Continue with teacher or change?

[keypeg]

[Alle meine Entchen]

When I said that some adults may "have a hard time" to learn stuff like that, I meant the challenge of being confronted with such "childish" music as an adult.

That's one of the obstacles adult beginners have to be ready to overcome: At home, they may listen to Beethoven, Chopin, Bartok, Oscar Peterson, Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett... but in their piano lessons they have to learn "Alle meine Entchen", "Merrily we roll along", "Jingle Bells"... This gap between their musical taste/understanding and their own humble efforts may be experienced as frustrating.

Gotcha!  you did use "hard time" correctly but it has too meanings and I latched on to the wrong one.   

[bernadette60614]

An additional question for what I hope will not evolve into this forum's longest discussion:  I have tremendous respect for my teacher, but for my needs (more instruction on the fundamentals) I believe it is best if I change.  How do I "break up" with my teacher?

The university allows me to simply complete my series of lessons with her and then ask for a new teacher...which is simple enough and the least awkward for me. However, I don't know if a teacher within a university system is judged adversely if a student selects a different teacher.

[ppianista]

How do I "break up" with my teacher?

There are 50 ways to leave your teacher, Bernadette...
 

[keypeg]

How do I "break up" with my teacher?.

Thank your teacher for the help you have been given, possibly mentioning some specific things that were especially helpful.  I don't think that the departure of an adult beginner would reflect negatively on a teacher who you say has an established reputation.

[bernadette60614]

As an update, I have decided to change.

My teacher had decided that I should begin a new piece and she has assigned me Beethoven's Sonata No. 5,  Op. 10. No 1.  I've been fairly much self taught for a couple of years with two years of lessons as a child behind me.

I had wanted to play Bach Two Part Inventions to work on technique, I feel that my fundamentals are lacking, I know so little about practicing and shaping a piece...this Beethoven sonata seems far beyond reasonable expectations of someone with my level of experience.

What I'd love to do is to get a good grounding in fundamentals over the next couple of years and then come back to her. She's a great teacher, but I think at this time, not a great teacher for me.