Teachers disagreeing on things

thepianoplayer416

ShiroKuro
It's quite amazing that she tried to play this piece with her RH lifting off after every note. Might be possible for her to use the pedal to keep notes connected that her RH can't.

I've seen a professional violinist in concert with a disabled RH, The LH was used to press the notes on the strings, the RH moves the bow even with an artificial arm. A piano teacher would recommend that she switch to an instrument like a violin that she can express herself & the music fully. No dispute.

ShiroKuro

thepianoplayer416 A piano teacher would recommend that she switch to an instrument like a violin that she can express herself & the music fully

I don’t think she necessarily has to give up the piano. There are lots of players who play just fine even though they have some hand problem, one hand that doesn’t have five fingers etc. She just needs some instruction.

JillCrosslandPiano

ranjit Well- every teacher is going to be different. Normally the pupil will only be taught by one teacher at one time and yes, kind of commits to going with that teacher's method while they stay their pupil.

ranjit

JillCrosslandPiano Well- every teacher is going to be different. Normally the pupil will only be taught by one teacher at one time and yes, kind of commits to going with that teacher's method while they stay their pupil.

Call it "curse of knowledge", but I know so enough piano students who got injured following their teachers that I'm paranoid about following a teacher's instructions exactly. I probably only completely trust my own judgment and what I think my body is telling me. I know that's possibly unorthodox, but it's a free country so (shrug)...

Jane

ranjit I'm paranoid about following a teacher's instructions exactly. I probably only completely trust my own judgment

Animisha

ranjit It seems like every one of my teachers disagrees with every other one in significant ways and it's exhausting. I never know what's right because everyone says the other ones are wrong. Do you find this happens to you as well? I find it to be especially true regarding technique.

Yes, certainly. My strategy is to have only one teacher at the time, and trust that teacher. (It can be difficult to find a teacher who you trust though, but once you have found them, trust them.) That means, if she (my present teacher) wants me to play something different to what another teacher has taught me, I don't protest but try to do as she says. Sometimes it is hard, especially in the beginning, but in this way, you'll learn from each teacher what is inside of them to teach you.

ShiroKuro

ranjit I think injury concern is probably a separate issue . Any musician should absolutely listen to their body and not doing something that feels like it will trigger an injury.

TheBoringPianist

Yeah my teachers all disagree with each other but I treat them all as inputs and then make my own decision on how to incorporate them into my playing (which may change over time or even from performance to performance). Fortunately, my current teacher is very supportive of me trying lessons with other teachers as well, and always gives the disclaimer that his feedback is just his own opinion, and that I should make my own choice on the matter (but makes it very clear that I Must Make A Clear Choice or I am just delivering note slop).

The jurors at the competitions I go to often disagree about things too! From the same piece:

"Very poised playing, with rich sound and a stately character. Transition beautifully done. Solid, well-voiced. Nice singing."
"not sure this is a good competition piece, or really even a good concert piece. Good feeling/dynamics. The louder melodies- your sound isn't "French" enough, too much arm weight. Loud sounds/chords a little hard. Mostly I wasn't convinced by your sound in this piece."

ranjit Whether practicing long hours is necessary or wasteful, whether you should lift your fingers or press into the keys, whether you should have some tension in places, whether you should practice a lot of technical exercises or zero technical exercises and learn from pieces, whether you press into the key or not, how to apply "arm weight" or "finger articulation", how to phrase things

oh yeah most of this seems pretty irrelevant outside of the last couple points. My teachers don't tend to talk to me about practice hours and technique, maybe because I'm an adult amateur and I'm not going to have the impeccable technique of a wunderkind or career pianist.

But I guess if I had to condense my thoughts: there's no right way. But try to find your way. I think the best teachers are able to help bring out what makes you unique and interesting as a performer, just like how Nadia Boulanger was able to guide such disparate composers as Grażyna Bacewicz, Elliott Carter, Aaron Copland, Philip Glass, and Astor Piazzola, among others, with their own unique voices. Maybe someday you'll add your opinionated voice to the mix!

ShiroKuro

TheBoringPianist like how Nadia Boulanger was able to guide such disparate composers as Grażyna Bacewicz, Elliott Carter, Aaron Copland, Philip Glass, and Astor Piazzola, among others, with their own unique voices

Oh wow, that’s quite a group! And an excellent example for this discussion.

As to @ranjit ‘s original question… well and actually it gets at what @TheBoringPianist is talking about…

In foreign language pedagogy, there’s an often-discussed concept called “the zone of proximal development.” It’s so common that people just say ZPD and everyone knows what they’re referring to. Anyway, from an online summary: the ZPD refers to the "sweet spot" for learning. It is the gap between what a learner can do independently and what they can do with guidance or support.

I started learning piano over 25 years ago, sometimes people will ask me why I still take lessons. And the reason is the ZPD. I can do more, play more challenging pieces etc., with the guidance of a teacher, than I could just by playing and practicing on my own. And of course, the better teachers are always working in that zone (my current teacher is sooo good at this, figuring just what info or ideas or practice techniques will help me past a rough spot).

So for @ranjit instead of thinking about why teacher 1 disagrees with teacher 2, maybe think “what is this information/instruction doing for me in this moment, to help me get past this challenge.”

Maybe that’s a different way to look at it. Maybe not… 🙂

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