Teaching adults

[Dulciana]

I'm in a position whereby I'm going to have to seriously increase my income, and have thought about advertising for adult pupils during the morning. I could also apply to schools, but have never liked this idea, as anyone I know who teaches piano in a school says that the majority of pupils don't take it seriously, and neither do the parents. Gross generalisation, but rightly or wrongly, I'd rather not go for this option.

BUT my experiences of teaching adults has not always been good either, and I'm wondering if this is a failing in me rather than in them. Anyone out there who has had positive experiences in this area - do you have any advice of any sort with regard to what I should be doing differently - or, in fact, the same - with an adult beginner as opposed to a child?

[kerioboe]

Can I reply to you as an adult beginner rather than a learner?
I started the oboe from scratch three years ago (and am still having lessons so from my point of view it is a success).

I initially used the same tutor book as my teacher's child pupils but had finished it in three months (whereas his pupils take about two years to work through it). The big advantage I had was that I could already read music and had reasonable finger co-ordination from playing the recorder. The pieces I have played since are probably about two thirds his choice and one third things I have brought in. Technical exercises are pretty much the same and again this is because I had prior musical experience. When he suggested I start playing scales, for example, I taught myself both harmonic and melodic minors whereas he had only asked for harmonic and I play diminished sevenths (as well as ordinary arpeggios) because I like the sound of them.

When he explains things he uses some (but not all) of the same images as he does with the children (air leaking out of a tyre for instance but he never told me I should imagine I was the Prince Charming blowing a kiss through the forest to wake up Sleeping Beauty) but he can also get quite technical.

I see myself as different to his child pupils in the following ways:
- I feel my lesson time to be a valuable (and too short) time of finding out things and am very concentrated.
- I ask for specific exercises to overcome technical problems and will spend time working on things which are completely tuneless.
- I tend to take things rather less on trust. This is not to say I doubt his judgement but I think I tend to ask more "how" and "why" questions than the children.
- I know which professional oboists I like and how I would like to be able to play.
- The reverse of the previous point is that I also know how far off I am from being a good player.
- When he first asked me to play in a group with his other pupils I felt very self-conscious about being an adult and thought that they would think I ought to know how to play better than I could. (I have now got over this and enjoy playing with them).

I hate playing in public and I always need a few minutes to get over nerves at the beginning of each lesson but this was the same when I was a teenager. We just do warm up exercises until I am relaxed.

I think the situation would be different for someone who has never played an instrument before and who might have unrealistic expectations about how quickly you can learn. In fact I have progressed faster than I thought I would (after three years I am playing things on the grade 8 lists) but when I first started my partner couldn't understand why I wanted to play something which made such a horrible noise nor could he understand my satisfaction the first time I managed to play all four lines of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."

You would also have, I think, the problem of the piano looking easier than it is. When we first met my partner wanted me to teach him the piano but he rapidly decided that co-ordinating two hands was impossible and gave up.

There is also the practice issue. I think with a non-instrument playing beginner you would have to explain the difference between playing and practising. My partner, for instance, doesn't understand why I bother with scales since we live in France and I will never need them for an exam.

This is turning out rather longer than I thought so I think I'd better stop here.

[Steve Hopwood]

I have taught umpteen adult beginners. Many lasted until they discovered that playing a musical instrument requires persistence and patience - about lesson five. ;D

Others have lasted longer and taken away from the experience something they valued. No adult starting with no prior experience has exceeded a playing standard equating to grade 6; few have got that far.

That is the negative side of things. More positively, it is no reason to refuse to teach them. We simply have to recognise this reality; adult beginners have certain expectations. For as long as their studies match their expectations they will continue; they will stop when their progress no longer matches their expectation.

In my experience, adult beginners understand the intellectual concepts much more easily than their child counterparts, but find the physical coordination much more difficult. This means they can tackle music after x weeks\months that is more complex than that of their child counterparts, but will need to spend more time on learning the physical side of it.

Lots of other things then get thrown into the mix - how well they cope with unexpected difficulties; how patient they are; how well they accept 'teaching'; how often they attend lessons; how much practise they do; how well they cope with their perception of failure.

Absolute beginner adults need material that is not full of pretty pictures and pieces entitled, "Mr Frog is Full of Hops" etc - adult learning material, in other words. My current favourite is Pam Wedgwoods "It's Never Too Late To Play Piano", a big book that goes to about grade 3 standard by the end.

My experience of 'daytime adult beginners' is not good. Their motivation has been short-lived and they have not proven to be a reliable source of income. I have been unimpressed by teaching the piano in schools too. These days, I prefer not to rely on either sources of funding. Given the choice, though, I would teach in a school; there are more pupils and at least they are on site every day. You have more chance of being paid.

I hope this helps. I am not sure it does.

Steve

[Dulciana]

Thanks, people.

Steve - I'm glad my experiences are not unique, because I did wonder if it was just that I, personally, wasn't able to motivate others enough for adult beginners to make it to higher grades. (My "best" one to date got to Grade 4.) I laughed at the mention of Mr. Frog is Full of Hops, because this was the downfall of one in particular, who just couldn't get her fourth fingers to work! (I have since discovered other books to use, I'm glad to say... )