do anything about it.

They mostly learn piano because

- the parents tell them that it's good
- they hope to be able to perform in front of people and be applauded
- they heard some crappy, but popular piece and "also want to play that"

And they have mostly NO desire to gain general knowledge, general ability in music; they just want to be able to tinker something well-known with not too much errors.

Like a recorder player I heard in my vicinity: I heard her (improbably him :-)) play some hit melody from the radio. It was in no way more interesting than the tunes in typical recorder books; but I'm sure she had much more fun with this crappy refrain because it's popular. "Wow, I can play something that's on the radio! That's real, not this sh*t in the books of my teacher!"

This is how most people tick. They simply don't recognize real beauty in music or really interesting things, and they don't want to recognize it. For them the social aspect is most important, and really digging into the music - gaining knowledge; practicing regularly; playing unpopular, but good compositions; composing / improvising - is regarded as nerdy as other solitary hobbies like computer programming or assembling little airplane models. Only boys with glasses and pimples who never had a girlfriend do that.

Best Wishes,
Monk

[bernhard]

Not long ago, a student asked me what should he do with his life. University was looming large in the horizon and he had absolutely no idea of what general subject he should go for. A vocational test  - as it is usual in such cases – suggested that he had talents and interests in many areas, and whatever he did he would excel at.

So I asked him to spend the next week observing what was it that he was always doing. I told him that there was something in his life that was very compelling – not necessarily pleasurable or entertaining, but there would be something in his life that he could not help but do. Then I asked him to write down what he would stop doing if he won a huge prize in the lottery, so that money would never be an issue ever again. And I told him to come back and tell me in one week’s time.

The reason I teach, is simply because once upon a time I considered these two questions and took very seriously indeed the answer to them.

I have no memories of a time when I was not teaching. Even as a toddler I was teaching the other toddlers. Even when I did not know anything about a subject I had a compelling desire to explain it to others. However it took me many years for this simple and completely obvious truth to dawn on me – to the point that I spent many years working on things that were completely unrelated to teaching.

And if I did won the lottery I would still teach (albeit in a much different manner – piano camps in the Caribbean – Champagne and caviar on the waiting room – this sort of thing).

So when the student came back after one week, he had his answer, and he told me. And I told him: Excellent, this is what you should do. Now we have to figure out how you can make people pay you good money for it!

Here then is why I teach: Because this is what I do all the time anyway, so I might as well get paid for it. (Incidentally this gives a huge hint for those who entertain ideas of becoming concert pianists: is that what you are always doing? Performing for people? If performing is a dreadful occurrence in your life, then sorry, but you are in the domain of fantasy and either you are never going to make it, or if you do make it your life will be miserable and not worth living).

Now for my inspirational words.

If you were a doctor, would you only treat the healthy? If you were a psychiatrist/psychologist/psychotherapist, would you only hale the “normal”?

Having taught for many years in different circumstances, I came to the conclusion that in a class there will be three categories of students:

1.      The “geniuses”, people so disciplined and focused and talented that they will excel in whatever subject they apply themselves to, usually not because of the teacher but more often than not, in spite of him/her. Truly, they do not need a teacher to teach them anything, but a teacher can be very helpful to show them that the subject exists. Such a student may have a natural technique, but a teacher can be invaluable in introducing them to challenging repertory that they do no know exist, for instance. A lot of teachers fantasise about only having this sort of student. In fact some teachers will only accept this sort of student quite simply because they are less work. This is the equivalent of a medical doctor only accepting patients that are in perfect health and them bragging about his healing prowess (“Just look a t may patients! They are never sick”).

2.      Then you have the average student, who is willing to follow instructions, and by hard work and by following your instructions, they excel. However without your teaching they would not go very far. This is a very satisfying sort of student. You can see their progress. You can see how much of that progress is your doing. And they see it too, and they are appreciative and grateful. They are the ones who spread the word about you and get you new students.

3.      Finally you have the students from hell. They are there because they are being forced to. They are opinionated, yet ignorant.  They show no appreciation for your efforts. They are never grateful. They find everything boring. You dread their lessons. You know they are going to sap your energy and deeply depress ad demoralise you. They have no talent and yet they believe they are little Mozarts. If it wasn’t for you pushing and cajoling they would never put a minute of practice in the month. They are the mythical Sysiphus stone. You roll them up the hill every lesson, just to see them roll back again during the week. And yet these are the students that need you the most. Because without you they will never amount to anything, even though they may never realise it. As a teacher, this is actually your job: to help these impossible cases. So roll your sleeves and relish it. (Not very inspirational, I know, but hey, I tried!)



