Difficulty getting practice lessons?

College Majors Music Major
41

<p>My older son was a very gifted treble singer (sadly, he no longer sings) who ended up doing solo work in the opera at 11 years old. He was so out-of-this-world that noone ever would take money to teach him anything. </p>

<p>I remember feeling shocked and insulted to find that people actually charged money to teach the violin to my second son! This was of course a ridiculous reaction, but perhaps your child has had a lot of the way paved for her the way my older son had.</p>

<p>The exception is the gift that gives so much to the teacher that they don’t want money too. The rule is that parents pay for kids’ lessons all the way up the ladder sometimes with some scholarship assistance. Teachers work for a living just like the rest of us. Those who give sample lessons without a fee (and there are quite a few around) are simply generous people who should be appreciated.</p>

42

<p>To Catera 45 and Bassdad - Not only did she suggest, strongly I might add, that I visit the ATM, she gave me directions on how to get to it. That said, she was a nice teacher to my D and really gave her an intense lesson, like you would expect her to give to her own student, so we just marked it off to being in “the City.” It’s not a school that has made the final group but it was marked off for other reasons besides the ATM interaction. I had “guessed” the fee would not be more than about $100 and I was very wrong. I was just embarrassed, really.</p>

43

<p>Here’s our official line:</p>

<p>"The relationship between student and mentor forms the centerpiece of any musician’s education. Consequently, the Conservatory encourages and always provides advice lessons at no cost to all accepted students prior to making a commitment to attend Bard. For prospective students, advice lessons are available on a case-by-case basis. In most instances the student will need to submit a recent CD or DVD prior to a campus visit. The faculty member and the prospective student will also need to arrange a fee. "
[Bard</a> College Conservatory of Music | Frequently Asked Questions: Is it possible to schedule a lesson with one of your faculty?](<a href=“http://www.bard.edu/conservatory/faqs/#faq868561]Bard”>http://www.bard.edu/conservatory/faqs/#faq868561)</p>

<p>At Bard, none of the faculty teach as their main, full-time job. There are also no quotas, no policy saying the teacher must have a certain number of students to remain employed. At schools where the faculty have an appointment as assistant, associate, or full professor, the nature of their employment usually entails a contractual understanding that “you will teach a mixture of 14 undergraduate and graduate students, coach a woodwind quintet, and teach one additional course in orchestral repertoire” or something to that effect. If the school is in a college town, and the faculty live and work there full-time (regardless of other outside commitments, soloing, etc. their home zip code closely matches the school’s), then it’s plausible that some would regularly offer lessons gratis. </p>

<p>But supply and demand dictates that it’s unrealistic to expect a very busy musician, someone holding down a successful performing career and teaching responsibilities at 2 universities, one pre-college division, and a small private studio, to provide lessons at no cost to any prospective student that stops by campus. The same would apply, generally, to full-time faculty with limited outside activity, because the university is going to get the maximum commitment possible out of their full-time employee. </p>

<p>We have our policy because, in fact, we often get calls from people in CT, NJ, MA, and NY where they say “hey I’m on spring break this week and I’m coming to Bard tomorrow can I have a lesson with Peter Serkin at 2pm?” Our response to this situation is found in the policy stated above–we bend over backwards to give accepted students face time and free lessons with faculty (in some limited cases we have even subsidized travel to Bard), as it is usually the most important factor in the decision to attend. </p>

<p>For prospective students, though, the best process involves advance planning, and budgeting for the cost of lessons. I mentioned earlier a cellist from Wyoming who wanted a lesson with Peter Wiley. He sent in a one-page resume and a DVD of his playing two months in advance, and we set up a lesson for him. (He was prepared to pay for the lesson, but Peter had such a good time meeting him money never came up.) And while he came on his spring break, he also made sure that was a good week to see us–it wasn’t OUR spring break as well, and since we’re just under 100 students we don’t have recitals every single day like a school with a BM-DMA continuum, our activity comes in waves. I’m sure this cellist made the most of his time and had lessons in Boston and NYC as well.</p>

<p>So at least for us the planning-ahead approach seems the best way to balance the need for prospective students to get a solid feel for a school with the fact that interest and demand can often far outstrip supply vis a vis faculty time. And be prepared to pay, and then be pleasantly surprised when you don’t. </p>

<p>But like I said I can definitely envision a different kind of arrangement at a school in a college town with full-time faculty, but even then I’m certain supply and demand max out the higher up the food chain you travel in terms of volume of prospective students. Hans Jensen may teach at Northwestern full-time, but I can’t imagine him offering lessons free of charge either. Same thing for Bloomington, Potsdam, Ann Arbor, Oberlin, Appleton, Denton, etc. etc. </p>

<p>I’m also not sure if it’s fair to write off a school simply because an advice lesson didn’t work out. How you’re treated by the office of admission during the process of getting a lesson could give you insight into the school’s administrative culture, but every year many students end up perfectly happy at a school they auditioned for based on other investigations (college fairs, online, overall reputation) and without having a lesson in advance. And I can say that without question, an advance lesson does not tip the scale in favor of a particular applicant. It may help with nerves on the part of the student to feel more comfortable, not playing to a room of total strangers, but any music school with integrity is going to weigh each audition equally, on merit. So don’t feel like you have to have lessons with all eight teachers on your list of possible schools in order to have an edge or a leg-up in the audition. An advance lesson can help in cases where you aren’t sure whether to apply, but if it’s clear you’re going to put in an application to the school anyway, why bend over backwards and shell out a ton of money in your junior year just to meet with a teacher who can only see you on this particular day and time? The office of admission will tell you, in its information session, what they’re looking for, and how to get in to their school. And they’re always around. As for that teacher you’re pretty sure you’d want to study with, wait until you’ve actually been accepted, and then go and kick the tires if necessary.</p>

