<p>"Do teachers seem to mind if the lessons are recorded? Has anyone asked to do this? Violinists always record the lessons...trumpeters don't seem to as much." We didn't even think of recording these lessons, but I'm not sure how valuable any tapes would have been, and recording might have changed the dynamic with the teachers. Some of the lessons were extended, helpful and almost like little "master classes", others were fairly brief with and involved more talking than playing. If you think you and your son might lose track of who's who, you might just consider making a practice of jotting down some notes after each visit.</p>
<p>My son and I jotted down rather extensive notes after each lesson, including technical things learned, feelings, overall impression, etc. THis acted as a sort of debriefing which was useful. We did all of the practice lessons in a 2 week time frame last summer - after the first couple - the details really started swimming together. In addition - some of the things/techniques discussed in the lessons can be easily forgotten. We have actually referred to these notes several times over the months for a variety of reasons</p>
<p>Would those of you familiar with a voice practice lesson give some details? It seems some of the lessons are described more like sessions where the teacher listens to the student and gives feedback and others are like more traditional lessons.</p>
<p>symphonymom..with regard to timing. People have lessons from junior year through after auditions. However, when it comes to pre-audition lessons in the senior year, you should take care that your child has time to incorporate what the teacher told them at the lesson (new fingerings, techniques, etc.) seamlessly into their audition. What that amount of time is, only your child can determine. For my child (Juilliard-pre college, NFAA winner) that was a minimum of 3 months before auditions.</p>
<p>"Do teachers seem to mind if the lessons are recorded? Has anyone asked to do this?"</p>
<p>We recorded one voice lesson with a professor D's voice teacher was not familiar with. He did not mind at all. She forgot the recorder for one of the others but that professor had indicated she would not mind. D records most of her lessons with her teacher so she is used to it. I think voice teachers are very used to it. </p>
<p>D did the lessons after acceptance for the most part, when decision was down to the final 3. That limited expense of travel and the lesson was more a part of the final decision. She also combined it with an interview and a more in depth discussion of the program and how she would fit into it than was possible before she was accepted. She did not have to pay for those.</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>trumpeters don't seem to as much>></p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>DS, the trumpet player...did not record his undergrad trial lessons, but he recorded ALL of his grad school trial lessons, and the teachers actually suggested this in a couple of cases. Re: fees...we paid for some undergrad and not others...ditto the grad school lessons. We came prepared to pay.</p>
<p>So we are about to begin the sample lesson stage…After preliminary research over the last few months and a few visits (but no sample lessons yet), D will review her working list of schools and their violin faculty with her private teacher at her next lesson, to get his guidance about which teachers to focus on for sample lessons, etc, as the next step. </p>
<p>My question may be a little premature since we have not investigated this level of detail about individual school policies on studio assignments, but here’s where I’m confused: where there are multiple instructors in an instrument at a particular school, a student may or may not be assigned to the teacher s/he had the practice lesson with, even if that teacher is indicated as top choice. So then would it be a matter of waiting for acceptances and going back AFTER studio assignments, before making the final decision? I would guess it would be useful to know not only how many of a given instrument a school is expecting to accept, but also how many spots in individual studios?</p>
<p>Orchestramom: You've got the right idea in that there is always the possibility of getting accepted in an "unfamiliar" studio. Then, as you say, a post-acceptance, pre-enrollment field trip would probably be necessary.</p>
<p>If a school is real, "must apply" for your D, then try to arrange lessons with more than one professor during your trip so she can get a range on potential faculty there.</p>
<p>The issue of studio assignments can be a tricky one. In cases where there are two or three teachers of a particular instrument at a school, it might make sense to set up a trial lesson with all of them. Any more than that would be difficult.</p>
<p>The month of April in senior year could be used for an additional trial lesson or two, but some schools delay studio assignment even longer than that. A few want you to send in the acceptance card before the studio assignment is made. If you find yourself in a position of being asked to accept a teacher sight unseen, it is time to push back.</p>
<p>The multiple studio scenario is indeed very tricky, as if the whole process wasn't unnerving and expensive enough already. If you're lucky you may have exposure to some instructors through summer programs, festivals, masterclasses beforehand As mentioned, lessons with a few of the instructors when visiting multiple studio schools is probably the best way to go. And I agree with BassDad... accepting a school without an assigned studio instructor (or at least a tentative or conditional assignment) is a crap-shoot.</p>
<p>And a very high-stakes crap shoot at that.</p>
<p>^^^
thanks for the advice and warnings...good thing I asked NOW, when we're starting to put the plan together....coordinating all this travel (not to mention the schedules of mutiple teachers at each location!) should be interesting...</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>This is all such great advice! Thanks so much, everyone! I guess we'll plan two trips: it's probably better to do three lessons at a time rather than spending a crazy week trying to go everywhere. Having read your thread, my H is on board. As soon as S comes up for air from AP's I guess he needs to start contacting teachers and trying to arrange all of this.
I'm with you, orchestramom, and my track shoes are standing by.</p>
<p>PS. And my apologies to the viola dads...as nycm knows, age is rendering my mind into a sieve...and clearly I need an eye exam:)</p>