Post-scriptum: I started this post about two days ago, and got side-tracked. Then this morning I read Swan’s beautiful post, and I thought I had nothing to add with what I had written above – she had basically said it all. On the other hand I was amazed at how much of what she said was exactly what I said. So I decided to post it after all. Then I just read your replies. So I will post this and get back to you.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[monk]

Hi Bernhard,

I agree with you, except that what you call "average student" is in my experience a rare case.
I have mostly "students from hell", and that seems to be the average.

The halfway talented students almost always go to the well-known classical teachers. Most people who come to me think that, because I am mainly a jazz/rock/pop pianist, they don't need to practice so much and do not need to practice technique or classical pieces. In fact, I have many students who were dissatisfied with "classical" lessons and who were searching for another style to play. Unfortunately they mostly are lazy and un-dedicated.

And the little children often are not supervised enough by their parents when practicing at home. So they often come to the lessons, not having practiced, sometimes even not remembering what they were assigned or having "forgotten" their assignment booklet in which I exactly notate the things they have to practice. The parents often don't look into the booklet, and if they don't understand something or problems occur, they NEVER call me, although I encourage that.

Best Wishes,
Monk

[bernhard]

Hi Bernhard,

I agree with you, except that what you call "average student" is in my experience a rare case.
I have mostly "students from hell", and that seems to be the average.

I agree completely with you. By average I did not mean numbers, but average talent.

You are right, the students from hell far outnumber all others.

[bernhard]

Ok. I will give you some very practical and down to earth advice now. I will show you the ropes and how to get there.

1.      If you want to adopt my way of having daily  lessons (or any other way that is different from what you are doing right now), you must not postpone it. You must start immediately. But how are you going to do that? By not accepting any new student unless they are prepared to accept your new policies Keep your old students in whatever system you have them now – I understand you cannot afford to loose them – But do not accept any new student unless it is under the new system. You must be firm on this one, and I know it is going to be very difficult, especially when it looks like we are losing students and have no one replacing them. I was exactly in the same situation once upon a time. I could not afford to lose students, and yet I could not go on with the usual lesson format anymore – it was killing me.

So every new enquiry I got I would send my new information just to see it turned down. It took almost two years for one student to decide to go for it. I could tell you that during these two years I had doubts, but that is not really true. The truth is that I could not care less, because I had concluded that a student/parent who does not want to abide by a simple, logical and efficient policy was going to be trouble.

Take for instance my simple requirement that lessons be paid monthly, all months of the year in advance. Anyone who does not accept these simple terms will try to take me for a ride. So I do not care for this kind of student. So my policy became a sieve to separate the gold from the shaft. Will you loose many new students? Undoubtedly – 90% of the people who make enquiries about my course never come back. But it is my firm belief that I am better off without them.

So, my situation was that I was ladled with a bunch of losers whom I could not afford to loose. But there was no reason for me to keep accepting them. So one particular day – after a similar experience to yours – I decided I had enough. I got home (I was pretty pissed off – you see I don’t get depressed – I get mad!) and made a new policy and laid down the law exactly as I wanted it. Since I own my business that is my prerogative! I will do whatever I want, and if people don’t like it, no one forces them to nave lessons with me. That day I looked at that first policy (which has been much modified over the years) and I solemnly promised myself that from now on I would only accept students who would abide by it.

2.      I was so sure that it would work, that I knew that all I needed was one single student. I waited for two years. Then I got two students. A six year-old Chinese boy (who spoke almost no English) whose parents were in the UK for 18 months only. They could not find any teacher who would take him because he would be going away soon, and all other teachers wanted a long term commitment. I jumped at that opportunity, because I knew what I could do to him in 18 months if the parents would just let me. As luck would have it, they did let me. And although my policy stated 15 minute lessons every day, I had too much at stake, so I gave him about one hour everyday. And I did something really important: I videotaped him every 3 months. The boy was no prodigy, but he was very sweet and obedient. Mother was also a great help, staying through the lessons and repeating what we had done at the lesson everyday after I left. That videotape made all the difference – more about that in a minute. This was 12 years ago, and now that boy is Yundi li. He he, just joking! ;D Couldn’t resist it.

