TEACHERS unite!
Posted 2 months ago at 3:31 pm. 8 comments
I am STEAMING!! I had a new student this week who has had lessons with several other teachers, and he can’t even sing a 5-note scale!!! WHAT have these other teachers been doing? He came to me so that he can learn how to trust what comes out of his mouth when he sings.
The first teacher he talked about gave him daily exercises to do, but then didn’t help him progress during lessons. The student felt as if he was just spinning his wheels and that the teacher was saying the same thing every week.
The other teacher was a Speech Level Singing teacher. My new student stated that she “was very expensive” (I don’t consider myself cheap, so how much is SHE charging?) and that she also told him he should forget the daily regiment his previous teacher had given him and that he DIDN’T even have to PRACTICE between lessons!!
WHAT is up with that? How can ANY self-respecting teacher tell a voice student they don’t have to practice? Your body is your instrument and must be trained to respond, in the way that any athlete trains their body.
If, after months of lessons and two separate teachers, you can’t even sing a 5-note scale (with no problem matching pitches when sung individually, just ignorance of the concept), it is your teachers who are at fault. This kind of story INFURIATES me – there are people out there taking singers’ money who don’t know what they’re doing.
Thanks for letting me rant!! I’m in the middle of a “reasonable” blog post, but I had to take time out to write this. I am blessed that I am surrounded by fabulous teachers who care about how and what they teach, who, if a student doesn’t make progress will willingly refer them to a teacher who CAN help. Luckily, I run across stories like this infrequently, BUT I should NEVER have to hear this kind of tale! I’ll post again soon, I promise!
Back to main blog page
Personally, I think that the names of these teachers should be disclosed and we should be able to discuss the matters with each teacher “personally”, if you know what I mean. I was giving saxophone lessons about 25 years ago when my student, a tenor saxophone player, could not read the scale I put in front of him because his public school teacher taught him that his scale was half bass clef, half treble clef. He could not read the notes because all year his teacher had him reading incorrectly, I was fit to be tied, but only a college student, so apparently I didn’t know enough to be a teacher.
Thanks for the comment! I agree that “teachers” who don’t know their stuff should be hung out on a limb. I know the name of one of the teachers (that Speech Level Singing #&*$%^ pile of #$&*@), but I don’t feel comfortable naming them. I will ALWAYS warn people away from SLS, and I try to make sure my students have a good grasp of what good teaching is. Otherwise, it becomes a #$%$-slinging contest and that does no one any good. So…. I do agree there should be some better way to point out the horrific teachers, but I don’t know how to do it without looking like I am envious, except via a blog posting like this so that students are aware of what teaching should be.
Rachel,
Couldn’t agree more! That is incredibly frustrating. What is even WORSE is when a student that you spend several years grooming is sent to an accredited institution of higher learning to study with a respected professor–on scholarship–and six months into their lessons they have a THIRD of the voice they had when they left your studio & have nearly lost their understanding of support and proper sound production. Egads!!!!
Kristin:
Yes – been there, done that. STRONGLY suggested the student switch teachers. They did and are now very happy. Thank goodness the really good ones sometimes keep in touch (and then, other times they don’t)…..
Hear, here, Rachel! Inspired. I feel your pain. After decades of being a professor, couldn’t agree more!
%%robert
aka chopin_slut, your Twitter friend
I have the same frustration, but also a worry from the other side. I have had several students over the years that come to their lesson having practiced without paying much attention to the notes, rhythms etc.
I go over the theory, test them on understanding the issues and have them play it back to me correctly, use modeling and ear work to assure that they can hear the line well, and actually practice with them in the lessons to make sure they understand the concepts and have the practice skills to learn the music well.
Then they come to the lesson, again having practiced every day, and still have practiced the same mistakes, I wonder what their next teacher is going to say about me.
Thanks for the support Robert!
Denny – very good point. When I have students who just don’t work, I call them on it and really try to increase how/efficiency of practice. If that still doesn’t work, I’ll suggest to the student/parent that they perhaps try another teacher, as it doesn’t seem we’re working well together & that what I feel is sufficient progress to warrant paying for lessons (dependent upon the student’s skill & overall musical goal) is not being made. I hate wasting my time and students’ money, so I’m very up front & blunt about it. =D It’s never easy (just like kicking a student out for non-payment is hard, especially when they’re talented).
My daughter and her violin teacher are in this process right now – he & I are talking and she might suspend lessons for a while, as she’s really not progressing the way he feels she should.
As a student, I have taken myself out of a teacher’s studio because I didn’t feel I was making sufficient progress. Although not practicing is a different issue, the lack of progress is a sufficient reason to switch teachers, if you’re still motivated to take lessons. I think, in the end, both the student (parent, as well) AND the teacher have a responsibility to periodically assess the situation.
Thank you all for the fabulous discussion! I LOVE it!!
Rachel, I hear you! RANT AWAY!!! Publish in the newspaper so the clueless can see it!
I’m sorry you had to endure a lesson like that. But now you can rest assured that your student will understand what he’s doing and make progress. He’s lucky to have found you! So many people get stuck where they are, and don’t look around. They truly don’t know there’s a better way.