Do I need a teacher?

[piano_nurse]

Hey all,

This is a quick question. I'll be graduating soon with my bachelors, relocating, and finally (!!!) taking up the piano again. I played for a total of about six years, and would try and play what I could remember over the past few years while I was in school. I didn't really get the opportunity to play very much. Do you think I will need a teacher with a background of six years of playing? I feel like I can count music decently (minus the REALLY complex stuff), I just have a habit of NOT counting. My current level of playing... I don't know of a specific number, or even to tell you if I'm intermediate or advanced (I don't think I'm advanced). What I feel comfortable playing, from my previous repertoire, are the following pieces:

Moonlight Sonata, 1st Movement.
Raindrop Prelude by Chopin
The Girl with the Flaxen Hair - Debussy
Reverie - Debussy

As well as the first and 13th Bach interventions, but the counterpoint trips me up slightly, and I would need more practice with those.

What do you all think?

[hfmadopter]

I think you were  intermediate depending on how well you actually played the repertoire. Don't expect to pick right back up from that point though, it's going to take a bit of practice to get back there ( not a bad thing).

A teacher is not a bad idea, you could give it a whirl without one and see how it goes. You may find you want one ultimately.

[piano_nurse]

True. After I get established (I'm moving in May), I'm going to give myself a couple of months. There's a local community college that offers many music courses in theory and piano that I intend on taking, and they classes even go to the extent of composition. I mapped it out and, if I took all the courses that applied to solo piano, that'd keep me busy for a few years. I think, once I start that, I would probably be assigned an instructor through the community college.

[hfmadopter]

True. After I get established (I'm moving in May), I'm going to give myself a couple of months. There's a local community college that offers many music courses in theory and piano that I intend on taking, and they classes even go to the extent of composition. I mapped it out and, if I took all the courses that applied to solo piano, that'd keep me busy for a few years. I think, once I start that, I would probably be assigned an instructor through the community college.

Sounds like a tentative plan !

[piano_nurse]

I hope. Thanks for the feedback. I just needed to talk it out!

[bernadette60614]

Only one person's opinion, and not a particularly expert one at that.

I think we can all benefit from being coached by someone more objective and more knowledgeable than we are..no matter what our level of expertise. 

I have a facility with music and with signt reading which permits me to play well enough and certainly more than well enough for someone who is largely self-taught.

But, what I am is a gifted amateur...

To become a real musician, I need a teacher who will push me beyond my range.

[hfmadopter]

Only one person's opinion, and not a particularly expert one at that.

I think we can all benefit from being coached by someone more objective and more knowledgeable than we are..no matter what our level of expertise. 

I have a facility with music and with signt reading which permits me to play well enough and certainly more than well enough for someone who is largely self-taught.

But, what I am is a gifted amateur...

To become a real musician, I need a teacher who will push me beyond my range.

I have no problem agreeing with statement. It probably applies to most of us here !

[g_s_223]

You use the word "need" without spelling out what your goals are. Depending on whether these range from minimal to highly ambitious, the answer will range from "no" to "indisputably".

What I would recommend is find a really good teacher, with a proper teaching diploma (i.e. not just a student moonlighting), and work with them. You can vary your interval between lessons according to your available time to practice. An excellent teacher seen once a fortnight will be a better use of your time and money than a below-average teacher seen once a week.

[piano_nurse]

My goals are to be able to play my favorite pieces, which happen to be very technically and musically demanding, such as a couple of the Chopin ballades, some Beethoven sonatas, or Rachmaninov preludes. I also want to be able to improvise and have a grasp of jazz concepts.

[bronnestam]

I don't think there is a pianist (or any other musician, or a dancer etcetera) who so good that (s)he can say "I don't need a teacher, I'm too good for this". Even the best ones need second opinions and feedbacks. 

Which does not mean "you MUST have a teacher" - some of us don't find a teacher, or cannot afford a teacher, or don't live so that we can take lessons, we just have to do anyway - but I'm sure it is better to have a teacher than not having one. At least a good teacher with the proper education.