The second student I got, exactly at the same time was an old guy, retired in his 60s. He had a peculiar problem: no short-term memory. He could remember quotes from books, poetry from 30 years ago, his whole history and the history of his family, but anything he learned today was completely gone by tomorrow. I taught him for 5 years. It was the toughest assignment of my whole life. I would go to his house (if he left the house he could not find his way back – he forgot), and teach him every day for two hours early in the morning. The next day I would knock at his door and he would not know who I was. We spend almost a year for him to simply be able to play a C major scale over one octave. He could not remember the notes or the fingering. Every morning I would have to repeat everything again. But being the kind of guy I am, I would devise all sorts of ways to jolt his memory. His sister was a retired piano teacher, and she did not take me seriously. But after five years, he was playing (both reading and from memory):

Hammerschmidt – Sarabande
Hook – Gavotte in C op. 81 no. 3
Turk – Little Waltz
Pamela Wedgewood – Pluto
Anon. – Adagio (a Baroque piece)
Lushtak – running and skipping
Mike Cornick – Mellow fellow
Howard Skempton – Saltaire Melody
Shostakovitch – Lullaby
Schumann – Of Strange lands and people
Mozart – Variations ah je vous dirais je maman – theme, variations 1 and 2
Burgmuller - Innocence
Grieg – Arietta
Leopold Mozart (form the Nannerl book) Allegro
Chopin – Prelude Op. 28 no. 7
Chopin – Waltz in Aminor (Op. posth.)
Schumann - Traumerei
Mendelssohn – Song without words op. 19 no. 1

(Progressive order of difficulty)

His sister was suitalbly gobsmacked, which pleased me no end.

But I am digressing.

The point is, after I had these two students everything changed. The Chinese boy after 6 months was playing grade 4 pieces, and when he played some of the stuff at his school no one could believe he had been learning the piano for only six months (there were girls there that had been learning for 6 – 7 years and could not play the stuff he was playing).

That is when it all started. In those days I made a point of interviewing the parents. I was dying for new students, things were really tough, but it was very important to give the impression of success. My general attitude was polite but the undertones were that I couldn’t really care less if the parents wanted to enrol my services or not.

In the interview I would open a drawer full of video tapes, pick one randomly and say, “here is one of my students”. It was the Chinese boy tape (the only tape in the drawer that had any piano he he). But I was the only one who knew that. Any one who saw that tape was hooked. It was that simple.

3.      In the meantime, as I started enrolling more and more students on the new method, I started getting rid of the losers. It was simple. I offered them a choice: they could be transferred to the new system, or they could look for another teacher.

I started with my very worst students, the ones I never wanted to see again, and bit by bit (it took about three years) everyone was in the new method. Because it was (is) such a break from the traditional way, it also meant that suddenly I was offering something that no other teacher was offering. And because of the way it goes, I would accept anyone irrespective of talent, because I don’t believe in talent anyway. Or let us say that I believe in talent for hard work.

4.      I have never advertised. All my students came through word of mouth.

5.      I am completely professional. My fees are not for discussion, my methods are not up for discussion, I am the supreme authority. I make all this abundantly clear (my information sheet has 14 pages).

6.      I always teach from home now for the simple reason that I do not have time to go to students houses.

7.      I have never used methods. My goal is always the piece the student wants to learn, and I will use any artifice/subterfuge at my disposal to get the student there. Most of them I learned myself as I was teaching. I am never afraid to try new things, and I will shamelessly use my students as guinea pigs. What works I keep, what does not I throw away. If a student wants to do an exam, he must be completely prepared by the enrolment date (usually 2 months before the actual exam). If s/he is not I will not enrol him/her. Why should I go through 2 months of stress and extra lessons? I will do my best to have the student ready on time, but they must do their part, after all they have two full years to learn a bunch of scales and three pieces. I give them homework, CDs, articles to read detailing how to learn new pieces, the whole package. And I expect them to work hard at it, and usually they do. If they don’t they must go back to daily lessons (they hate this so much that they soon mend their ways). Yet most of my students are the mythical Sysiphus stone. I am constantly carry them up the hill. I dream of the day when they will climb that hill by themselves. When they do I get rid of them: they are not the ones who need me now.

