Piano Recital Piece

[rgh55]

I have a transfer student that has been with me for approx 10 months. She took lessons for one year from someone else. When she came to me she was a very poor reader and depended mostly on finger positions and fingering.  I have had her relearn several pieces since she has been with me including a recital piece.  She had this piece memorized a year ago but has forgotten it. I said to her that she could learn it again and play it in my recital in August. The difference is she is actually reading the music vs. learning by fingers.  Her mother is rather upset that she is performing the same piece a year later and is concerned that she isn't progressing. It is a nice piece and she plays it well. Any thoughts on this and dealing with the parent.  thanks

[honeywill]

I agree with your strategy ie making the girl learn to read properly. In that sense, she has clearly made progress, but I suppose it is a fair comment form the parent, in that she is still playing the same piece (albeit with greatly increased understanding). I think you should explain what you have been doing to the parent and emphasise how pleased you are with the child's progress and that now she has a firm basis for future work. However, you probably should give her some new material soon, so that she feels she is moving on. Some students need to go through a lot of material at the same level before they are ready for more challenging pieces, but they can still feel that they are progressing because they aren't going over the same ground.

Transfer students can be difficult, and sadly, they often transfer because of communication or attitude issues - if things don't go as expected, they blame the teacher, rather than looking at their own input.