For years, I was a happy student at Piano Career Academy, but I reached a point where I wanted to choose my own pieces, prompting me to search for a new piano teacher. I went through trial lessons with four different teachers before I found D, who taught me a lot (and who I loved a lot), although she overlooked my technique and never commented on my low wrist position - a flaw I was blissfully unaware of.

After two years, I felt that D had imparted all she could teach me, so I began the hunt for another teacher. You might think that I was a concert pianist, the way that I scrutinised potential teachers! No, she has her wrist just a bit too low, no, he doesn't lift his arm gracefully enough, no, she is into Hanon. But most of all, teachers' presentations and their short demonstrations of virtuoso pieces gave me no information at all about their educational approaches.

This spring/summer, I hired and fired two teachers. One was very promising until I found out that she uses Taubman technique and wanted me to drop down on the keys from my elbow. The other was even more promising but she was so intense that I got a brain overload and could not sleep the nights after I had had lessons.

So now I am searching a teacher again. How come it is so hard for me? So many of you write that you have great teachers! What is wrong with me?

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    Hi Animisha

    So what is your level, and what are you aiming to achieve? You do make it sound like your playing is at a high level, as you're talking about specific types of techniques, and appear to have strong opinions on many other aspects of learning Piano.

    Like you, to a large degree, I choose what I play and I'm not dictated to by my Teacher. I found her at the end of 2022, when I re-started classical lessons after a 30 year break. Whilst she isn't a highly qualified Teacher, and certainly isn't a virtuoso, she fits my requirements perfectly. She is very musical and has an understanding of classical Piano (and classical music in general) that I lack, from decades of non-classical playing. I went to her with one objective only, and that was to pass my ABRSM grade 7, which I did last year.

    I only tried one Teacher prior to her and she was clearly not for me, for reasons I won't bore with.

    In the end I suspect I'm easily pleased, and perhaps you're not :-)

    Cheers

    Simon
    All round average Jazz, Blues & Rock player.
    Working towards Trinity ATCL diploma in a few years!

      I have had teachers that didn't work for me, so I get where you're coming from. It can be hard to find a teacher that you "click" with. For years now, I have been in charge of what I work on with my teachers. And I don't play pieces in the traditional repertoire, so any teacher I work with needs to be ok with that. At this point I've been playing for 25 years, so I think most teachers don't find that to be a problem. What works best is when the teacher is open to the music I bring in, and enthusiastic about.

      Separate from that, I don't know how to think about your concerns about the physical aspects of technique, because you focus on it much more than I do.

      But I wonder if your expectations are too fixed, and that might be making it harder for you to find someone to work with.

      Or maybe you've just had a string of bad luck with people that don't meet your needs, and you just need to keep searching.

        Animisha One was very promising until I found out that she uses Taubman technique and wanted me to drop down on the keys from my elbow

        I'm not sure why you object to Taubman technique? I recently learned for about a year from a teacher who helps musicians with ergonomics and it helped me to relax my fingers. I had a floating pinky that would just hang out in the air if it wasn't doing anything, which wasted energy and looked stupid 😆

        If I recall, you're retired and a beginner? If you're never going to be playing very advanced repertoire, it really doesn't matter if your teacher's posture is perfect. They are not concert pianists playing very advanced repertoire and it's unlikely that either of you will become injured though imperfect form.

        I'm sure my posture is far from perfect and some of the stuff I'm playing can be a physical challenge, but I think I do play ergonomically enough to not worry and I've never injured myself from piano (did get close to overstrain when I was practicing 4-6 hours a day trying to get ready for my workshop but then I backed off when I felt my wrists starting to hurt). I do get a lot of tension in my back and shoulders and have to roll it out after every practice, but I think if you can keep your hands and wrists relaxed and use gravity and not muscle force to play forte chords it goes a long way toward not injuring yourself.

        If you can abandon evaluating your teacher as if they were a concert pianist, I think you'd have a much easier time finding someone you like 🙂

          Animisha What is wrong with me?

          Nothing.

          Animisha How come it is so hard for me?

          Inherently, finding teachers who are compatible with our goals can be very challenging. Those who find the "perfect" teacher for them are probably the exception. So the question is more, "how come it is so hard for [almost] everyone?"

          I actually think there's no problem with hiring and firing teachers, even if it feels frequent. What I'd recommend though, is to soak in as much information as you can. That is, discarding all the stuff you find not useful, but retaining whatever is useful.

          Reminds me of reading (practical) books, where I'll skip certain chapters, but still lean in on the chapters that resonate with me.