I hope this helps, and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have,

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[Swan]

Maylafox, I really feel for you at the moment.  

My teaching degree to a large extent was a waste of time, but I remember one particular tute dealing with 'what are you going to do when your ideals don't work'.  I thought, what do you mean, they don't work, of course they'll work!

One of my ideals was to never use writing as a form of punishment.  Well, first year as a teacher, and what did I do, used writing as a form of punishment  It worked so well!

I was disappointed and thought, what I want to achieve won't work, and resorted to what was 'easy'.

Remember those lucky starfish who were thrown back into the ocean.  Well the truth is, most of them died from exhuastion, and others were eaten by sharks!  But it didn't stop the men from throwing them back into the ocean.

Then, toward the end of the lesson, to my surprise the other sister shows up afterall.

Yes, human beings can be perplexing.  It won't be the last time that one of them does something to make you want to burst into tears, scream or quit.

What has helped me is 'stepping away' from the emotion and stop trying to work out why people do the things they do.  I just focus on what I can do.  Bend over, pick up a starfish and throw it into the ocean!

 she had no idea why she was there, nor did I and she seemed to be on the brink of tears the entire time

is my responsibility as the teacher to help a student find their inspiration and love for the art,

I am a person before I'm a 'teacher, and the child/adult is a person before they're a student'.  You mentioned the word love.  I believe it's important to first show love of people, then of music, then of piano.

If a young person came to me and were on the brink of tears, then a part of striving for 'excellence' in my 'job' would be first of all to empathise, comfort, show compassion to the person.  It may mean no piano playing at all!  If you can do this (just like scales, takes practise to get it right), then anger, frustration and disillusionment disipates.  Would you then need to feel guilty about taking their money?  Absolutely not!  You've probably given the child the most important lesson of their life - that there are compassionate caring adults in a world  - as you've alluded to - that is not full of them!  Hopefully the child remembers this and is something that he/she would wish to emulate.  You may never see this child again, they may never sit at a piano again and they may grow up to be a grannie beating junkie!  But you did what you could - your threw the starfish back into the ocean.

I have read a portion of what Bernhard has generously provided.  While I respect and appreciate and agree with most of it, I don't really know how to put it into action.

Patience, trial and error, lots of mistakes, getting it wrong, trying other things, seeing what works and what doesn't.  The ole saying "Rome wasn't built in a day" has stuck around for a reason.

Bernhard talked about teachers who drive to student's houses and some other things that I can't remember right now.  On the brink of vommitting with shame, I am one of those teachers.

It's so unfair to compare yourself with Bernhard who's already had years of the 'experimenting, stuff ups, things gone wrong, not working," stage.  He's in a place now where what he does works for him and gives him a sense of satisfaction.

We are all different.  Trying to implement Bernhard's exact way of doing things just won't work.  You don't have the same personality, the same presense (men seem to have a natural 'air of authority - I saw that in schools), the same circumstances, the same resources.

All you can do is take the ideas you like and adapt them to suit you.  Try something, and if it doesn't work with one student, try it with the next student and so on.  If you've given it a fair testing, and it doesn't work, move on to something else, or try it in a different way.

I greatly admire and respect Bernhard's 'every day lessons', but it's something I haven't tried because it's not the way I want to do things.  It doesnt mean I'm a lousey teacher.  If you don't do things Bernhard's way, it doens't mean you're a lousey teacher.  The fact is, we are all bending over, pickng up those star fish and throwing them into the ocean.  

Mayla I've written some articles that may be of some help to you.  They're not meant to be definitive, just food for thought.  

TEN WAYS FOR TEACHERS TO REMAIN MOTIVATED
http://pianoeducation.org/pnotmo10.html

TOP TEN QUALITIES OF A PIANO TEACHER
http://pianoeducation.org/pnotttea.html

PLANNING A CAREER IN MUSIC TEACHING
http://pianoeducation.org/pnotplan.html

All the best Maylafox and keep us 'posted'.  

[Swan]

They simply don't recognize real beauty in music or really interesting things, and they don't want to recognize it.

