I have taken piano lessons with one particular teacher for about 4 years, and have been studying piano for about 11 and some years now with other teachers. However, this one teacher was very strict, and he was very adamant about getting things done right in a musical way. Now this guy had very high expectations of his students, but they were realistic for those whom sought to become very proficient in piano. I, on the other hand, had slackened off for quite some time, and I didn’t realize that he was being VERY patient and enduring with my insubordination. This was about 3 years ago, and at this time, I was preparing for a grade 8 RCM exam. This exam wasn’t particularly hard, it was just that making me do piano was particularly hard, ie, lack of motivation.
I hated doing piano and I swore to God 100 times that I would quit very soon. And I didn’t. I managed to pull off the exam on that day, I can’t remember, oh yes, wait it was August 20, 2002. I was doing other things (50 hour work week, driving lessons, basement renovation, and this was the first summer I got my brand new PS2), so I was pretty bundled up.
Since then, I wouldn’t think I’d ever go back to this teacher, but he was very good, extremely good in fact. So good in fact that he doesn’t normally take crappy students but requires referals from other piano students and parents, it just seemed so that he’d felt a wasted effort to boot me out just before doing the exam. He would even judge from the first lesson if he wanted to take the student or not, but he was usually generous for the first 2 months then do the cut.
As a matter of fact, after I had done the grade 8 exam, I never had another lesson even up to today with him.
But the fire for piano didn’t die out. I remember sometime early this year, 2004, I started to really enjoy classical piano again. I didn’t understand what pulled me to it, even after a few years of head banging heavy metal, but something attracted me. Opposites attracted I guess. I soon realized how foolish I was not only to quit, but to waste the precious time with him. He wanted to see my excel in piano so much that he would wake up to start 8:00 AM lessons every Friday. He would then entrust me with his house key to lock up while he would leave before me to go shopping. I even remembered he gave undivided attention to filling out a reference form for entrance to a university. I turned down the offer for that university even though they accepted me, and I guess that showed how much I really didn’t bother to acknowledge my piano teacher’s time and effort. He has warned me several times before about booting me out, and I don’t blame him.
Sorry for spilling out my piano career thus far, but here comes your topic regarding rejection. I called him several times this year in hopes of starting up lessons again, and I have said that I have rekindled a new desire for piano. Each time he would either change the topic or say, “oh call me sometime to arrange a quick run though for some piece you’re doing”. It was obvious he had lost faith in me. The fourth time I called him, which was just last Sunday, he was happy to hear from me, but that’s it. Just to hear from me. Again he gave the same reply when I said I wanted to start regular lessons, but I guess I blew it. I can’t blame him, I understand. I was already given one shot to prove myself but I joked around thinking his patience was infinite. I was wrong.
This type of rejection I can totally see him justify, because the choice of doing well in piano rested solely in my hands (mind the pun). I can only hope to find another teacher that will have the courage to take me as a student once again and attempt to take on Grade 10 piano. That… is my dream.
Topic: Too bad it had to end this way