Is it bad to not have a teacher?

[swim4ever_22]

It's been a while since I've posted on the forums, but I'm a college student majoring in  nursing. Because of the demands of my major, I have decided to not take lessons until after I graduate and have a job. I'll be around... 22 or 23. Now, I still want to play and learn pieces on my own and at my own pace. I know basic music theory, how to count notes, time signatures, scales, degrees of the scale, and things like that, but nothing too advanced. I was planning on taking theory classes through my university on the side to keep up with the theory aspect of it, and learn pieces on my own.

Currently, I'm focusing on:
-Sonatina Op. 36 No. 3 by Clementi
-Invention No. 1 by Bach
-A few christmas pieces by Vince Guaraldi

So is it bad that I don't have a teacher? Will I be able to advance and learn these pieces on my own without any guidance? I'd like to know your thoughts on learning the piano and playing without having an instructor.

Thanks in advance.

[mad_max2024]

I would say yes, it is bad.
I have self-taught for a long time before getting a teacher and I can tell you one thing.

You will learn a lot of things the wrong way and you will go through a lot of work trying to fix them afterwards.
If you get used to playing in a specific way, it is very hard to set yourself to play differently, it is like trying to walk in a different way or trying to change your handwriting.
Muscular memory is a hard thing to change, the good thing about having a teacher is that he has made all the mistakes before you and he will point out what you are doing wrong before it becomes a major problem.
He will also help direct which pieces are more appropriate to study so you will develop different aspects of your playing.

It is easy to believe you are playing something correctly in the piano just because it sounds good, but actually to be playing it the wrong way technically. That will bring about difficulties when you try to increase speed or get a different sound in that phrase and find the movements you got used to making before are causing progress to be difficult if not impossible.

If you don't want to spend much time, I think you could get a teacher for a half an hour or maybe an hour a week. That's what I did since I have a busy job.

It would sure help a lot and you would progress a lot faster and more solidly.
I think a practical teacher would be much more helpful than theory classes. Theory you can pick up from books and it is a lot easier to change what you learned if you make mistakes in that area.

Hope I helped... 

[gyzzzmo]

It's not bad not having a teacher, as long as you do the basics the right way. However, with a teacher you'll see that you improve much faster and he can prevent you from making alot of mistakes, and mistakes are hard to 'unlearn'.

I dont think that the theorylessons will do you much good, they might make you understand music better, and their historical context, but it wont help you much with playing the piano itself. I never had any theorylessons, but i'm making a living out of playing piano anyway. You better spend that money from the theory lessons on a teacher. You could also take a conservatory student as a teacher, theyre often good teachers but ask alot less money.

good luck,

gyzzzmo

[chozartmaninoff]

It depends on your goals......

I learnt to play Moonlight sonata mvt 3, Fantasie impromptu, La Campanella and some other difficult pieces without a teacher. Probably not up to examination standerds, but to me that didnt bother me i played for enjoyment.

But, getting a teacher is greatly benificial, faster growth, better technique, for your studies especially you will advance quicker with a teacher.

Good luck

[Bob]

Yeah, if you're happy with your playing and progress, don't have a teacher.  It can be a little more work on your part if you have to think like a teacher and plan your stuff out but that's not necessarily bad.  Teachers get in the way sometimes too.

You don't have to do weekly lessons.  Some people do lessons every other week.  Or you could do them only on breaks when you probably have more time to practice.

But you know once you graduate and get a job you'll probably have lots of demands on your time then too.  Add a family maybe?  I'm not sure but I imagine nurses are pretty busy, although they might have more control over their schedule if they're in demand.  You might need to carve out time for piano though. 

[m19834]

It really depends on what your idea of "bad" is.

[csharp_minor]

It's been a while since I've posted on the forums, but I'm a college student majoring in  nursing. Because of the demands of my major, I have decided to not take lessons until after I graduate and have a job. I'll be around... 22 or 23. Now, I still want to play and learn pieces on my own and at my own pace.

So is it bad that I don't have a teacher? Will I be able to advance and learn these pieces on my own without any guidance? I'd like to know your thoughts on learning the piano and playing without having an instructor.

I think yeah, go ahead and keep doing it on your own if its too much of a hassle to have a teacher now. Just be prepeared to relearn things when you do get a teacher. I have been 'teaching' myself for about 8 months until I recently got a teacher.

I can only go to lessons every other week at the moment, and had only 3 lessons so far in my life  . But you really do learn a lot each lesson. The problem with doing it on your own first is you kind of convince yourself you are playing well. But its the little slight miss judgements on timing, rhythm ,tempo, hand posture / movement, etc etc that you might not notice but your teacher will.

I'm finding now that I have learned pieces on my own ok, but played the notes with the wrong rhythm so need to go over them and play it corectly. When your teacher points this out it might make you feel a little sad and that you will never get good ( I often feel like wow, I thought I was playing it well! ); but persevere and you will be able to relearn things, just don't take it to hard when you teacher keeps correcting you.