I am very happy right now because I just found a teacher for myself, will take my first lesson in just a couple of weeks and then we'll see.

[slobone]

My goals are to be able to play my favorite pieces, which happen to be very technically and musically demanding, such as a couple of the Chopin ballades, some Beethoven sonatas, or Rachmaninov preludes. I also want to be able to improvise and have a grasp of jazz concepts.

That's quite a jump from the 1st movement of the Moonlight Sonata and the Bach interventions. A teacher would certainly be helpful. Of course most teachers will want you to commit to spending some agreed-upon amount of time practicing. Can you do that?

[piano_nurse]

Yes I can. And it may seem like a jump but I don't see I as one. I see it as a gradual improvement. I don't expect to play those pieces tomorrow, or even a year from now. Maybe after years of study, sure. Can I commit to practicing, yes, because I want to play, and I want to play well.

[m1469]

If you have to ask if you need a teacher, then the answer is probably yes, you do.  What type of teacher you need is the bigger question.

[pianoplunker]

Hey all,

This is a quick question. I'll be graduating soon with my bachelors, relocating, and finally (!!!) taking up the piano again. I played for a total of about six years, and would try and play what I could remember over the past few years while I was in school. I didn't really get the opportunity to play very much. Do you think I will need a teacher with a background of six years of playing? I feel like I can count music decently (minus the REALLY complex stuff), I just have a habit of NOT counting. My current level of playing... I don't know of a specific number, or even to tell you if I'm intermediate or advanced (I don't think I'm advanced). What I feel comfortable playing, from my previous repertoire, are the following pieces:

Moonlight Sonata, 1st Movement.
Raindrop Prelude by Chopin
The Girl with the Flaxen Hair - Debussy
Reverie - Debussy

As well as the first and 13th Bach interventions, but the counterpoint trips me up slightly, and I would need more practice with those.

What do you all think?

Although I havent had a piano teacher for decades, I would say a teacher could be a great help to you. If nothing else, a teacher can be someone to perform for and get educated feedback on your playing.

[virtuoso80]

I can only imagine what my playing would be now if I'd never had a good teacher. I'm as independent-minded as they come, but there are just some things you're almost certainly not going to be able to self-teach.

Based on what you're saying, what your repertoire is, and how you talk about it, I think there's probably a LOT you're missing. You may not even be aware of how deep it goes, as I wasn't. It can be hard to find the right teacher, but if you're by any chance in the NY area, I could probably reccommend you one.

[keypeg]

True. After I get established (I'm moving in May), I'm going to give myself a couple of months. There's a local community college that offers many music courses in theory and piano that I intend on taking, and they classes even go to the extent of composition. I mapped it out and, if I took all the courses that applied to solo piano, that'd keep me busy for a few years. I think, once I start that, I would probably be assigned an instructor through the community college.

piano_nurse, ideally you should find a good teacher whose aim it is to develop students and knows how to do so and assess where you are.  Finding such a person is tricky and you are lucky if you do find this teacher.  S/he will get at what your present strengths and weaknesses are, what underlying things you are missing or are the causes of difficulties, and then lessons and assignments would go out from there.  This also includes such things as how to practice.  You can get a lot out classes in theory etc. and they definitely play a role, but nothing can beat the one-on-one with the right teacher.

I am an adult student who self-taught piano when young, took lessons on another instrument many years later, resumed piano, and am lucky enough to have found the teacher who is perfect for me.  When we already have a background, there isn't a straightforward map, and some of it seems to go by trial and error.  I also worked one-on-one as a trained teacher with students (academic) and often had to work with the student while observing, shaping what we did along the way.

[ride800rmk]

you might like pianopilot.com . I was kinda in the same boat I started when I was a kid and hated playing the piano but my parents forced me to take lessons. they finally let me quit and it wasn't until I was about to graduate high school and I sat down and thought "I wonder if I can still play anything on this" well turns out I fell in love with it and I play for at least an hour a day now and have been for years. its the one place I can escape the world. anyways I was having a hard time committing to a teacher because of my busy unpredictable work schedule so I tried the online thing and It is awesome. Okay have a nice day.