Problem with my teacher.

[takanari]

So just for information. I'm not in US,  I start piano when I was a kid like 6 yrs old. then come back 1 year before I applied for a private university(not conservatoire, so I got many general studies and other stuff, not music only ) which at that time was fresh for music performance and no audition standard or whatsoever. everyone just got accepted. 

I start piano with this teacher, the teacher put me a lot and I'm really grateful for it that he push me.  But atm, there was many new freshmen who came here and one of them is really good, like damn good.  Then my teacher began to change.  He started comparing me to that students like why can't you be like him, why do I have to tell you so many times to do this and that blah blah blah. You're a smart kid, how much you improve in 2-3 years, you should one day to be like that freshmen. 

And then usually I come to practice in the morning and come back late at night like 7-8 pm to take a rest, doing assignments, and enjoy my life with my friends. then he complained this to me, look. the freshmen stay until the faculty closed, why don't you stay like him. you're wasting a lot of your times for practicing. 

One day, he said this to me. Only that freshmen practice enought, the rest of the students is not good enough and she doesn't know how to manage it.  When I heard it I was like what?  Shouldn't a teacher be able to guide students depend on their personal progress and individuality?  and then when you get difficult students, that you don't know how to teach, you just force your method of teaching on them? (anyway, that's the idea of teacher I have in mind, can say it's wrong, I don't know.)

Another thing. she ask me and another student if we were to go for competition or doing recital or not, he said he will respect our decision.  when the other student said no, he complained a lot like "Why you didn't take this free opportunity, you've got nothing to loss.  Just practice harder and so on.)

At the moment, I'm very discouraged. whatever I did, how hard I practice, my teacher will always compare me to that freshmen and he got angry that I couldn't be like him, or stay late until night. (not to mention, that freshmen got 6-8 years of piano study with a german teacher before he came to this university so his basic is super excellent compared to my squishy basics.).

What should I do?  Try talking straight to my teacher?.  It just keeps discouraging me and annoyed me whenever he compared me to that freshmen.  It's okay for him to feel like that freshmen is the best student, I don't mind. But please don't use him as a standard. it's a standard I can never reach, I feel like I'm getting retroactive law coming. setting standard after I get in and complained I'm not up to the standard she expects.

If I'm writing with wrong grammar, I'm sorry, please ask me which part is not understandable, I really need help.

[faulty_damper]

Sorry, but I had a uni teacher like that, though he wasn't as direct as yours.  It's really not your problem; it's your teacher's.  If she was able to do her job - teach - then her students would be just as good or better.  But, like the doctor who claimed that all of his patients were healthy, "good" piano teachers only accept good students to begin with.  All the hard work has already been done for them.

What should you do?  I'd be direct and tell her that it's not right to accuse you and belittle you when it's her attitude problem.  If she doesn't like it, again, that's her problem.  If you don't have much practice being as forward and direct about it, now's a good time to start.  It gets easier with practice.

However, having said all this, if I were back at school, being the person whom I was then, I would not have followed this advice because that was not how I was raised to speak to authority figures.  I was raised to sit down, shut up, and be quiet.  It's not the new assertive American type of behavior that is encouraged nowadays.

[takanari]

Thanks for the advice, I too was raises that I have to expect the teacher and elders, but only at home. I'm afraid that if I talk to her directly, i will no longer study under her (not that it matters) but other teacher would be scare to take me because of her personality that will create a drama not that it's 100% that she will cause the problem.

For practicing part, how do I keep my mind focus? Normally I come to practixe like 10 in the morning and then have class then practice. I try to make it at least 4 hours a day more than that and usually my brain already overload. Not that this university is famous for it's music department so but business so other subject mostly about business and my parents want me to keep my GPA up so I don't want to risk having other subject grades drop.

She once said that I'm a very difficulty students to teach, like my basic is poor, i did not do her techinique 100% when playing all the times, hence the complaining began.  And when she starts to complain she comtinued it for 30 mins and said " look, this is so time wasting why you still broke your
 finger and your hand position is not correct. I used to be like you, i know that it can ne fix in 1 day." Someday just one wrong technical movements and that class is wasted because she kept complaining.

I talked to the chairperson once and he told me to bear with it and let it go, since my teacher cannot changed. She got the mindset that everything she knows is correct and all students must follow like a doctrine no matter where you are or how poor you really are.

