Monthly lessons

[ragnarok]

I'm a college student who used to be fairly good at piano but hasn't played seriously for several years. I really want to get back into it and I would like to find a high-quality, classically trained teacher, since they are a major source of motivation (not to mention improvement) for me. However, I don't have nearly as much time or money as I used to. I can't afford weekly lessons, and wouldn't have enough practice time to make them worthwhile anyway. So what would you say if a prospective student asked you about monthly lessons? I'm afraid that if I contact someone with this proposal that they will say something like it's not worthwhile, or they'll be insulted, or something, so I wanted to see what people here have to say first.

[cjp_piano]

As a teacher, I would be open to the possibility. Every situation is unique, there's no harm in asking! In fact, I would be willing to work something out long distance if you're interested. I've done lessons via skype and video lessons where you record something for me and I record something back =)

[dinulip]

Just go ahead and don't feel bad about it.  This is common practice, and works quite well with students who take music seriously.  Good luck!

[maitea]

I don't think a teacher would have a problem with that, but if you haven't been at it for a while, a month may seem to have many days in it And be quite a long time span between lessons, for them to be effective,inspiring to have you nurtured technically but also motivated! Maybe suggest half hour lessons fortnightly? Obviously that might not suit you or the teacher, just another suggestion! Good luck, and enjoy playing!!

[lostinidlewonder]

I can't afford weekly lessons, and wouldn't have enough practice time to make them worthwhile anyway. So what would you say if a prospective student asked you about monthly lessons?

The key thing I picked up on was you mentioning practice time. If you do not have much time then weekly lessons are pretty useless, you will not use your teacher enough. You may end up having them drag you through bar by bar until a piece is finished, not worth your money. If you have monthly lessons you must approach your studies in a slightly different manner.

With weekly lessons the teacher is constantly adjusting your efforts, with larger time gaps you must do things on your own for greater periods of time. You really do need to experiment a lot on your own and learn as much of the pieces you can on your own. Then use the teacher to improve upon what you managed to do. The problem with long time between lessons is that you often can go off in the wrong direction or do things less effectively. If you are ok with plodding along by yourself and willing to learn from mistakes that you might have harvested for a number of weeks, monthly lessons are fine. It actually doesn't matter if you do something completely wrong but think it is right, when you are shown a better way it will make a lot more sense because you can relate it to how you where doing it less effectively. I would advise taking at least a 2 hour lesson with the teacher every month so you can go through everything you have done in detail. One hour per month is quite limited but might be ok if you get through all the work you did in the month. Half an hour is pretty useless unless you are just using the duty of reporting to a teacher as a motivator.

Keep a journal of solved and unsolved problems you might come across while you work alone during the month. Keep a detailed inventory of challenges you face so when you meet with your teacher every month you can get through the most important issues without the teacher having to assess everything themselves. You should take control and know what you need more help on and ensure that you have it all mapped out and planned neatly. If you find it difficult to pinpoint your own problems and working alone then monthly lessons probably will not be for you.

Having a teacher is a good motivator, you have someone to answer to and not just yourself. No matter how you approach it really, it is a good idea to have a teacher, go for it.

[pairra]

I think that the kind of teacher that might be a good match for you would not be offended. Though, this kind of teacher would probably be a professional musician or college professor. And that would be expensive, probably like $100 per hour.

How long have you played and what is your level? Depending on those factors you could very well just study by yourself. That would include not only practicing, but also researching about how to practice something correctly, or how to perform a specific song. You can get that kind of info from youtube, this forum, and the library.

As for motivation... Why not see if there is a performance group in your area for non-professional musicians? Look somewhere like meetup.com. My area has a piano group that meets twice a month and just plays. You could join something like that or even start something like that. You could also check with your local music organization. And since you're in college, there's got to be other piano "quitters"  around. Start a group.

Once last idea would be to post on youtube and ask for constructive comments aka criticisms with tips for fixing the problem.

[ragnarok]

Thank you all so much for your replies. I expected a lot of criticism because my old teacher was very adamant that weekly lessons are the only worthwhile thing, and instead you guys suggested all kinds of great points and ideas. I really appreciate it!!

I used to be at a pretty decent level - I played Mozart and easier Beethoven sonatas; the hardest thing I remember playing was the Grieg sonata in E minor. One of the reasons I don't want to take weekly lessons (besides money) is that in the past my teacher would give me huge amounts of new material to learn every week, like two or three whole sonatas, and I would only be able to half-learn them (and that's when I was practicing three or four hours a day). Then I would feel really useless at lessons because I knew I just didn't have the music down enough for us to even start working on it yet.

lostinidlewonder, your suggestions are really helpful. I'm exactly the kind of person who keeps a list of questions to run through with teachers! My problem has always been finding a teacher who will accept this sort of student-guided approach. I think I need to be more explicit in what I want from lessons; I've always been kind of a pushover.

Great suggestion about YouTube, pairra! Thanks everyone!