<p>Perhaps most revealing will be how the school and the teacher treat you once you’re admitted and the tables are turned! You all bit your nails waiting for April 1st but I’m now biting mine. At least until tomorrow.</p>

44

<p>Well, IMHO it is imperative to have a lesson and meeting with the private teacher before making a decision about attending a school if there is any way possible to do this. Luckily, even from a great distance, we were able to work this in to the schedule. My S had many informational / trial lessons during the year before auditions. It really helped to tweak the list of schools. </p>

<p>At the one school where he did not have an opportunity to have a sample lesson he did not put a specific teacher request on his application. He was accepted to the school and assigned to a specific studio, later to learn that a different teacher would have been preferable. The assigned teacher was available for a lesson and studio class after admission but he chose my S, not the other way around. This school would have been at the top of his list if he had had more information about the teachers before the application. It is definitely an advantage to do a lot of research and to take sample lessons prior to application to confirm that the teacher you are requesting is really someone with whom you would want to study. My S feels that the teacher was the primary reason he would or would not choose a school.</p>

<p>Some teachers charged for lessons, some did not. S always offered to pay at the lesson but felt uncomfortable asking the price ahead of time. Luckily we had read about this on CC and were prepared!! There was one Professor that stated that the department decided as a whole to make a policy to charge for lessons but was uncomfortable with it, leaving it up to us to decide on the amount. That kind of put us on the spot and I paid what my S pays his teacher for his weekly lesson. I later found out that some teachers charge $125+ for a sample lesson. I always came prepared with plenty of cash but never expected this approach. To pay too much or too little? I guess the lesson here is to expect anything and to travel cash heavy. We don’t pay near that amount here in small town USA. Another teacher gave us a discount if we would pay in cash instead of by check. </p>

<p>All of the teachers were very professional. Lessons given on or after audition day were never charged for. Some teachers responded that it was part of their job to give trial lessons for potential students. Others just stated the amount.</p>

45

<p>So far we have taken one school visit trip across the country. In every case, we emailed the teachers asking for a lesson, and stated in the email that we were of course prepared to pay the usual fee. One confirmed the lesson and told us the fee in the email. Another told us the fee at the lesson. One other ended up turning a “yes I can hear you sing but I don’t have time for a lesson” into a really wonderful 1/2 hour lesson–no charge. In the last case, we had been unable to arrange a lesson in advance, but then a department secty walked down the hall and discovered that the teacher we had had our eye on had a cancellation, and D had a wonderful impromptu lesson, again, no charge. I am grateful to hear N8Ma’s take on waiting until after acceptance for lessons. Most of my D’s schools are across the continent from us, so, realistically, we probably won’t have any more opportunities to visit or ask for lessons before applications go out. So, she’ll make decisions on where to apply in some cases based upon website, locations, recommendations from teachers, college fairs, etc. Then, if accepted, she’ll need to visit the schools and meet teachers. In no way will we be able to visit each school and have lessons before applying at every school. Plus, some schools come to D’s school to audition people, so she won’t even see some schools unless/until she is admitted.</p>

46

<p>We found it very beneficial to have sample lessons before deciding where to apply. I cannot imagine packing more than about six auditions into the already hectic schedule of a high school senior who is heavily involved in music. It would have been very hard to narrow things down that much had we not had some lessons prior to the auditions.</p>

<p>In one case in particular, my daughter was torn between two concerti as possible audition pieces. (In the double bass world, schools that require a concerto or concerto movement as part of the audition probably hear the same five pieces from 90% or more of their applicants and the same three from at least two-thirds.) The teacher at one of the top schools on her list told her flat out that she was far more likely to succeed by auditioning with one of them rather than the other. This turned out to be quite helpful advice.</p>

47

<p>We just returned from having two sample lessons in two different cities. Both were programs that were very high on my daughter’s list. We paid for both and feel like it was money very well spent. My DD has recently started recording her lessons on her mac, and both teachers agreed to being taped. Now she has a record to look back on when preparing for her audition. This may vary depending on the instrument, so your milage may vary.</p>

<p>At the first place, DD loved the teacher and thought the lesson went very well. They connected, he made suggestions about the piece she played and was very complimentary. He also invited her to sit through a class he was teaching the next day. However, she did not particularly like the school. She couldn’t “see myself there”. The class went well and she enjoyed that. It was the feel to the school itself that through her off. She decided that it was still worth going to audition, but is not at the top of her list at this point.</p>

<p>At the second school the lesson also went very well. The teacher seemed to like her and gave her a tour of some of the facilities. She loved the school, the area and the facillties.
However, the teacher told her that if she decided to attend that school she would have to change x,y and z about her technique. This was not unexpected, she had been told by other teachers that this school would expect that. But she is not sure she wants to start over on her technique at this point.</p>

<p>So, for us it was important to have both the lesson and the school tour. We will be setting up more lessons in the future. She will be meeting some teachers this summer with her summer plans. And, we will continue to work on that all important list of schools to audition at.</p>

48

<p>N8Ma –</p>

<p>I may be mistaken, but I think it would be a big risk to wait until acceptances were in to meet and learn the teaching style of at least one teacher at the school you are applying to. It is a fact that at some schools teacher assignments are made upon acceptance. These schools ask you to rank your teacher choices. I understand that at at least one major conservatory, if your first pick teacher doesn’t choose you, you won’t get in. Furthermore, some of the popular studios (where there might only be one or two spaces available that year) get filled by those who were selected upon acceptance - often those places go to students who have already met and taken a lesson with the teacher. If you wait, you won’t get a chance at those studios. I think it would be a big risk to wait until acceptances were in to meet and learn the teaching style of at least one teacher at the school you are applying to. It sounds like it is different at Bard.</p>