Your typical lesson ?

[m19834]

I would like to know what was/is for you a typical lesson experience.  What is/was your interaction like with your teacher ?  What happens when you walk through the door ?  Do lessons start on time ?  Any and every detail you would like to provide.

Thanks,
Karli

[pianochick93]

I walk in the door, we pretty much get started satraight away, though we talk lots about random stuff first. We are generally very chatty and talkative as well.
We run through a couple of scales first then do pieces. We often run about 5 minutes overtime.

[ryanyee]

walk through the door, sit down, play for the teacher, hear what he has to say, goodbye! all in 1 hr! and for 80 dollars a lesson!

[nyonyo]

Open the door, start the lesson right away or wait for the previous student if any.
I like to listen to other people lesson. Most of his students do not come on time. I always come on time.

If there is nobody before me, our lesson starts right away. Oops forget, he always needs a minute or two to blow his nose. I do not know why, but he always excuses himself to do that. Then we start the lesson, the lesson is always intense and rewarding, I never felt the $80 is wasted. He will remind me if I forgot to give the $80 before I left.

Two months ago, he forced me to take lesson every week so I obliged to his request, otherwise, he might get upset and kick me out. Finally, to avoid this, I just told him that I cannot afford taking lesson every week. Actually, I can afford, just I do not have time to practice that much. But if I used this argument, he would argue back. So once I said I do not have money, he stops bothering me. 

[shortyshort]

I've only had a few in the last couple of years. 

I play what I have learned since last time. (maybe 6 months). 

I receive comments and advice. 

Then I go home and make sure I remember it. 

[nia_kurniati]

Open the door, say hi ... we talk a little bit but then I have to find a way so we can go to the lesson right away, otherwise she will talk and talk and talk.
So at first scales and arpeggio, then technique piece, then the piece. But sometimes jumps to the piece without technique.
She always teach me hand separately to know the right fingering then both hands then add the tempo right away. But in per phrase, she can do the same phrase for weeks if I still cannot play it well. Then go to other phrase and so on.
We dont have note book, so yes I have to remember all she said when practicing at home.
It run about 45-60 minutes.
80 dollar ...? I pay 30$ fo twice a month.

[lloyd]

I am at school, so my lessons come to 10$  .  But my piano teacher and I are close, so I scheduled mine for her last lesson slot so we have time to talk.  I show up early, listen to her second to last student for a bit.  My lessons starts and we talk about our week and we exchange stock tips (I'm a finance student).  We get to the lesson (sometimes) and I play the piece I'm working on. I take the constructive criticism along with whatever exercises she thinks would go well with what I'm struggling on.  somehow that takes an hour.

[opus57]

Well...
I drive there with my bicycle and before going inside I try to relax a little bit (I don't like shortness pof breath while talking to others). Then I walk through the door, say hello, ask for a glass of water (because I'm always thirsty after cycling) and a handkerchief. After we talked a while about this and that and I drank my water and smoked a cigarette, we start to play the piano. After a short warm-up I play the things I was supposed to practice and listen carefully to that, what my teacher tells me about. Then it always occures, that I practiced not exactly, what my teacher told me to and that I had not enough time during the week to prepare my pieces the way my teacher an I would have liked to... we discuss also a lot about the historic consens of my pieces and the different ways of playing them. I can happen too, that we watch youtube-videos or listen to recordings...

But all in all, the lessons were very funny and always very "instuctive"...

My teacher is the most patient and humorous person I know, so we don't have any problems with my inconequence in praticing

[ryanyee]

Open the door, say hi ... we talk a little bit but then I have to find a way so we can go to the lesson right away, otherwise she will talk and talk and talk.
So at first scales and arpeggio, then technique piece, then the piece. But sometimes jumps to the piece without technique.
She always teach me hand separately to know the right fingering then both hands then add the tempo right away. But in per phrase, she can do the same phrase for weeks if I still cannot play it well. Then go to other phrase and so on.
We dont have note book, so yes I have to remember all she said when practicing at home.
It run about 45-60 minutes.
80 dollar ...? I pay 30$ fo twice a month.

30? u kidding me? where the hell do u come from?

[nia_kurniati]

Jakarta, Indonesia 
Its true, 30 USD for twice a month. My teacher is very good. She is old with lots of experiences. Senior teacher in our music courses. We teachers at that course taking private lesson with her.

[ryanyee]

blow me down! some easy life u must live there.

[pianochick93]

For a 3/4 of an hour lesson once a week I only pay $17.50.

[ryanyee]

!!!!! really?? lessons in australia are that cheap? but the teacher should still be very qualified arent they? thought fees there would be say 80 dollars for an hr's lesson as well. really surprising!

[pianochick93]

!!!!! really?? lessons in australia are that cheap? but the teacher should still be very qualified arent they? thought fees there would be say 80 dollars for an hr's lesson as well. really surprising!

No, most teachers are about $22 for half an hour, but we couldn't really afford that, so we found a cheaper one. She hasn't got a degree yet but she's getting one, and I'm not really intending to take piano anywhere except as something I like to do for myself, so I don't need a super qualified teacher.

