What to expect from first (private) lesson

[lakers4sho]

So after dabbling with self teaching, and taking a group lessons, I finally decided to jump the gun and get myself a private teacher to help me improve. Beginner level.

We agreed to meet tomorrow for the first lesson. 45 mins long (I hope that is sufficient enough?). I'm both excited and nervous at the same time, bc I dont knowwhat exactly to expect. What exactly goes on during the first session? I suppose its going to be mostly getting to know each other, which is fine I guess. Butwill I be asked to play a piece or two? Not that it would be a problem, just want to know so I can prepare ahead of time. Should I bring the materials I use? What else should I expect?

Cheers.

[timothy42b]

So after dabbling with self teaching, and taking a group lessons, I finally decided to jump the gun and get myself a private teacher to help me improve. Beginner level.

We agreed to meet tomorrow for the first lesson. 45 mins long (I hope that is sufficient enough?). I'm both excited and nervous at the same time, bc I dont knowwhat exactly to expect. What exactly goes on during the first session? I suppose its going to be mostly getting to know each other, which is fine I guess. Butwill I be asked to play a piece or two? Not that it would be a problem, just want to know so I can prepare ahead of time. Should I bring the materials I use? What else should I expect?

Cheers.

With my last teacher, she asked me to bring 3 pieces:  one I could play well, one I was working on, one I wanted to learn. 

The teacher before that, my first one, put book 1A of one of those method series, I think it may have been Alfred's, on the piano.  We played forward quickly until she found my level in book 3.  I had not taken piano but was experienced on other instruments. 

[mishamalchik]

As someone who also went into the first lesson ( a whole 5 weeks ago) as a self-taught pianist I feel I can speak to this.
   Be prepared to play scales and play them correctly. My teacher is a bit of a traditionalist so this may vary, but the first thing he asked me to do was play a scale. Which I could do only because of my pitch sense; my fingers were all over the place, and it was actually a pretty steep learning curve to use the correct fingerings after about a year of playing with "willy-nilly" fingerings.
  Be prepared to start with something basic and know that it's ok. My initial thought was "wow, these pieces are too easy for me" But the issue was that when I self taught I didn't have the ability to truly sight read, so I simply went measure by measure, using a midi program to double check my notes and memorized every single thing I played. It allowed me to play pieces far above my reading level and gave me a degree of technical ability and speed. I could play through some tough excerpts of the Chopin ballade with reasonable facility but couldn't sight read a simple bagatelle. The use of a midi program allowed me to "jump" ahead and hide many of my shortcomings to the average person, but a teacher of any value is going to see right through that and the program ultimately stunted my ability to read music. Don't be afraid to start simple, put the discipline in top gear and work your way through pieces, even when you initially want to dismiss them as too easy.

It's ok to be nervous, especially early on. It's apparently very normal to play poorly in front of your teacher even when you play amazingly well in private (look at my threads...) Try not to see your lesson as an "audition" particularly if you've already had an audition. One of the interesting things I learned was that, as a low income brown kid at a top tier college, I never feel academic imposter syndrome, but I've been dealing with piano imposter syndrome from day 1 of lessons. All my teacher's other students are VERY advanced. I am not. Try not to be intimidated by other students. If you auditioned, you were selected for a reason. If you found the teacher, they don't have to teach you and if they didn't want to, they wouldn't.

Ultimately, from my understanding, you are paying for these lessons so get your money's worth! It's hard to make the most of a lesson if you're nervous (trust me I know from VIVID experience), or intimidated, or feeling a lack of confidence. If you could play perfectly you wouldn't need a teacher and they are there as a resource for you!

Having said all that, sometimes your teacher won't be a good match for you and that's ok! One of my friends is studying with someone she is convinced is the spawn of satan and she's locked in to study with this teacher for the whole term. It has completely drained her. If you're teacher isn't working for you, don't hesitate to switch but give it some time to see! This isn't something you'll learn in the first lesson.

It can be really hard to switch gears from working on your own and learning to trust and depend on a teacher for guidance, as well as performing within their guidelines of repertoire whereas before, if you were like me, you looked at anything and everything that caught your eye.

Best of luck!

[lakers4sho]

Thank you so much for the valuable responses. I was able to talk to my teacher today to confirm the lesson and she said I can bring the materials that I use for learning. I am taking a piano class at school which has a set curriculum she'll have some idea as to where I currently am right now.

Will update you guys tomorrow about my experience after the lesson, can't wait!