Does a good teacher need to be an advanced player? At least in sports some of the greatest ever coaches were not advanced players. eg Jose Mourinho in soccer, Cus D'Amato in boxing. Perhaps piano playing is different in this regard.
I think this is a valid question. I am not an expert enough in soccer or boxing to be able to comment as to why those men were able to coach effectively. However, my guess is that the players/boxers that they coached were already working at an advanced level, and the coach's role was more about game play, strategy, motivation, and things unrelated to the actual technique. (But I'm just guessing at that.) Intermediate music students need someone who is well-versed in technique at a higher level; they need someone who can demonstrate, problem-solve, and cast a vision for effective technique. I don't believe you can learn effective technique from just listening to professional recordings, although you could imitate hand position and other mechanics from videos, I suppose. My real reason for the point I made here about needing to be an advanced player is that, because there is no accreditation process for piano teachers (anyone can say he is a piano teacher), many teachers without formal training and advanced study find themselves teaching at a level that is similar to their own level of expertise when students hit some point of intermediate study. My opinion is those teachers should continue their own study to better their skill and consider passing students at that level on to another more experienced and qualified teacher.
@@JannaWilliamson If you’re talking strictly about technique then a more apt analogy would be golf, where you have teachers who only do technique, the swing coach. Surprisingly the most famous swing coaches like David Leadbetter, Butch Harmon and Hank Haney were not advanced players. In Hank Haney’s book he even recounts how embarrassed he was that his own technique was bad, and he ended up coaching Tiger Woods! My own theory is that a good teacher develops a vision for technique after struggling themselves with their own technique. That’s why naturally gifted players usually make bad teachers because they haven’t gone through that struggle and so can’t help a student solve their own problems.
@@lastman4853 Yes, that is an excellent point. There are many advanced musicians who do not know how to teach technique. Which goes to my last point in this video. 😉 The golf analogy breaks down in this context because piano students (especially those at the intermediate level) only have one teacher. So we are responsible for all aspects - technique, interpretation, repertoire selection, musicianship skills, and more. You are also reminding me that my calculus teacher in high school suggested that I should be a math teacher because I always struggled, but eventually got it. I must say I am much happier teaching music! 😆
My last teacher dumped me and said I need an intermediate teacher. The previous teacher said I needed a couple years of basics! BTW, I was an art teacher, so am trying to figure out piano started 60 yrs ago, or was it 70 years in first grade?
Lots of great ponders here. What no Minuet raves are happening? ;) Yes, that enthusiasm and skill to guide is so essential.
Thanks so much !
Does a good teacher need to be an advanced player?
At least in sports some of the greatest ever coaches were not advanced players. eg Jose Mourinho in soccer, Cus D'Amato in boxing.
Perhaps piano playing is different in this regard.
I think this is a valid question. I am not an expert enough in soccer or boxing to be able to comment as to why those men were able to coach effectively. However, my guess is that the players/boxers that they coached were already working at an advanced level, and the coach's role was more about game play, strategy, motivation, and things unrelated to the actual technique. (But I'm just guessing at that.)
Intermediate music students need someone who is well-versed in technique at a higher level; they need someone who can demonstrate, problem-solve, and cast a vision for effective technique. I don't believe you can learn effective technique from just listening to professional recordings, although you could imitate hand position and other mechanics from videos, I suppose.
My real reason for the point I made here about needing to be an advanced player is that, because there is no accreditation process for piano teachers (anyone can say he is a piano teacher), many teachers without formal training and advanced study find themselves teaching at a level that is similar to their own level of expertise when students hit some point of intermediate study. My opinion is those teachers should continue their own study to better their skill and consider passing students at that level on to another more experienced and qualified teacher.
@@JannaWilliamson If you’re talking strictly about technique then a more apt analogy would be golf, where you have teachers who only do technique, the swing coach.
Surprisingly the most famous swing coaches like David Leadbetter, Butch Harmon and Hank Haney were not advanced players.
In Hank Haney’s book he even recounts how embarrassed he was that his own technique was bad, and he ended up coaching Tiger Woods!
My own theory is that a good teacher develops a vision for technique after struggling themselves with their own technique.
That’s why naturally gifted players usually make bad teachers because they haven’t gone through that struggle and so can’t help a student solve their own problems.
@@lastman4853 Yes, that is an excellent point. There are many advanced musicians who do not know how to teach technique. Which goes to my last point in this video. 😉 The golf analogy breaks down in this context because piano students (especially those at the intermediate level) only have one teacher. So we are responsible for all aspects - technique, interpretation, repertoire selection, musicianship skills, and more.
You are also reminding me that my calculus teacher in high school suggested that I should be a math teacher because I always struggled, but eventually got it. I must say I am much happier teaching music! 😆
My last teacher dumped me and said I need an intermediate teacher.
The previous teacher said I needed a couple years of basics!
BTW, I was an art teacher, so am trying to figure out piano started 60 yrs ago, or was it 70 years in first grade?