Choosing the pieces - Student or Teacher ??

[kghayesh]

When I am choosing new pieces to play, I always come up to this problem. In my mind, I am planning to learn certain pieces. Then, when I go to my teacher to discuss with her the new pieces, I find her telling me "no, I think you should learn this and that......"

I know she is more experienced than me and knows so much more than me, but what makes me annoyed is that suddenly all my plans vanish and turn to another side when I have to obey my teacher and play the pieces she wants me to.

So, I am asking what is usually done between teachers and students. Do Teachers always specify what pieces should the student learn or students are free to play what they want?

[galonia]

Sometimes, if you try the music your teacher suggests, you might find something you like which you didn't even know existed!

I'd suggest that you TRY the pieces your teacher suggests - and I mean, try them properly, do your best to learn them, understand them - and if you find you really can't like a piece, or there is something about it which concerns you, then you should discuss it with your teacher.

As a teacher, I tried to pick pieces which I thought would suit each student's personality, and generally I was on target, but I also knew when to cut my losses, and there's no point pushing on with a piece if a student loathes is so much they don't play it ever.

Of course, the pieces were also picked with educational value in mind - not just developing aspects of technique and musicality, but also developing appreciation of different styles of music.

[cjp_piano]

As a teacher, I usually have a few pieces in mind for a student and then I let them choose from those. 

If they REALLY want to play something, I usually say yes, even if I know it's too hard or too easy or won't fit their hands, or whatever.  They usually figure out at some point that it wasn't the best choice -- a valuable lesson 

[debussy symbolism]

Greetings.

I never object to the pieces my teacher wants me to play, partly, because I like them. Believe me, there is a whallop of pieces I want to play. A teacher picks out the pieces that are as much good for current technique as possible, but if you pick out a piece, it might be either too hard, or too easy. With greater technique, one is faster to learn the desired pieces.

[phil13]

My teacher usually keeps it a good mix of both.

Since I've been learning a particular technique, he will assign certain pieces that help with that technique. (i.e. wrist movement, Chopin 'Aeolian Harp' and Schubert G-flat Impromptu) Also, if I do not know anything about a piece out of a selection, he will choose one for me to learn (preludes and fugues out of the WTC), to get acquainted with the set. (He assigned the last P&F, and once I was finished with it, I chose the next one) After that, I pick most of the other pieces to fill in a consistent learning repertoire.

Also, sometimes he will give me basic instructions for me to elaborate on- i.e. "I want you to go find a Classical piano sonata." So, I look into pieces that are at about my level until I find one, then I return the next week and say, "I found this Beethoven sonata and I would like to play it." Sometimes it's a Romantic miniature, sometimes it's an etude, but the method seems to work pretty well as I am almost never bored with a piece and I consistently show signs of progress.

Phil

[amanfang]

My teacher initially picked most of my music or said that he wanted me to play (for example) a Bach prelude and fugue, and here are 3 choices to choose from.  At first I just played whatever he wanted me to play.  If I absolutely hated something, then it was up for discussion.  Sometimes he would win, and I would just have to get through it as quickly as possible, and sometimes he would not make me play it.  Now, for the most part I pick what I play.  Sometimes, he'll say no to something I choose, and he also suggests things, or helps me find things that will work well with me.  I am about to begin my 6th year of study with my current teacher.  I would say that the 1st two or three years he picked most of what I played (with only a bit of options) and starting the 4th year until now he's let me for the most part pick what I play with his input and suggestion.

[debussy symbolism]

I think that it's important to understand that your teacher knows how to improve your technique. Yes, there are alot of pieces I want to play, but if I would work on them, rather than the more important for the current pieces, then I would not advance as fast.

[bernhard]

I am delighted whenever a student chooses his/her pieces. It means that they love that piece so much that they are prepared to go through the drudgery of practicing it in order to play it. So motivation – the biggest stumbling block in piano learning – vanishes.

My heart sinks whenever I ask a student which piece s/he would like to play, and they shrug their shoulders and say “I don´t know”. I know this is going to be an uphill struggle.

My heart also sinks when the student comes up with “Fur Elise” or the latest Britney Spears single.

So, ideally the student should choose what s/he wants to play, but this choice should not be restricted to a single piece, but a collection of them. Then I can select form this list – knowing that whatever I select the student will be highly motivated to learn – according to:

1.   Pieces I hate – these are out, and hopefully by learning how to learn the other pieces in the list s/he will be able to tackle these other pieces independently on his/her own time.

2.   Pieces that are within the technical range of the student – his selection will be ordered and tackle in order of difficulty so that one piece prepares for the next.

I never tell a student which piece s/he should learn, but I will provide CDs with a large number of pieces for him/her to listen to and choose from if they are musically ignorant.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[Tash]

i like to pick my own pieces, but also get suggestions from by teacher- there's so much out there that i'm not aware of, amd i'm biased towards certain composers, so her input is always good, and she knows if the piece is of a suitable level for me. so we'll be deciding, and i'll be like, ok a romantic piece, i was thinking maybe brahms, and then she'll be like ok go look at the intermezzi, one with a moderate tempo, and find one you like. which is good. in the past with my old teacher and doing grades, she'd suggest certain pieces and i'd give them a try (i didn't know enough until about grade 7 to make my own choice) and if i didn't like it she'd find me something else. but i have never been forced to play something i didn't want (except maybe hanon!). it's ridiculous if you do, because not all pieces suit everybody and that's a really good way to demotivate a student which is never any good

[phil13]

1.   Pieces I hate – these are out, and hopefully by learning how to learn the other pieces in the list s/he will be able to tackle these other pieces independently on his/her own time.

Out of curiosity, what are some of these pieces?

My teacher, by the way, does this too. However, he always reserves one spot in the repertoire for a piece the student desires to play, regardless of its difficulty and its quality in the minds of both student and teacher.

Phil

[bernhard]

Out of curiosity, what are some of these pieces?

Mostly pop stuff and movie themes (Star Wars, Titanic, Britney Spears)

Then over played pieces like Fur Elise, Fantasy Impromptu.

I also dislike intensely facilitated pieces not originally written for the piano (e.g. Beethoven´s 9th symphony theme)

Finally atonal cerebral music that demands enormous investment in time and effort for pithy musical results (Xenakis, Finissy, Stockhausen etc.) I may even listen to this stuff, but I have no desire to play it.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.