Sorry if it sounds like ranting but i'm really frustrated with no one to talk to.

Should I just get away from her class and start lesson eith another teacher even though it might create drama or friction between faculty member?

[dub_pianist]

You got my support in this, it must be a really difficult situation; I'm sure you are trying to do your best and the learning process should be supported, rather than hindered, by your teacher.

My advice is to take some time with her and discuss the situation, just tell her in a straight way, what you think is acceptable and what you think is not; that you are open to her advice but no student is equal to another and everyone has its own time to learn, so comparing your situation to someone's else is not doing any good either to you or your teacher.

I understand that it is difficult to speak your mind and try not to be rude at the same time but from what I read and from what I could imagine, this must be really frustrating.

If there are particular technique problem just ask her what to do to fix them and if her advice does not work it's not certainly your fault, probably she gave you the wrong advice.

I believe that learning should be a joy, not a stressful experience; I really hope that your situation improves.

Let us know

[bernadette60614]

My teacher has told me:

You had bad hands, you'll never be any good.

You have a bad attitude.

I can't believe I have to tell you this again.

Your mistakes would be funny if they weren't so bad.

At one time, I asked to be assigned a different teacher, she learned of it, and at what I thought would be my final lesson, she embraced me, told me that she had 50 students and only 3 or 4 cared and I was one of those 3 or 4.

I just concluded: This is her way of demonstrating to me that my development is important to her.

My husband tells me that I'll have to go into a witness protection program to ever leave her (!), but once I got over taking what she said personally I realized that I had progressed much further in a year or so with her than I would have ever thought possible.

[bencollisonmusic]

Hello,

First of I would like to say that your teacher is not fit to teach. An effective teacher works with each student's situations and brings them each to their maximum capability. You already know this freshman is great and maybe better then you but it is not in any way the teacher's role to compare you with other students. That is against rule of conduct for any school and actually illegal. I would take strict actions and bring this to either the dean, head of the music department, or anyone who has a position over him. I would immediately request a new teacher also. If they refuse then this is more serious. You can sew the school for their misconduct in treating each student individually and equally. But if you do not wish to go through that trouble, then simple leave and switch to a school better to your style.

There will also be someone better in your field. But that never matters, what matters is you do your best and you reach your maximum potential. You don't have to be the top best to be a great musician. Clearly some people do not understand this concept. Being a music student in college I also experience a very similar situation last year.
 
Hope this helps. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

-Benjamin Collison

[gregh]

He started comparing me to that students like why can't you be like him

What a disaster. You can't be like him because you're not him, of course. The comparison is in poor taste, and probably doesn't do the other student any favors, either.

And I would think four hours per day of practice is sufficient. The kind of focused practice that makes you better cannot be sustained all day. Some students can put in ten hours per day and not improve much because they're not really practicing, they're playing around and doing things that they can already do well.

I don't really know what you can do about it, but I'm sorry that you're in that situation.

[m1469]

she had 50 students and only 3 or 4 cared and I was one of those 3 or 4.

A serious student needs to know a teacher is serious about teaching him/her, just as much as a serious teacher needs to know a student is serious about learning.

[takanari]

Thanks, I get more opinion and view of how to talk. >  x  <! Thanks a lot, guys.

At one time, I asked to be assigned a different teacher, she learned of it, and at what I thought would be my final lesson, she embraced me, told me that she had 50 students and only 3 or 4 cared and I was one of those 3 or 4.

I just concluded: This is her way of demonstrating to me that my development is important to her.

You can say I'm a bad heart person, but if the teacher seems to care about student at last minutes seems not good in my opinion.  Yes, we get our good feeling back but if the teacher didn't change the way he/she teaches, won't it still be the same? Just asking. > -  <
Btw, I missplay her technique twice and she accused me of going to study with someone behind her back and tell me to go and study with the teacher that she accused me with.

If there are particular technique problem just ask her what to do to fix them and if her advice does not work it's not certainly your fault, probably she gave you the wrong advice.

She's like a german/french school I guess?  Made finger strength the most important. whenever I broke my finger tips when play or my hands postions don't look nice, she will always take time to complain and we never get to study about interpretation much. For short pieces it's ok but for long piece, it's not.  Some time we have to rush the last page and like half taught interpreted the piece.