[mike_lang]

I walk in, he leaves for a couple of minutes, then he comes back and we eat bagels, then we look at things on youtube, then I play for a few minutes, then we talk about related and unrelated things for 45 minutes or so, then I play for a few more minutes, more tangents (30-45 min.), a little more playing, and the lesson is over.

[healdie]

Mine are only 1/2 an hour long but the teacher is not much of a cominucator (niether am i so it suits me) so there is no pre lesson discussion we start straight away and focus on the aspects of my laying that need the most work and attention as 1/2 an hour is not long enough to cover everything that i am studying, then i leave without much of a farewell

[amelialw]

for now i'm prepping for my ARCT Performer's exam.anyway my weekly lesson is a 1 and a half to 2 hrs.

typically, this is what happens. before the lessons starts we chat for a little while, about how i'm coping, my goals, what i want to get done during the lesson or what i need help with. She will talk to me about a few other things as well.

we usually start the lesson after that and she will ask me to play something if i need to warm up my hands but we try to avoid that now since i won't be able to do it during the exam.

after that she will give me an hour to play all of my pieces in whatever order that i've planned and i can do anything in between since my pieces only last for 45 mins.

this is the order that i play my pieces in:
Bach Partita no.2 in c- (Sinfonia) BWV 826
Haydn Sonata in E flat+ Hob.XVI/49;L/59
Chopin Etude in F+ op.10 no.8
Rachmaninoff Prelude in g sharp- op.32 no.12
Prokofiev Visions Fugatives nos.3,5,8&10
Mendelssohn Andante& Rondo Cappriccioso op.14

after that she will give me her view/opinion on the whole performance and tell me what a strict examiner would give me

she will then go through the pieces one by one and help me with what i need to work on

that's just for now.

[nia_kurniati]

blow me down! some easy life u must live there.

Not that easy, 2 days ago our gasoline has go up almost 30%, means everything will be more expensive 

Usually in many music course, 30 USD is for 4 times/month for about 30-45 minutes/lesson. But since my teacher is senior and qualified enough she got that for twice a month.

Here for pianist concert they asked 50-100 USD for an hour too.

[nia_kurniati]

For a 3/4 of an hour lesson once a week I only pay $17.50.

Not much different than mine ..

[xpjamiexd]

Typically for me...............

Go in sit down at the piano run through some scales and arpeggios and maybe sometimes legato exercises, then begin practicing my pieces and my teacher would usually comment on my technique, phrasing etc and if I was doing anything wrong she would show me what it was and explain how to correct it. Then at the end of the lesson she would ask if there was anything I wanted to know for instance I asked abut Sonata Form or I would bring a score for her to look at and she would usually play it through for me and explain about it.

[db05]

I just have to say, I might have the cheapest lessons here.

Assume that $1 = P50
I'm taking a music course that costs P12000 per semester. That includes 20 hours major instrument, 10 hours minor, 1 hour a week. Plus the theories and other lessons, about 7 hours a week.

P12000 = $240
$240/ 30 is just $8 per hour. But factor in the classes:
$240/30 + 7 x 20 = around $1.5 per hour (edit: made a boo-boo in calculation )

This is the cheapest here perhaps, unless you're a scholar at a music high/ college/ conservatory.

The lessons? First, attendance sheet. We follow the curriculum. Hanon, scale, arpeggio, Czerny, Clementi (sonatina), Bach (first lessons), piece (if there is time). Usually I don't get to do a piece. Some discussion, usually about how frustrated I am with my playing or how she is frustrated with the teaching standards here currently. Turns out some who teach piano at our school aren't piano majors, and are not very good. So for now, they're not allowed to teach piano until they pass an exam/ audition. Or she'd talk about my classmate being always absent. Students enrolled in the course would forfeit the lesson in case of unexcused absence... tsk tsk.

[momopi]

@db05 :where do you live?

[db05]

@db05 :where do you live?

Philippines. Am studying at Yamaha School.
University of the Philippines might be cheaper, but you'd have to be advanced.

[kelly_kelly]

I come in and wait a few minutes for the previous student. After she is done teaching, my teacher greets me and asks how I am. If she knows I have been doing something specific, she asks about it. She also tells me about any concerts she thinks I might be interested in. This takes no more than 3 minutes. We then outline the lesson (i.e. order in which we'll work on my pieces). Generally she spends a lot of time on whichever piece we decide to do first, and there is only a little time for the second piece. At the end, by which time the next student has already arrived, she asks me to play one of the pieces I have learned completely, and she gives me some brief tips. We end up going about 5 minutes overtime, unless I am the last student, in which case we have gone up to 15 minutes over. Not including overtime, the lesson lasts an hour.