          My two cents!

            I’m not sure how helpful this will be, but I wanted to give you my perspective. I had three piano teachers as a kid (we moved around a lot) and a couple as an adult re-starter. All of these teachers had quite different personalities and teaching styles, although I can also appreciate certain fundamental similarities in terms of thinking about how to teach piano. Anyways, despite all of them being different, I do think that all of them were/are very good teachers, and I learned a lot from all of them. I am not someone who’s ever really auditioned teachers. The only time I ever decided that a teaching situation wasn’t working for me was with the person I started with as an adult, and that was because his availability significantly decreased, and I wanted more help/support than he could provide.

            I have not sought a very particular list of things in a piano teacher. That said, all of my teachers were/are good pianists and have had good training. I’ve overall tried to always be very open to what they feel they have to teach me at the piano. When I re-started as an adult, I was very willing to do lots of exercises and such, but both the people I’ve had as an adult were not excited to spend their time with me guiding me through exercises and encouraged me to bring what I wanted to play. Again, I would have been very happy to do those exercises (and kind of had expected they would want me to do those, too), but neither of them was keen. So I don’t play exercises.

            My current teacher is a Taubman person. I didn’t start with him because I had an injury or was really keen to learn what Taubman was about. But he was recommended as a good teacher. It was clear from my first lesson that what he really was passionate about was the Taubman approach. He didn’t insist on a full re-training, but we have done a lot of Taubman work, and all my lessons are very much steeped in the language of Taubman. I have found this to be very helpful. I also know that if I was reluctant/not willing to be open-minded about things Taubman, it would have been very hard for me to be happy with this teacher, and I think I would have been struggling with him and myself throughout any relationship we had. Instead, I have learned some pieces with him that were ‘bucket list’ pieces for me — pieces that I really wanted to play but had challenges that I couldn’t solve on my own and hadn’t been able to solve with any other teachers.

            I guess what I’m trying to say is don’t let the perfect (or what you think is perfect) be the enemy of the good. Try to be openminded and meet your teachers half way, exploring, investing, and believing in them and what they can offer you. I think there are lots of teachers who have much more to offer than what we can likely take full advantage of.

              Simonb So what is your level, and what are you aiming to achieve?

              It is completely ridiculous, because I am an early intermediate. I want to achieve the best possible technique that is possible for me to achieve. My motor skills have never been good, so it is a quite a challenge both for me and the teacher...

              ShiroKuro But I wonder if your expectations are too fixed, and that might be making it harder for you to find someone to work with.

              So, so true...

              twocats I'm not sure why you object to Taubman technique?

              The way this teacher taught it, it was too different from the technique that I was taught for so many years at the Piano Career Academy, and I was not willing to throw all my previous technique lessons overboard and learn something completely different.

              twocats If you can abandon evaluating your teacher as if they were a concert pianist, I think you'd have a much easier time finding someone you like 🙂

              Very wise words! Yes, I am retired, and a beginner - well, early intermediate by now, and I will never play advanced repertoire. But, that is the reason why I want to focus on good technique - so I can play my easy pieces as best as I can!

              HeartKeys Animisha What is wrong with me?

              Nothing.

              Thank you for this one!

              Pallas I don't think those other teachers were right for me, for specific-to-me reasons, but I also think I needed to change my own mindset too.

              Yes, I think that is a very accurate description of my situation!

              Sgisela . Try to be openminded and meet your teachers half way, exploring, investing, and believing in them and what they can offer you. I think there are lots of teachers who have much more to offer than what we can likely take full advantage of.

              Also, very wise words.

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                Animisha I am retired, and a beginner - well, early intermediate by now, and I will never play advanced repertoire. But, that is the reason why I want to focus on good technique - so I can play my easy pieces as best as I can!

                I think even if someone teaches "perfect" technique (of course perfect being subjective because there are so many different methods) it's unlikely that you or any other casual amateur would be achieving the finer details anyway 🙂 I put myself in this group, no shade on you! If your teacher shows you how to relax, how to use wrist rotation, how to use gravity to your advantage, I think those are general skills that would be taught by any good teacher.

                But there's so much more to playing as best as you can than trying to analyze a teacher's technique! There are so many musical things like achieving beautiful phrasing and tone, rhythmic and dynamic accuracy, how to play rubato, pedaling, balance between hands, bringing out the melody or inner voices, and much more! In my opinion it's most important that you feel comfortable with your teacher, but next is that you admire and enjoy their playing style. The techniques to achieve beautiful playing in an ergonomic way should come naturally as a part of your learning.

