Many piano questions

musicianmom
Thu, 20 Mar 2008 19:04:02 +0000

Competitions can be quite subjective. For example, I’ve seen contradictory remarks from 2 different judges who heard the same violin performance - “Beautiful, relaxed vibrato” vs. “Vibrato is too wide”. Personal preference can make appearances on the judge’s comments. My S played a competition once (mixed instrument, concerto comp.) with 3 judges - a violinist, a pianist and a flutist. The final page of his composition required a gradual accelerando to the end of the work. I heard the performance - no problems there, in fact very positive comments from the violinist over this section which is technically difficult. But, sure enough, the flutist wrote “Don’t rush the final page”. Judge obviously didn’t know the work and didn’t refer to the score that was provided. Presumably your S had pianists who knew the literature, but judging can vary depending on who is doing it.

Teachers have different philosophies regarding competitions. Some of the piano and string teachers in my area have their students doing competitions frequently. They will generally explain that they think that the music is learned to a higher standard. They will often also say that competition results are unpredictable - if you do a lot of competitions and play well, you are more likely to win something at some point. Having competition winners also benefits teachers; the lists of competition winners these teachers can display ensure a full studio of fine talent for the teacher to work with.

If you couldn’t guess, I am not big on competitions although my children did play in some carefully selected violin and piano competitions. There are exceptions, but I think that frequently, the competition requirements are allowed to run the teaching rather than the needs of the students.

Teachers are used to students changing teachers. (I’ve changed my kids from personal friends and maintained the friendships.) Be courteous and express gratitude for all the years and knowledge. In one case, I had my daughter audition for the new teacher and be accepted before I told the old teacher. Another time with son, I discussed the best teacher to send him on to with the teacher we were leaving. Sometimes, a teacher that feels that they are not as effective as needed (for whatever reason) will discuss a change with you - don’t feel that you must stay with someone just out of loyalty.

One other thought, I don’t think you indicated your S’s age. I know my son’s violin teacher wouldn’t take any high school juniors who had technical difficulties needing to be fixed before college auditions - and only took high school seniors in the most exceptional of cases - no problems, advanced student, expansive repertoire and new to area! Teacher felt there would be too much work to do and it wouldn’t be fair to anyone involved if the timeframe was too short and college expectations were on the line.

Crossposted with Binx. We never ran into the music association rules affecting studio changes, but that doesn’t mean you won’t! Maybe you can check local customs regarding this.