[tsagari]

I come in we talk talk talk make a coffee - most of the time I am the first lesson of the day - and then we start with scales and arpeggios she says slower or nothing or m.m. or o.k. then somes teqnical exersises - some set of notes played in different rythmical patterns - and then we move to Czerny, she gives advice on how to deal with difficult parts, increase speed etc and then we move to Bach she makes comments on interpretation, phrases speed different ways to study the piece for next time etc, finaly a sonata or some sort of long piece with more or less the simiral comments. I play parts of piece again if she wants a different way of playing ect. We always talk in between I express my problems concerning the pieces or my anger if my performance does not meet my expectations. When the lesson goes ok I am happy if not a I am    because I work very hard between lessons but I have a terrible teacher fright most of the time. Most of the time we rush at the last piece because the one who is after me has arrived. I feel frastration and I cann't concentrate. And this how the one hour session ends. And if you are interested in fees around the world that costs 120 Euros per month for 1 hour lesson per week

[momopi]

Philippines. Am studying at Yamaha School.
University of the Philippines might be cheaper, but you'd have to be advanced.

Yes of course. A number 1 university is not for everyone, I understand.
Just how many hours do you study in a week? You're still in high school?

Once a week class is fine with me. Are the teachers any good? Right now we stopped because I'm busy with research. I'm an adult learner by the way. 

[db05]

Yes of course. A number 1 university is not for everyone, I understand.
Just how many hours do you study in a week? You're still in high school?

Once a week class is fine with me. Are the teachers any good? Right now we stopped because I'm busy with research. I'm an adult learner by the way. 

I finished high school already, and this course is all that's keeping me busy. So it's 7-8 hours a week at school, or do you mean how much I study at home?? 

[momopi]

Wow, only 7-8 hours a week. I envy you. 

[db05]

Wow, only 7-8 hours a week. I envy you. 

Don't. Truth is, I can't stand being around people for very long.

[tds]

What is/was your interaction like with your teacher ? 

we fought alot..haha

[concerto_love]

hehehehe, fighting with my mom, "I dun wanna goooo!!!" 

[allemande]

I usually arrive early, and just sit and wait for my teacher to finish with the student she's with. Then we talk briefly for a moment while i take out all my sheet music and place them on the piano. I always ask her what she wants to start with, and then we begin. Lessons are very intense, she's very demanding and she always stops me, almost at every bar (or phrase or passage) to discuss it, to correct things, to work on technical aspects as well as musical aspects. We are always talking and playing and discussing things during the whole lesson. They are very rewarding and i always feel as if i have a lot more work to do for the next class.

The lesson are once a week and usually last about an hour, because then the other student arrives. If the next student doesn't arrive, we usually keep having a lesson, or just talk and discuss music and random things.

and...it's free!!

[meow0628]

normal

[meli]

We usually start with some casual talk, something related or unrelated to music e.g. some concert. He likes to tells me about some of his students recitals, or exam preparations. I then start playing and it shows how much practice I've done (which hasn't been much lately - so busy teaching too!)    He's nice and doesn't yell at me or get annoyed for not practicing.  We have been doing alot of quick studies (Romantic period pieces now) He will ask me questions on the music form, composers, tricky harmony etc.. then I sight-read it! I am a pretty good sight-reader, so I love it. He then gives me technique tips, 'do it like this' and tells me why i.e. to make the sound broader etc.. Then he will choose a piece, and asks me to prepare it for next week.   

[tylerhink]

1st, to understand this better I must tell you that my piano teacher and I have become very "comfortable" with each-other. And Since she only has about 7 students, she can dedicate more time to all of us.

I come in about 10 minutes early, mostly to talk about our weeks and current events.
Then we sit down at the piano, I play for her the songs I've been working on, and she tells me what I need to improve on.
After that, I play some new pieces.
We always run about 15 min. late, mostly because we talk a lot in between.

[momopi]

we fought alot..haha

sign of love. 

[jepoy]

Right now, I have two teachers: a guy and a lady. The guy charges me about $50 for 4 lessons (about $12.50 for a one-hour lesson). During the first year, our sessions were very straightforward: technicals (scales, arpeggios, etudes), then the assigned pieces, usually two. After a couple of years, we've become good friends and we now start with a little chit-chat and after the lessons, we talk some more if he's not in a hurry.

The other one, the lady, is actually a well-known pianist here. She's a performer and doesn't take in students. However, one time, she asked me to play for her and she became very interested in me. She took it upon herself to coach me. She said I have musicality but short on technique. She gives me practice tips, exercises, etc. All for free.

[iheartpiano]

I just started taking lessons again in May.  They are 1/2 hour long, once a week.  We chit chat for a bit in the beginning and afterwards, but for the most part they start and end right on time.

The teacher I have now as me doing more technique than any other teacher I've had in the past.  It's just brutal at times but since it has improved my playing significantly, all I can do is suck it up and do my best.    We spend the first 15 minutes on technique alone, then the last 15 minutes we work on the assigned pieces.  It's either one or two pieces.  She also has me do a little sight reading when we have the time.

[franzliszt2]

I stand in the corridor for ages, because my teachers lessons always over run. Then I go in, say hello, how are you? etc...and then usually tell him what I have been practicing, and then I give him the music, he sits at the other end of the room and I play.....then anything can happen! We usually talk about the piece, go over bits. Then lesson ends, he suggests some things to bring to the next lesson, and then I say bye