I'm sure you've had moments where your teacher says something that catches you off guard or really makes you chuckle. I have and a lot of those little snippets stick in my head for years afterward. We should share them! I'll start.

  1. After playing a recording of a piece, "is that the composer? It's a nice piece but he's not very good, you shouldn't play it that way" (B., my current teacher, talking about Michael Nyman!! 😃 )

  2. After playing a recording of a piece I am considering playing in the next recital: "Do you like that?" (translation, he didn't like it. Also B.) 😆

  3. While discussing concentration challenges with a piece that I was very close to having polished, "Find more things to pay attention to in the music" (Also B., this statement stuck with me because while it seems like simple statement, I think it's actually much more deep and insightful than that).

  4. "All the music you like just sounds like robot-playing." Also "well, you want to play this completely expressionless and without emotion, right?" (um, no, actually... said by C., a previous teacher who was basically a walking microaggression. I didn't take lessons with her for very long...)

For the record, I absolutely love my current teacher, B.. And again for the record, the teacher C. was an absolute horrible person. 😅

BTW I was inspired to start this thread by something @TheBoringPianist said...

My current signature is also a piano teacher quote! The full quote went something along the lines of "You're a smart kid: you learned a lot of notes — and you can play them! But your playing is terribly dull. Fortunately, you're smart, so you can be taught to be interesting!"

Some others from him off the top of my head:

  • "You play a lot of correct notes! But have you ever made things fall off your piano while playing?"
  • "You memorized that really quickly! Would you like to play music for geniuses?" (context: I memorized Prok Op. 2/1 in a week, and he suggested learning Catenaires. I politely declined.)

I've definitely collected some scorchers from other teachers over the years, but many of them were well deserved in retrospect lol.

"You're a smart kid. But your playing is terribly dull."

    TheBoringPianist "You play a lot of correct notes! But have you ever made things fall off your piano while playing?"

    What?! 🤣

    Did that mean "play with more intensity?" or something else? I'm not sure what it could be!

        A recent teacher: "What are you doing with your arm...is that intentional? Did you get that from Youtube?"
        [no it wasn't intentional, but I think I had been watching a Taubman video!]

        Not sure if this counts, but I remember a recital coordinator who, right after every student's performance, always promptly said something nice about the performance like, "Beautifully played", "I loved your energy" "I love how you kept that tempo". It was all children and I was the only adult student, and when my turn came, I bombed. He paused for several seconds and then all he could manage was, "Um...that's a really interesting piece...I have to remember that version." I can chuckle about it now though! 🙂

          After playing the introduction to the Chopin Ballade No.1...." That was really boring". I still remember that 60 years later.

          I don't have any good ones! But when our scary Russian teacher said "not bad... not bad at all" my sister and I were like "she loved it!!".

          I remember one of my teachers talking about Chopin's Minute Waltz ("my-newt" as in "small", not minute as in the time increment) and his joke was that it doesn't take one minute to play, but two-- and he had timed it!

            Me; "I shouldn't play today, I am likely leave blood on the key tops"
            Teacher " It doesn't matter I will wipe it off".

            Context. Earlier that day I had taken a thin slice off the end of a finger and it was bandaged as best I could. Piano teacher had arranged an afternoon concert for her four adult students but only one other and myself were able to attend.

              keff her own piano or someone else's? 😬

                  twocats Did that mean "play with more intensity?" or something else? I'm not sure what it could be!

                  yeah his big thing with me has been getting me to play with more contrast (both loud and soft rather than various shades of mezzo lol) and more intention. Related quote: "If strawberry is my favorite ice cream flavor and you give me chocolate ice cream, will I be unhappy? No! What matters is that we get ice cream!"

                  "You're a smart kid. But your playing is terribly dull."

                      After struggling through something and making a total hash out of it, LL says "Maybe you should leave out the repeats on this one..."

                      After really pouring my heart into something - I think it was one of the Mendelssohn SWoWs - I turn to LL expecting maybe a little praise, and she says, "How loud would you say you are playing?" Of course I was gobsmacked, it was so totally unexpected, since I thought I was playing so well.

                      Then over one of the summers, when we were taking a break from lessons, I learned Grieg's "Gade", which I loved. I was going to impress her by playing it at the first lesson in the fall. What does she say? "That should be a G# in the coda, not a G".

                      Of course she is a great teacher - I took from her for 6 years, and I have sent a couple of adult students to her.

                      LifelongBeginner A recent teacher: "What are you doing with your arm...is that intentional?

                      This is like the inverse of "I meant to do that" when you fall or do something embarrassing! 😃

                      Not sure if this counts, but I remember a recital coordinator who, right after every student's performance, always promptly said something nice about the performance like, "Beautifully played", "I loved your energy" "I love how you kept that tempo". It was all children and I was the only adult student, and when my turn came, I bombed. He paused for several seconds and then all he could manage was, "Um...that's a really interesting piece...I have to remember that version." I can chuckle about it now though!

                      Oh my, that would have been a shock!!

                        twocats when our scary Russian teacher said "not bad... not bad at all" my sister and I were like "she loved it!!".

                        That's the kind of person my PhD advisor was!! (not music related, but basically the same, you at least wanted to know you were on the right track!)

                          These are all great, thanks everyone!! I feel like this is a thread that could keep going for a loooong time!

                          BTW @Sam do you still take lessons, or are you on your own these days?

                          • Sam replied to this.

                            ShiroKuro BTW @Sam do you still take lessons, or are you on your own these days?

                            Nope, after 10 years I am on my own. I do take masterclasses about once a year, and i did a 90 day intensive at Tonebase with a teacher a few months ago.

                                Sam after 10 years I am on my own

                                Do you miss having a teacher?

                                • Sam replied to this.

                                    twocats Her own. If I remember correctly there was just a faint smearing left after I had played a movement from one of the easier Beethoven sonatas. I must go back to that music. The other adult student was a hospital doctor.

                                      ShiroKuro Do you miss having a teacher?

                                      Not really - I am enjoying doing my own thing. I do have a piano performance/piano pedagogy degree. I know what my strengths/weaknesses are. I practice 1.5-2 hours a day, every day. I prepare for and perform in online and live recitals. So I am not your typical adult beginner trying to self-teach...