Very true in too many cases.  BUT!   it shouldn't stop us from striving to help them find the beauty, helping them develop a discerning sense of style and all those other warm fuzzy things we wish for them.

I had an experience just yesterday where I had to 'step away from the emotion'  of a one of those   parents, and focus on what I could do about a situation.

I spent over an hour arranging a 'pop' song on finale (yes, originally with words to be sung - I know how sensitive some of you are about the word 'song') for a student who's parent thinks they're losing interest because of the repertoire she's been given.  This particular song was mentioned as a favourite, so I arranged a version that we can both be happy with.  If it doesn't work, I'll try something else, and if that doesn't work, then I'll wish the girl all the best and hope she enjoys whatever it is she wishes to do with her time... if she decides that playing the piano is not for her .. at this particular time in life.  I quit the piano three times while I was growing up  

[bernhard]

Mayla:

Here are some things that Swan said above, and which I would like to comment further.

It's so unfair to compare yourself with Bernhard who's already had years of the 'experimenting, stuff ups, things gone wrong, not working," stage.  He's in a place now where what he does works for him and gives him a sense of satisfaction.

We are all different.  Trying to implement Bernhard's exact way of doing things just won't work.  You don't have the same personality, the same presense (men seem to have a natural 'air of authority - I saw that in schools), the same circumstances, the same resources.

Swan is absolutely right, and I don’t want to give you the impression that I am in the business of creating clones (This has already been arranged he he ).

You must draw your own policy, your own “ideal” way of teaching and implement it. And none of it is written in stone. If it is not working, change it (we can never predict all of the unintended consequences of our most brilliant ideas). Some teachers love games (of the kind you can find in Michio Yurko’s “Music mind games”). I tried that approach myself but I could not do it without a great effort. Such a great effort actually, that is impaired my ability as a teacher. Yet her ideas are brilliant, and some teachers will thrive on them and develop exceedingly excellent teaching environments. I love some of Susuki’s ideas, but I found that I could not work with one of the basic ones, which is to delay sight reading. Some Susuki students will go for up to two years learning by ear before they start sight-reading. I can appreciate the logic, I can appreciate that some teachers adapt well to it and get superlative results. But when I tried it my results were mediocre, partly because I love scores. It was driving me up the wall not to be able to do score work (which I value highly). So now I start building up to reading skills from the very first lesson. This is not a comment on Susuki, it is a comment on me. Likewise, chances are that no matter how much you may like the ideas behind my way of teaching, they will not work as well for you (or for anyone else) without modifying them to suit your personality.

Incidentally this is one of the reasons I don’t buy this idea of “Russian School” or “French school”, etc. Not only I am too much of a buffet eater, as everyone has to adapt whatever methodology there is to their own personalities. I think of it pretty much as writing. The words may be the same, but everyone picks and chooses their favorites, and everyone strings them together differently (otherwise how would I be able to spot straightaway all those members who come back under different names he he ).

So, yes, Swan is very correct and you should listen to her when she says:

All you can do is take the ideas you like and adapt them to suit you.  Try something, and if it doesn't work with one student, try it with the next student and so on.  If you've given it a fair testing, and it doesn't work, move on to something else, or try it in a different way.

 

Finally,

I greatly admire and respect Bernhard's 'every day lessons', but it's something I haven't tried because it's not the way I want to do things.  It doesnt mean I'm a lousey teacher.  If you don't do things Bernhard's way, it doens't mean you're a lousey teacher.  The fact is, we are all bending over, pickng up those star fish and throwing them into the ocean.  

Exactly. This is the absolutely correct attitude (especially the part about admiration and respect, he he ). Consider everything others and I write as suggestions, things to try out so you can figure out if they work for you and for your students (this is also important – you yourself may think you found the perfect method to suit you personally, but what good is it if does not suit the students?)

Now I have to run, some starfishes are calling for me.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[Mayla]

wow!  Okay, I feel less tangled now.  There is a lot to for me to draw from in what you guys/gals have graciously offered, Thank you!

Yes, I do see the need to suit my own studio as I see fit with suggestions that I have been given and can read about.  Sometimes I just get so tangled up thinking that I will spend so much time trying to figure out how to teach that it will be years and years before I actually get to the real teaching.  Too much thinkin