Two teachers for one month!

[flyinfingers]

I'm thinking of testing the waters for one month with two teachers.  Any feedback?  Any pieces I bring, I'll just say that they're unresolved from the last teacher so I don't have to overextend myself.  I called my piano tuner today and described exactly what type of teacher I was interested in, described my personality, and we narrowed it down to two.  
I'm just not motivated to go to my lessons, leave there depressed, and I have had dry mouth for weeks from nerves!  Only other thing I can think of from dry mouth is diabetes and I just don't fit that profile! I don't know why.  Maybe I should take December off and regroup.  I don't know what to do!
Phone didn't ring today because she described for 15 minutes of my lesson (yes, I timed it) how the ribbon festival is over.  Then I forgot my SCAITO sheet (like it's a no brainer) and was compared to one of her child students who forgets their folder.  YIKES!
I really do like her, but I do feel like she treats me like a child (with the baby sticker on my music and all and some of the comments.)

[quantum]

From what I gather reading a couple of your posts is that you are in the beginning stages of learning.  For such a student, having two teachers may be begging for trouble.  If you were a college student or a professional, it may be a different story.  These musicians know that teachers contradict each other - one will get you to play a certain way, and the other will try to undo all of that.  It's the nature of the beast.  Such students may seek multiple teachers to gather multiple opinions. 

However, for someone still seeking to form a foundation in piano playing it is probably best to stick to a single teacher you are able to work with.


Keep in mind that studying with a new teacher is a rocky road, and one should expect ups and downs.  This does not necessarily mean that teacher and student are not a match.  Both parties need to discover the manner in which the other likes to work.  The longer one studies with a teacher the more the student and teacher understand how the other thinks and learns.  A handful of lessons is too short a time period to start judging the teacher-student bond.  I would say give it at least six to twelve months of lessons.  Things will start to settle down once both parties start to find a rhythm. 

A word of advice: be open to being changed by what you learn in lessons.  You can always look up things you know you wish to learn.  However, one of the real values of taking lessons with a teacher is learning something you didn't know would be beneficial for you. 

[cjp_piano]

I agree with quantum, but this teacher who talks for 15 minutes about the ribbon festival has got to go!!! Are you serious?!? How can you sit there and let her talk for 15 minutes about that?!? YOU are paying for lessons. You need to say something and/or quit!

[pytheamateur]

I agree with quantum, but this teacher who talks for 15 minutes about the ribbon festival has got to go!!! Are you serious?!? How can you sit there and let her talk for 15 minutes about that?!? YOU are paying for lessons. You need to say something and/or quit!

I hope that 15 minutes did not count toward the lesson time?!  Is she one of those teachers who look at their watch?

[pianoplayjl]

maybe by the end of the month see who is better. Go with the one who is better.

[lukebar]

Go with your gut feelings. I read so many times about students who rattle off a list of issues they have with their present teacher, and then say, "But I really like him/her!" to justify not making a switch. You aren't paying them to be your friend. Getting out there and exploring what other options are available sounds like a great idea to me! Find someone you like and respect as a person AND who is genuinely concerned about helping you progress. They're out there.

[deepakkamani]

I think you should choose any one teacher according to your gut feeling.

[jgallag]

Actually, you should have it easy this time of the year. If you have two teachers to choose from, find out when they'll be holding December recitals for their students, and go to both. This way, you can hear for yourself what kind of results the teacher is getting out of their students. If one teacher doesn't offer a December recital, there's hint number one. Good teachers offer at least two recitals per year for their students to perform. Second, ask for credentials of each. Piano performance majors are good, piano pedagogy majors are best (well, I guess performance/pedagogy is tops). Where did they study? With whom? Level of degree? Does the teacher write lesson plans (a rare but good quality)? Is the teacher a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music or does he/she hold any other such credentials? Are their students accepted into top colleges/universities? I think quantum is right, now is not the time in your career to be working with more than one person at the same time, but there are plenty of standards against which you can make a preliminary judgment. If both teachers appear to be the same quality, save gas and pick the one closer to home. It's unlikely, if you looked at all the qualities above, you'll end up with a poor teacher. You, as a beginning student, at the very least know something you don't want in a piano teacher, but you can't really know what you do want. You need to give yourself at least a year with whatever new teacher you choose for you to warm up to each other, for you to warm up to the piano, and to begin to discern progress.

As for the dry mouth, it's probably not going away soon. I've been playing for thirteen years, and have had my current teacher for the 3.5 years I've been working on my degree. I get dry mouth for the first few lessons with any teacher, and any time I'm not confident in my preparation. Actually, I think my mouth still gets a little dry at every lesson, and it's not until after we've made it through the initial performance of the piece that I stop getting nervous. You might work on three things I've been working on, and since you're a beginner it will be best to start now: blinking, swallowing, and breathing. Vital functions must continue while playing, and that is often where the dry mouth comes from. I can tell I haven't swallowed in the ten minutes it takes to play my Chopin Scherzo because my throat feels like sandpaper as I walk off the stage. The sooner you accept that playing piano will probably make you nervous, the better. It's not that bad to have nerves, they can actually pump you up.

[flyinfingers]

That's so funny about the dry mouth!  Just to clear up any misunderstanding, I'm not a beginner.  I took lessons for four or five years (can't remember) as a child and I was better than your average Jane or Joe!  Haven't played really since except for a few days here and there getting all mad at myself for quitting!
I picked one teacher.  Yes, a lot of her students go on to do great things.   My current teacher is happy that I'm going with the new lady, so she says, but we're friends and she's coming to my house first of the year to see my new piano and all.  It's all good.  Lesson next Wed.  -- can't wait!  No distractions!  Except for five cats and I hope I don't sneeze!
Thanks for everyone's help.  Yeah, I figured two in one month would just be a cluster...!
Yeah, that stupid ribbon festival!  I'm like, ah huh, yeah, (thinking, let's be quiet now)!
Yes, wasted money on those lessons and I didn't show up for the last one and asked her to donate the money to the needy for Xmas.  I just hope she does!
I'm telling you, I took four lessons from her (four hours) and played IN TOTAL on the piano around 30 minutes, no joke!
Same thing happened with Teacher No. 2!  What's up with that?