Hello,

First of I would like to say that your teacher is not fit to teach. An effective teacher works with each student's situations and brings them each to their maximum capability. You already know this freshman is great and maybe better then you but it is not in any way the teacher's role to compare you with other students. That is against rule of conduct for any school and actually illegal. I would take strict actions and bring this to either the dean, head of the music department, or anyone who has a position over him. I would immediately request a new teacher also. If they refuse then this is more serious. You can sew the school for their misconduct in treating each student individually and equally. But if you do not wish to go through that trouble, then simple leave and switch to a school better to your style.

There will also be someone better in your field. But that never matters, what matters is you do your best and you reach your maximum potential. You don't have to be the top best to be a great musician. Clearly some people do not understand this concept. Being a music student in college I also experience a very similar situation last year.
 
Hope this helps. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

-Benjamin Collison

Problem is, my Dean is not Graduated in Music, he have excellent management skill but when it comes to music stuff, he's blind. can't blame him. As I said, it's not a univ which is famous about it's music so that part, I don't think anything can be done seriously, he'd listen to my teacher more than me.

Another Question I would like to ask is, this is my precious teacher quote. "look at all those professional pianist, they practice like 5 hours plus plus a day, and who you are? Just a student and you only want to practice 3-4 hours a day?  You can't become a pianist, for sure."  Is she correct? I mean if I have to practice like 10 hours a day to be able to play it, then aren't the pieces too difficult for me?  It was like she was betting on my sudden improvement to be able to play it.  Is it my fault for not practicing enough or her fault for choosing too difficult pieces for me.

Maybe if I tell her I'm not going to master in music degree will help calm her down? She's very very insisted that classical performance is still not dying and as long as you're good, you'll never be poor and have a healthy life.

Oh and last question, is it okay to change teacher during semester? or after semester finish. I mean I can be so rude and straight and change now but I'd rather not if it's not really proper way to do it.

I forgot this imporant question.  When it's bachelor degree in music.  is it like a must that you must be able to do it?  or it's up to the student learning curve.  She always told me, look, you're already here, piano performance. you must be able to do it. (practice like 5 hrs a day and give it my all, no time to hang out with friend blah blah)  

I feel like I was put on the spot to catch up with the standard she set when I got nothing to help to achieve it.  And she didn't care about my learning curve anymore only must do it, if you cannot do it, how can you expect to be a good pianist.  And she never takes times with me, lately all she said is like. "Look, I got other students to took care of, she got concert and need to practice.  If I'm still learning this slow, she doesn't have time to take care me every step by step.  I need to be more mature and grow up.  Sometimes it frustrated me when I heard that. I was like "Well, I'm slow what can I do! You never spend time to reinforce my basic properly either."

Err so much with ranting, sorry. Just simple question.  For Bachelor Degree.  Should students must be able to accomplish everything or it's a learning curve for us?  Like we do our best what we can, no need to achieve any standard since we're unique in ourselves.  (This give me feeling like what's the different between Music Major university and Private lesson school if the only thing I get from this univ is good private lesson?  No band,orchestra or anything.)  

What's a student responsibility in university?  Do our best or live up to our teacher expectation and be able to answer all of their needs?  Seems like our mindset and chemistry doesn't go well together anymore > . >

[faulty_damper]

On the issue of practice, it's not the hours you spend.  I knew this one guy during school that practiced the most hours per day and he sounded the worst.  He had a nickname, the "machine", because he couldn't make music out of all the notes.  This went on for years even though he could play all the notes of difficult pieces.

Changing teachers mid-semester can be difficult but it's possible if you speak to the dept. chair or dean.  I once had my new teacher give me the grade for the previous semester with another teacher because the old teacher didn't want anything to do with me.  It's kinda funny when I think about this.

Anyway, good luck.  You aren't alone in your experiences and are definitely not unique.

[bernadette60614]

I guess my question would be:

Is your teacher's personality and approach making you a better musician or a worst musician? 

Despite my teacher's negative approach, she is making me a better musician.  If your teacher's approach is making you a worst musician, then I would say make every effort to change teachers.

It doesn't make you less dedicated, it doesn't make you a coward or less dedicated...it is that you value your progress as a musician and you recognize that this relationship is detrimental to that progress.

I think if you can distance yourself from the personal and take the longer perspective, it will make this relationship easier for as long as it exists and easier to exit from when you chose to.