S/O Piano Lessons

[Anonymous]

Where do people find good piano teachers that will come to their house in DC? We recently started with someone, who we like, but I feel like she is just going through the motions. She shows up late, which would be fine, but she ends up leaving a few minutes before the allotted amount of time every single time. It is driving me insane. I'm not usually a penny pincher, but I'm starting to feel very taken advantage of.

[Anonymous]

My child's school music teacher teaches her. $40 for 30-minute lesson (full 30 minutes -- sometimes it goes slightly longer).

Previously we used the pianist/organist from our church.

Good places to start.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child's school music teacher teaches her. $40 for 30-minute lesson (full 30 minutes -- sometimes it goes slightly longer).

Previously we used the pianist/organist from our church.

Good places to start.

Great ideas, but we have neither a school music teacher nor a church.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child's school music teacher teaches her. $40 for 30-minute lesson (full 30 minutes -- sometimes it goes slightly longer).

Previously we used the pianist/organist from our church.

Good places to start.

Great ideas, but we have neither a school music teacher nor a church.

Well, maybe visit some churches and inquire in the office if their organist gives lessons? Or ask friends who attend a church?

[jsteele]

I would be happy to recommend our piano teacher who comes to our house in DC if you are interested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where do people find good piano teachers that will come to their house in DC? We recently started with someone, who we like, but I feel like she is just going through the motions. She shows up late, which would be fine, but she ends up leaving a few minutes before the allotted amount of time every single time. It is driving me insane. I'm not usually a penny pincher, but I'm starting to feel very taken advantage of.

While you are shopping for a new teacher, only pay this teacher the fraction she is actually present.

[Anonymous]

Do you have a clock where she can see it easily? She might not realize she's cutting you short. Or, if your child is very young, their attention span might just be 'done' at a certain point and she doesn't want to push farther. My husband and I have both taught in home lessons for years and would not be offended if you brought the issue up. However, I would maybe try putting a clock on the piano and/or listening in on the lesson first.

[Anonymous]

^^ If she does feel your DC is "done" after a certain point, maybe she can fill out the rest of the lesson time by playing something for both of you. That's what my piano teacher did while I was recovering from a hand injury and could only play for a certain amount of time.

[Anonymous]

Honestly the best teachers won't come to your house (at least the most highly educated) unless you are lucky and they live in your neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

I would greatly appreciate the name of your teacher, Jeff. If you don't want to put it online, I will create an email account tomorrow and put it here. Thanks!

My child really wants to play for longer and actually generally continues for another hour after the teacher leaves. We started with 30 minute lessons, which were really only 25 minutes. She was annoyed they were too short and I thought maybe I would be less annoyed that they were being cut short, so we expanded to 45 minutes, of course paying accordingly. The teacher was again 15 minutes late. Then there were 35 minutes of lessons, although even that included a lot of the teacher contemplating what to do. The teacher went to the bathroom after 35 minutes, then came back just to tell my daughter that she did a good job and then left. Am I right to be annoyed?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:I would greatly appreciate the name of your teacher, Jeff. If you don't want to put it online, I will create an email account tomorrow and put it here. Thanks!

You can just click the "report" button on any message and send me your email address. Then I'll email you his contact information. He does either 30 or 60 minute lessons. It sounds like you might want the full hour.