Taking lessons from a piano teacher who's 19??

[dreamsofpiano]

I have been looking into piano teachers, and there is one piano teacher who is a freshman at UC Berkeley like myself, her rates seem fair ($30/40min), and she has >12 years of piano experience and holds the highest level of the music teacher's association of california, so I don't doubt her experience, but she is 19 (like me), and my friend (who has been playing for over 10 yrs) said I should be wary of beginning to learn piano from someone who is so young. Should I be? lol Granted, both of us are still teenagers, but she seems very qualified, right? She also says she uses the Step by Step method books and is willing to purchase the books for her students. Her past clients were 8 children (aged 5-8), a 16-year-old, and 4 adults. So...?

[pianistimo]

if she's been taking lessons for a long time, is probably practicing a lot herself, and is teaching as she is - i wouldn't be afraid.  but, don't also be afraid to leave her when you have learned as much as you can from her.  she probably wants you to gain the beginning methods from her anyway - and pass you on to a more qualified teacher.  most 19 year olds know that they aren't 'there' yet and because of that are easier to work with than an older teacher who is impatient to hear beginning songs over and over and work on all the easier stuff.  and, sometimes you get the rare 19 year old that stays in top form and you don't need to leave until much later. 

forgetting age - i think having several teachers gives you several different perspectives.  as you mature in music - you can sort of mush it all together and use what works for you.  it's not like everything is set in stone - even if some things sound like they are at first (which is good).  usually you learn all the rules - and then you learn where you can break them or where you can use little tricks that you were first taught were no nos.

for instance - in the alberti bass of mozart - where you need some musicality and not boom chuck chuck - you can hold the lower most note (fingerpedalling w/out changing finger) and it sounds smoother and more musical.  (don't tell this to your teacher or tell her you know how to play it better - just go along with what she says and then later break the rules sometimes).

i was thinking about this little secret today and thinking - 'why couldn't i figure that out without a teacher?'  (this is a rhetorical question).  i am so lost without my teacher right now - but i need more money.  paid our taxes and this month have some extra bills.  i'm ready to start cleaning houses if i have to - to get some lessons going again.  hopefully, he won't say he's booked solid now (which i imagine he is).  anyway- if you have a good teacher - no matter the age - you just enjoy it while it lasts!

[ted]

Funny you should mention that, Pianistimo. I often use that principle in improvisation - allow the fingers in such passages to dictate their own accents; in my case not necessarily the bottom notes though. It generates a constantly varying succession of off-beat phrases; a sort of rhythmic counterpoint I find very exciting. Then the ear picks up these phrases and uses them as melodies per se. And so it develops after the fashion of a feedback loop.

For me, there's a peculiarly uninteresting quality attached to groups like that when played perfectly evenly.  Of course my sounds are modern rather than classical, but the underlying idea is quite general, it seems to me.

[skyfire]

I would avoid her, because although she may have good playing experience, her teaching experience may be very limited, especially with older people like yourself (as oppossed to kids).  I am sure there are other good teachers that now more about how to teach someone your age and in general

[gyzzzmo]

Dont bother her age, older people arent a guarantee of getting fantastic lessons either.

Is she hot?  that could be an extra stimulans for you to work extra on your lessons 

[cjp_piano]

Yeah, pretty much the age is just a small factor.  I've had young teachers who were incredible and others who stunk.  I've also had "experienced" teachers who were absolutely horrible and ineffective to the Nth degree.

I say try it, you never really know until you have her as a teacher.

[henrah]

My very first teacher was younger than 19 as I was with her a year before she went to University. She was hot too, and that really helped lol
Henrah

[gyzzzmo]

Btw i started giving lessons myself at 18. I noticed i got quite some people who first had lessons at a music school, but hardly had any progression there because the senior teachers werent motivated at all. Though i dont have any diploma at all and have little teaching experience i saw them progressing conciderably.

[elevateme]

well im 17 and i teach and all my pupils have got distinction in exams. so go for it

[invictious]

One MAJOR thing to look out for is musicality. These people tend to be less musically mature and playing late Beethoven Sonatas will sound like a mess, watch out.