Was this a compliment or an insult?

[starlady]

At the end of a lesson my teacher tells me to start working on a new piece (a two-part invention). I worked on it at  least an hour a day for a week: hands apart, hands together, measure by measure, the whole deal.  I mean I sweated blood, no lie.  And when I play it at the next lesson he says...wait for it.....

"Not bad at all for a first reading!". 

I don't know what to think....I think I'll have a drink.

--s.

[bleicher]

I once had a teacher whose comment, after the end of the last lesson before a recital, said

"Well some of it sounds ok."

I changed teacher after that.

[ongaku_oniko]

Well, it totally depends on the context. You can't just get anything from that. You have to look at the body language.

It could mean for a beginner first trying to learn a piece, or it could mean she thinks you're sight reading it.

Either way, don't think it's HER FAULT. If you practised a lot, but it's still not very good, ask yourself "why"? "am I really practising the way I should be"? "Is there a reason why I'm not improving fast enough"?

Bleicher, do you honestly just want a teacher who'll keep encouraging you even if you play like crap? I'm sorry, but that's just childish. YOU won't learn anything from that. Only when the teacher gives their true opinions, can their pupils learn.

[bleicher]

I fully admit I'm childish and that I ought to be better at taking criticism, however I don't think it was a useful comment as it wasn't followed up with advice about how to make it sound any better.

[ongaku_oniko]

hmm... after you changed teachers, what did the new teacher say? Did you perform this piece to them?

[bleicher]

Yes, I did, and he was an extremely good teacher, really inspiring and full of useful advice and exercises and ways of learning. Of course he didn't say 'this is great', and I wasn't expecting him to.

I think that telling a student that their playing is bad isn't useful without further explanation. Teaching isn't about saying 'you're a bad pianist', it's about helping them to become a better one. Of course compared to both teachers I was a bad pianist, that's why I was the student and they were the teacher. I was learning with them because I wanted to play better. Good teachers will know how to be constructive in their criticism.

What I said before about the fact I need to learn to take criticism is still true, though!

[tds]

when i had that not-bad-at-all comment from my teachers, i got so happy.
i know, it's me...

[ongaku_oniko]

You are right. I was too quick to judge. Sorry.

But I think that even if you have a "bad" teacher who doesn't give you advice, it's better than a bad teacher who only praises so that his students will be happy and he can earn their money but really he thinks their playing is awful and don't give about his students at all.

But that's besides the point.

[bleicher]

Ongaku_oniko - I agree. I've never had the problem of a piano teacher being too complimentary, but I have had that problem with composition teachers. I think because composition is so subjective some teachers find it hard to say when things don't work, and it's hard to learn anything from a teacher who just says everything is great.

[fleetfingers]

At the end of a lesson my teacher tells me to start working on a new piece (a two-part invention). I worked on it at  least an hour a day for a week: hands apart, hands together, measure by measure, the whole deal.  I mean I sweated blood, no lie.  And when I play it at the next lesson he says...wait for it.....

"Not bad at all for a first reading!".  

I don't know what to think....I think I'll have a drink.

--s.

Compliment.

He was obviously genuinely impressed with how well you played it and was amazed that you could do it that well the first time through (even though it wasn't). Keep working on it the way you have.

Did you tell him about the practice you put into the piece? He needs to know. Otherwise, he'll think you're better at sightreading than you are, and you won't get the proper training you need for sightreading. And he needs to know how long it took you to be able to play it the way you did in your lesson so he can know what pieces are too hard, too easy, or just right for you.

[starlady]

Did you tell him about the practice you put into the piece? He needs to know. Otherwise, he'll think you're better at sightreading than you are, and you won't get the proper training you need for sightreading. And he needs to know how long it took you to be able to play it the way you did in your lesson so he can know what pieces are too hard, too easy, or just right for you.

In other words, be mature and sensible about it! Gotta work on that....

Seriously, that's good advice;  thanks--s.

[soitainly]

 I doubt that it was an insult. I would have a hard time playing even a few lines of any piece with just a weeks practice. Bach is rather difficult to learn as most of us know. I don't know your teacher and his habit's on what would be considered a compliment or an insult, but maybe just take it for what it was, a truthful comment. You got through it with only a weeks practice.

 I think we spend to much time trying to percieve what everybody is saying as inflammatory. I swear I spend way to much time dwelling over what might or might not be slights made towards me. Sometimes people feel they have to say something, and it doesn't come out right. Even if they did mean it as a dig, just don't sweat it. Your life will be much easier if you let these little things go.

[omar_roy]

My old Russian teacher would never tell me what I did well, she'd cut straight to the chase and tell me what I screwed up.  It pretty much assumed that if she didn't bring something up, then it was fine.  This made for some very efficient lessons.

If I played particularly well she would say "That was not so terrible."

To this day, if I have a good performance, I walk off stage thinking "That was not so terrible."

[starlady]

My teacher is Russian and talks the same way, even though he is quite young:"not bad at all" by itself would be a very nice compliment from him.   So the tradition continues! --s.

[ongaku_oniko]

hahaahaha... now that I think about it, the russians I know are like that too.