Hi everyone, have been thinking for a while about this question, and now that I am selecting a new teacher for my 8yo daughter the question became even more important.
It seems to me that the traditional teaching methods make the pupils learn specific pieces and that's it. Yes, they are supposed to teach tempo/rhythm/etc as well, however everything is related to the piece on the score in that exact moment. You can memorize it and so you might not need the score anymore, however you will be able to play THAT piece and not "play the piano".
For me playing piano means a much higher degree of "musicality", ability to improvise something, ability to "play" with the piano without executing the Mozart/chopin/bach's pieces you have learned (the hard way). I am not saying that playing Bach/mozart is not satisfying, i guess it is how all came closer to piano and it brings a huge sense of joy, however (and i guess my whole rant boils down to that question): which method would you suggest to get something more, and really be able to play piano? should one study improvisation/jazz as well?
I am now closer to being 50yo, as almost everyone else started piano as a kid then had a 30y interruption then started again with a teacher, so i guess I have had in my life something like less than 10different teachers but more than 5 for sure. Well, no one of them taught me anything that would allow me to sit and play a stupid C major progression, or the easiest tune that every kid has in the head. And you can imagine the frustration when I see several people (very far from being musicians themselves) playing it with such a degree of freedom. And I am not even talking about having perfect pitch, or being a jazz professional! I see on social media all kind of folks, this is just one of those https://www.instagram.com/grette_/reels/
i guess there are years of study and practice behind all this, but this is not my issue. I just wonder what is the method that would allow you to be closer to this rather than just learning specific pieces.
My daughter went for the last 3y to a Kodali school: what a waste of time and money! so I am now on the market for a new teacher/method and I am really thorn. I spoke with teachers using those methods made on purpose for kids, then the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music, then someone else who has a traditional/classical background but then turned into jazz. My fear is that my daughter will do the same mistakes i did, so will remain simply stuck to those piece of papers that you have on the piano and without which I am lost.
Any suggestion is highly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
You are right. Realize there are two different mentalities in music. Two extremes: The "technical/performance" side and the "musical" side. The technical side does not require the musical side and the musical side does not require the technical side. You can have no idea how music works and learn to play the most complex pieces perfectly. After all, a computer can do this as can a record player(just hit play).
But to really enjoy music you sort of need both. Much of classical music has become competition based(as much of everything) for "reasons". This is not how music started out. In any case it is a thing. Competition is a thing that gives a lot of people meaning to their existence and it does have it's purpose.
Ultimately maybe you should stop looking for teachers for your daughter and simply teach her yourself. The most important thing in music is practice. That is one important use of teachers. It sorta gets kids motivated and makes it a regular thing. This, over time, leads to growth.
Many of the best musicians ever to exist were "self taught". They simply loved music so much they played all the time. It's easier now than ever because the ease of information. The hard thing to get is the dedication and passion. To develop those usually takes many years and most people give up because they don't see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Most kids cannot realize what they will achieve with consistent practice.
If you can get your daughter to play for a few hours a day nearly every day and to enjoy it then you've accomplished the hard part. If she can do her own research(read books, listen to music, etc) then she can teach herself(there is nothing in music that is overly complex once you get to the point of understanding it).
Probably the best teachers are those who simply can motivate and excite people. Having all the technical knowledge means nothing if people are not willing to put in the effort.
Also, music is much more complex in some ways today than ever. Why? Distractions. Who really needs to play the piano any more? It's essentially an ancient contraption. Only people who have learned to play(any instrument, anything in fact) can comprehend what comes from it.
There is a use to playing those "stupid C major progressions" and learning theory and all that. It really helps believe it or not. All music is made of those stupid progressions and scales in some form or fashion. You can learn music without them but typically you will always lack a certain comprehension and just learn by memorization. Sorta like learning math through memorization. It kinda defeats the purpose. One doesn't want to be a computer who just memorizes everything.
OTOH, knowing theory and progressions means nothing. I used to hate doing those exercises(both on piano and guitar) but I've always made the most progress when I do them. If you think about it, if you can't play simple I IV V's in the inversions then how do you expect to play music in general? Any piece has those chord shapes in them.
Yes, if you learn enough music you are also practicing those scales and chords and so if you can learn enough music it is effectively the same in some ways but it isn't totally the same.
What they do, really, is help you understand and remember things better. If a person has a natural ability or is immersed in music they likely do not need to do such things because they will already be doing them indirectly.
In any case, ultimately you have to make the decisions on what you want yourself because it's your daughter. If you fail then she will suffer from it and if you are successful then she will benefit. If you allow it to be someone else's choice then you will blame them when it is your fault for enabling it. You can't predict the future and can't know the right path so you at some point just have to make a call and hope for the best.
Ultimately you need to decide what you want for your daughter and also ask her what she wants. Becoming proficient at piano is no easy task. Does she simply want to be a performer who goes to competitions? Or does she want to improvise and just enjoy it for herself? Does she want to teach kids when she gets older? Does she know the effort it takes?
IMO, the best teacher of music is simply to sit at the piano and play. Play for hours and hours and hours, days and days and days, for years and years and years. The piano(or any instrument) has to effectively become a "lover" because you will have to spend a lot of time with it and it will be filled with emotion. It will change you. It is something you only know *AFTER* the fact. I could have never comprehended how learning to play the piano would change me. I spend 20 years playing guitar before I really dived into piano(I stopped playing guitar). The piano is a magical instrument because it is the only instrument that can give you the full spectrum. It doesn't need anything else and is very rich in what it can do. I also didn't comprehend how much work it would take.
I don't think anyone can comprehend these things. Same thing could be said about anything. This is why it is so important to get kids into things when they are young so they can benefit because if left to their own they will likely never accomplish much since when it gets hard they will move on to something else.
Probably the best bet here is to have multiple teachers in multiple styles or simply teach your daughter yourself with how you think it should be done(this puts the impetus on yourself and you then only have yourself to blame which you may not like in 30 years).
If you only want your daughter to experience the joy of piano then she does need to learn technique. Probably learning technique and theory at a young age is easiest because the child doesn't know any better. It turns off adults much easier because it's a total drudge. Maybe it's better around the ages of 13-17.
In any case, if it is not fun a child will likely not progress or will learn to hate it and that defeats the purpose. They likely will quit when they get older and life gets more difficult.
For me, I find improvising the most enjoyable at piano. But without learning Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, etc I wouldn't really be that good. They help one understand how music is put together as long as one understands theory and knows enough music. E.g., being able to take a piece of music and change the mode or improvise around the progression or melody or whatever is fun and allows one to be creative and explore music while also challenging themselves and work on technique.
What I have learned in life is EVERYTHING is relevant. What happens to people is they lock themselves into a mentality and it becomes a prison. Even music can become a prison. There is more to life than music. Just as much as you get out of music you can also get out of math, physics, chess, politics, or whatever. It's really about developing an understanding where both the mind and emotions come together. It's not really something that can be taught but something that happens over ones life when they invest in things. The problem with our society is a lot of people invest in meaningless things so after 40 years of it they have nothing to show for it or it is superficial(nothing for themselves).
Topic: playing piano vs learning a piece?