Comments on: Why I Quit Piano Lessons

By: Mark Johnson

Mark Johnson — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 22:00:41 +0000

It sucks to know that at times while young one had very bad experiences while learning piano..

The learning experience at a very young age is crucial to maintain the love for piano..

By: Christine Bougie

Christine Bougie — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 22:26:37 +0000

@dean – Osteneks!? I was right around the corner, taking my lessons at Ryson’s!

By: Dean Wolfe

Dean Wolfe — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 22:22:42 +0000

LOL. I went through about 10 guitar teachers when i started at age 11. I was dead-serious about learning this instrument and I could see right through the ‘doin’ it for the money’ slack off attitudes . Finally found an awesome jazz guitar teacher at Walter Osteneks but he moved after a year, so i just took over teaching myself by imitating my favourites off of records (Steve Howe being the major inspiration- whom i ran into in New York – he liked the Tim Horton outlet)

By: Christine Bougie

Christine Bougie — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 19:43:26 +0000

@deltaslide – those nuns are crazy. I’ve heard nothing but horror stories from people who had nuns as teachers.

@kim – here you go http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdVPE.asp?ppn=MN0042142

By: Kim d.

Kim d. — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 18:40:10 +0000

This is insightful. I have just started piano lessons for the first time in my life, and it’s hard to practice ‘Three Blind Mice’ when all I wanna do is rip through the ‘Doogie Howser, M.D.’ theme music.

By: deltaslide

deltaslide — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:35:16 +0000

Man it’s amazing that any of us still play music at all after crappy experiences with childhood piano lessons. As a young kid in North Bay the only option was the nuns at the Catholic boarding school who used to yell and scream and even hold a ruler over my hands to smack my fingers when I made a mistake. Eventually I was allowed to quit and then, when I was sixteen, I had the infinite good fortune to find an INCREDIBLE classical guitar teacher who was everything a great teacher should be and who taught me things I still use every day. I guess blind luck has a lot to do with it…

By: Christine Bougie

Christine Bougie — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 20:39:24 +0000

@david – sight-reading makes you a good sight-reader. ear trumps eye when it comes to music.

@sky – you were lucky to have a cool teacher!

By: Sky

Sky — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 20:16:37 +0000

How could you not eventually memorize the piece? That’s silly. My piano teacher was awesome. He explained to me that all great “pop” songs are basically 4 chords by playing the simple root changes under the main theme of Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.” Changed my life.

By: David Newland

David Newland — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:45:24 +0000

This almost exactly mirrors my piano lessons experience. My teacher would ask me to play the piece; I’d ask her to play it so I knew what it sounded like which makes it MUCH easier to play.

I’d then play it, partly by ear – my ear was always better than my sight-reading. Then I’d get corrected for playing it by ear.

Sadly, all the sight-reading in the world couldn’t have made me an intuitive musician, while my intuitive musicianship has taken years to recover.

Sight-reading will never be a substitute for the “folk” (i.e. oral, hands-on, intuitive, cultural) approach to music.