 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Richard
Date: 2001-07-28 14:44
Hi there! A while ago I posted a thing asking whether I should get a new teacher or not.
Anyway, everyone gave me lots of advice - mainly that I should change teachers, because my present one isn't very good at the technical side of it. I'll probably disappoint some of you, because I tried to say something about it to my teacher about it - I sort of started and he looked more and more upset, and I realised I couldn't do it. So I'm going to stay with him for at least another school term. I'm going to work hard on getting things like my embouchre right with what help he can give me; and I'll try and find a really good teacher who might just give me a one off lesson or a lesson once a month as well as my other teacher or something. Maybe I won't make it as a professional - that is what I want to do - but maybe I'm not 'ruthless' enough or something. But I'm just going to take things one day at a time, and apply for all the holiday coaching orchestras I can find and that kind of thing.......anyway, thanks again for everyone's advice, especially the Stoutenbergs who helped me a lot (and I think I may have let down a bit for not making the break)
All the best,
Richard
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Author: Sue B
Date: 2001-07-28 20:44
Make no mistake this should be business and not personal.
Many times in business it is necessary to let people go for many reasons. It is NEVER an easy thing. You don't have to go into all the gory details of why you are changing just tell him you have decided to take lessons from somebody else. You don't have to tear him down in anyway.
I think you are making a mistake to stay with this teacher when you clearly have reservations to the point of thinking this teacher may be holding you back. This is your life - you only get one chance to do it right and if this teacher is not up to getting you to a professional level and you have the talent and commitment you should move on.
At least this way you won't have regrets over what might have been if you had moved along.
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Author: Ken
Date: 2001-07-28 21:12
I'd get upset too if I was losing income.
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Author: Anji
Date: 2001-07-28 21:15
Hey, it's YOUR money.
Would you stay with a Banker that reduced your principal?
Would you go back to a car mechanic that was expensive and sloppy?
Would you continue dance lessons with an instructor who pushed for more 'event money', and didn't contribute to your skill?
Been to all 4, and found others.
It's difficult to separate personal attachments with something like music instruction, but you may not live to be 102 and may wish to make the most of your lesson time.
anji
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Author: ~jerry
Date: 2001-07-29 01:34
My experience in "firing" a teacher was that I simply said that I did not think I was making any progress (without placing blame) and that I intended to stop taking leessons - period, then found a new teacher.
~ jerry
Still in Clarinet Boot Camp
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Author: Anji
Date: 2001-07-29 12:21
Jerry, of course, has the best approach.
It's the George Costanza, "It's not you, it's ME!" method.
Didja getcher stripes yet Jerry?
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Author: Allen Cole
Date: 2001-07-29 17:31
It's hard to know the situation with your teacher, so ask yourself the following questions:
1 - Have I been practiciing faithfully?
2 - Have I given my teacher's methods and techniques a real chance to work?
#2 is a bit subjective, but if the answer to #1 is yes, and you've been with the teacher a year or more, I think that you can be satisfied that you've done what you should.
The only thing that would really insult me was if I was considered inadequate by a student whose effort was itself inadequate. Some of my students move on, and some do so at my behest.
In my younger days, I changed teachers twice in situations where I was perfectly happy with the teacher I was leaving. If you have a monthly or semesterly obligation, finish it out and move on. Most teachers work this way and don't consider themselves 'fired' by non-returning students. Jerry has presented a very tactful way to do this.
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Author: Suzanne
Date: 2001-07-29 20:50
Of course it seems like Richard should change teachers, but I can't and don't see the teacher/student relationship as purely business. It is an investment of one person's art and talent into another human being, and in certain ways it is a VERY personal relationship. Maybe it is not completely wise, but I care (emotionally) for my students and have bonded with them in a way where I want their music to become part of who they are as people. There is more than just technique that can pass from teacher to student, and there is a trust/respect dynamic that can make it difficult to break this relationship--so I can understand why it may be hard. Still, with my own students, I would try and discern when it is time for them to move on and, though I still might stay involved in their musical lives to some extent, it is also the job of the teacher to know when to let go.
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Author: Jessica
Date: 2001-08-02 19:23
I have realized that my private teacher is no longer helping me, but rather holding me back. But he's been my teacher for so long that I just can't leave him. He helped me so much before. I've only got one more year until I'll be a music major in college, and I've talked to my mom, and she doesn't really want me to switch teachers.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2001-08-02 20:02
Jessica,
It's your dollar, but if you're going to be auditioning, wouldn't you want to put your best foot forward?
I've had to go through the same thing with a piano teacher (who was teaching 5 of us) when she could no longer help us progress. We dropped lessons during summertime and then called her later to say that we were going to just be too busy to continue. A "white lie" nonetheless, but it would have been too hard to tell her directly, especially since she wasn't doing very well financially and the 5 of us taking lessons was a nice piece of her weekly income ...
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