Many piano questions

naturalmom
Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:52:21 +0000

My son has been taking piano for 6 years - 2 overseas, and 4 with his current teacher. We have been considering changing teachers at some point, but probably not for a few years, not just for cost (other teachers are a bit more expensive) but also to prep for college auditions. He is NOT planning on a 1st tier school, and is not overly competitive. But I want to be sure he’s got the best opportunity we can give him.

I’m thinking of making the change sooner, however, based on the past weekend. He played in two different contests. The first was a festival, and he didn’t expect to win because his piece was not challenging enough for his level - but he didn’t have time to prepare a more difficult piece. His evaluation had some negative comments on tempo, but his dynamics were good. The next day he played the same piece for the state contest finals (having won the preliminary round). He got the results back today, and they’re not very good. It’s the most negative grading he’s ever received I think. He was listed as deficient in technique, balance and style, and not positive marks for tempo, dynamics and phrasing.

Here’s my first question: He has contradictory scores for dynamics at these two places. This happened to him last year between preliminary and final: one praised his pedaling, the other didn’t like it. So are some of these contests that subjective? If you get a judge who likes your interpretation, great - otherwise you’re stuck?

My second question - if I can form it into a question - has to do with his score. He has really worked hard on this piece, but obviously tempo was off. I don’t know if this was an issue during his lessons, but I don’t think it was. I’m wondering if we should consider changing teachers sooner. There is a couple in town, both teach. They post their contest results on their site, and 20 of their students won the state finals. Their students win other things, too - like 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in a recent local scholarship. I know it is not only the teacher, but I think that is an important part of it.

I do think technique is a weakness for my son - so should I consider changing for next year, to give him more time to improve?

Third question - how do you change piano teachers, when you’ve been going to the same one for such a long time? I am trying to balance hurting someone’s feelings with what is best for my son.

Any thoughts? Or did I lose everyone by making this too long and rambling?