                  Animisha I am an early intermediate. I want to achieve the best possible technique that is possible for me to achieve. My motor skills have never been good

                  Having heard you play, and seen your videos, I would not describe you as someone whose motor skills aren't good.

                  You play very well, you have nice musicality, and you have a high degree of accuracy in your playing.

                  So you have every right to have high expectations for your teacher. And there's no reason to limit yourself by settling for a teacher that's a mismatch.

                  That said, you're having a hard time finding someone who's a good fit, so it makes sense to try to rethink how you select a piano teacher.

                    Thank you for your validation, twocats , and thank you so much for your kind words ShiroKuro. They have been with me this whole day.

                    I always feel a bit embarrassed when other pianists watch my videos, because I think they can hear and see that I am not very good. So thank you very much! ☺️

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                    I used to be embarrassed to play for other musicians as well, but at some point I realized, we are each other's best audience! 🙂

                    I found a new piano teacher. She doesn't know about it yet, because I will be travelling too much during October, so it is not the right time for contacting her.
                    In the meantime, I am in dire need of feedback and I took three months with Zachary Deak at Artist Works. I get to send five videos of pieces of my own choice, and he'll give feedback. I immediately sent a video and this morning, I got my first feedback. Straight forward, clear feedback, about five or six things I need to work with - cleaner pedalling, do not rush from one measure to the other, bring out the left hand a little bit more, etc.
                    Very satisfied!

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                      I couldn't come to terms with my first piano teacher. I have learned very much via various online sources but I look forward to hearing about your experience with Zachary Deak at Artist Works. I see you are somewhat the same place as I am level-wise. It looks like he is focused on classical work, that's very important to me.

                        Swallowtail

                        The lessons are mostly about classical work, but he told me that it is fine to chose your own pieces and send him the music, which is what I did.
                        I have previously studied with Christie Peery (also at Artist Works), and she was much more strict and had a system with certifications. The feedback from Zachary was much more relaxed, in a good way.

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                        6 days later

                        Swallowtail

                        Now I had my second feedback from Zachary. I am very satisfied!

                        I had originally thought that I would just have three months with him, with up to five video submissions and then hire a new online teacher, but I am seriously considering instead to buy a year with Zachary with unlimited video submissions. Unlike some of you, I don't actually enjoy piano lessons - to me they are a source of stress.

                        When I was a student of Christie Peery, she basically said, -It is no use to send a video unless you think it is perfect. With Zachary, for both the videos I sent, my question was: -What should I work with when polishing this piece? So the videos I sent were not perfect, and that is fine for him.

                        Also, this feedback suits me because I can keep my own practice schedule and I don't have a teacher who asks me to play through a piece before I am ready to play through, or a teacher who argues with me that I should play contrary scales (which I think is a waste of my time).

                        PS He also has lessons, but I am not interested in them, I prefer to play pieces of my own choice - which he allows.

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                          Pallas

                          Thank you so much, that is soooo kind of you! ❤️❤️❤️

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                          Animisha When I was a student of Christie Peery, she basically said, -It is no use to send a video unless you think it is perfect

                          That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard! The teacher should be helping you improve, so of course what you send won’t be perfect. Good grief!

                          I hope it continues to go well with Zachery!

                            Animisha PS He also has lessons, but I am not interested in them, I prefer to play pieces of my own choice.

                            It's so great that you found someone you like! Are you sure that his lessons will force you to play pieces of his choosing? You can always ask!

                              twocats Artistworks (where Zachary Deak teaches online) has a model where they have pre-taped, detailed lessons that he has put together. So I think what @Animisha meant was that the curriculum lessons are set. But she is allowed to submit anything outside the curriculum for review, and he is happy to give feedback.

                              Totally agree that it makes no sense to have lessons on things that are perfect! The point of lessons is to work through problems.

                                Animisha When I was a student of Christie Peery, she basically said, -It is no use to send a video unless you think it is perfect.

                                ShiroKuro That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard! The teacher should be helping you improve, so of course what you send won’t be perfect. Good grief!

                                It was not that bad. For the first eight pieces, she had made very elaborate lessons, and if you did exactly what she said, she would give you a pass. For all other pieces, she had recorded them, both a moderate tempo version and a final tempo version. You were also supposed to watch the feedback that she had given to other students. Then, if you played the piece correctly on your first submission, you got "Peery Certified High Honors".
                                Students who followed her program did improve. However, I never felt happy with her system.

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