Piano Video Lesson: Top 5 Piano Teaching Myths

I'm Robert Estrin, you're watching LivingPianos.com. Today is top five piano teaching myths.

Okay, I've got these for you and they're really interesting. The first one is interesting because there's truth behind it in a way, and that is great teachers don't take beginners.

And you know what? When you look at some of the greatest piano students coming out of music conservatories, those teachers, they don't take beginners. They are taking people already at a very, very high level and polishing their work.

I sometimes describe this type of teaching more as coaching because they're already taking somebody who can play on a very high level. If they're doing masters or doctoral work at a major conservatory, they're not showing them the most fundamental things most of the time. So you get the impression that you, to a great teachers, don't teach beginners. Well, how did those students get to that point where they could play on that high level? At some point they had to have a great teacher.

And yeah, teaching beginners can be the most satisfying type of teaching. I know my wife teaches flute and all her best students, with just some notable exceptions, over the years have been people she started. Because if somebody's been playing the flute for a number of years and has a certain embouchure and a certain concept of tone, changing that is much, much more difficult than just starting somebody from scratch and showing them everything to do correctly from the very beginning.

Teaching beginners, I can't tell you how many times I've gotten students from other teachers, and the first lesson is such an eye -opener for them. And they feel like, oh my gosh, I've wasted all these years because nobody ever showed me how to practice before. So it can be a very sad thing.

But great teachers who teach beginners are a blessing and an absolute essential aspect of having great teachers later on who can hone in their playing to make it on an even higher level. So yes, great teachers take beginners.

Thank goodness for that. Next one, every other week lessons don't work.

You know what's really funny? Before I started teaching online, I had that misconception that I thought that it would never work. And the reason is that in the past it seemed that students who had lessons every other week would lose consistency because if they missed a lesson, then it's a month between lessons. And the other thing is trying to gain continuity when you only see them twice a month.

But since I've been teaching online, my Fridays I teach students every other week, and they're doing great. I love teaching them. They all take it seriously. They are there religiously every other week, and it gives them the time to prepare. So I stand corrected. Every other week lessons absolutely can work. You have to have a committed student because if it's somebody who needs motivation, they're not self motivated, it's not going to work because they're going to go, oh my gosh, 10 days have gone by, I got my lesson, I haven't touched the piano. Good luck with that. So obviously you need the right situation, a more serious student who gauges their time, is working on repertoire, but it absolutely can work. Okay, next one, and this one, I want to get your comments on this one, which is great teachers are strict.

And I know there are a lot of parents out there who want a really good teacher for their kids. So they look for somebody who's strict, who's going to give them rules to follow and etudes to do and exercises and not get away with anything. Well, I wouldn't say that being strict is never appropriate with a student. It depends upon the student.

But overall, teaching isn't a matter of throwing something at somebody and having them grasp it. It's more of a two -way street of communication.

Some people will get completely turned off to a strict teacher. While other people may very well welcome it, you've got to find the personality of the student and work with them so that you can find what works for them, find out what ticks in their lives. If somebody hasn't been practicing or they're practicing wrong, find out what's going on, what's preventing them from doing what you're asking of them. Is it that they don't believe you? Is it that they hate the music you're assigning them? Is it that they have a parent or a family member of some sort who is giving them conflicting information? You've got to get into the guts of the student to find out what is ticking. Just as the matter of being very strict and hoping that they'll just listen to you like you're the dictator and they must follow your rules, there must be very close communication. That's the most important element. Being strict or not, that is another story. It depends upon the student. Next one.

Great teachers have a well -formed lesson plan. Now, I say this is a myth. Well, in a way, it is. Now, this isn't to say that great teachers don't have progressive repertoire outlined for students. They don't, that they are missing what techniques must be studied, what theory has to be covered.

But you know what? One size doesn't fit all. While you must have a trajectory of a continuum in repertoire, technique, and music theory, everything must be tailored to the individual student. Everybody's got different realms of experience as well as different aspirations and goals in the piano.

You can't just have a lesson plan. You throw the same thing at every student and expect that to work.

Teachers must listen to their students as much as the students listen to the teachers to get the most out of the experience.

So having a well-formed lesson plan to some extent, but you must be flexible as a teacher in order to meet the needs of each student and not just expect all the students to mold to what you have in mind for them.

Work together as a team. All right.

So those are five aspects of myths in piano teaching. Let's have some more here in the comments at livingpianos.com. Let us know any myths that you can think of that are perpetuated about piano teaching. Again, I'm Robert Estrin. This is LivingPianos as your online piano store. Thanks again, all you subscribers. We'll see you next time.

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