<p>DS received an email last night from his percussion teacher-- definitely a mass email sent out to all students-- saying he was moving in 2 weeks and lessons were finished. DS had studied with him for almost 9 years and so is upset by this sudden news. I am wondering if others have been through this and how they helped their son/daughter?</p>
<p>A few other facts-- DS is 16 and will be a junior in HS this fall. He was just starting to work with this teacher on a list of audition requirements for various music programs. The plan was to start working on the audition pieces this fall</p>
<p>I am wondering how much I should be involved in trying to find a new teacher-- we live in a fairly small town so not many options. Should I ask the teacher who is leaving for a recommendation of a new teacher? SHould I get in touch with local university and see if there is a teacher there? Should I let son take care of all this himself?</p>
<p>We have been through this. It is very upsetting. My son is going to be a senior who is auditioning for schools and we thought the same thing was going to happen again this coming fall but teacher decided not to leave. (But this has happened to this kid twice before.) But in the end a new teacher might end up being for the best. To find a teacher- Is there a college near you with a decent music program? A professional orchestra? I now drive my kid 2 hours for a lesson a couple of times a month to work with the new teacher we found when we thought this was going to be an issue and he still has weekly lessons with other teacher. They are working together to help get him ready. Your current teacher should work closely with you to help you find someone who could help especially if you kid is auditioning for music schools. Maybe high school music teacher woudl also have some ideas. And I guess Skype is an option with current teacher but it is not the way I would go first. Call the teacher and tell him how upset you are and ask teacher to help you put a plan in place given the importance of this year. I am a private music teacher and I personally do not like the way your teacher let you know this.</p>
<p>idahomom, I can see where your son would be upset. But I think change is good. I do agree with cellocompmom that you should take time to find the right teacher. Also, I do think it is ok to ask the old teacher for suggestions (though I wouldn’t tell him that you were upset because it really doesn’t do anything for you). Also, don’t be afraid to try and teacher and move on if s/he is not right for your son. My son started guitar lessons with a classical guitar teacher. My son was interested in electric and the old teacher told him it was time to move on. The first electric teacher was not right. The second was perfect.</p>
<p>My son has had three different private trumpet teachers. He learned different stuff from each one, and is probably a better musician today for having three different teachers.</p>
<p>Now that I have calmed down (slightly) I can see that in the long run it will likely work out fine. I was upset because it was unexpected, and also I didn’t really like DS being informed via email. I think that the teacher should have talked to DS and other long term, serious students in person. Then they could have discussed options for a replacement teacher. Mass email maybe ok for new students–</p>
<p>Anyway-- I did not send my initial email to this teacher because it would have been too emotional. I plan to wait until the end of the weekend and then send a more calm email asking for suggestions for a new teacher. If I don’t get any good options I will get in touch with the local university and see if they have a list of names.</p>
<p>DS will be leaving tomorrow for a music workshop-- probably good timing. Maybe by the time he gets back I will have a few names for him to look at, then he can start with someone new in August or at the beginning of the school year</p>
<p>This is probably a good time to move to another teacher. Nine years is a very long time with the same teacher and eleven years would have been too long had the teacher stayed. A new teacher will have different strengths and will help fill in some of the weaknesses that your son has. If the old teacher had stayed, it probably would have been very awkward to change to a new teacher. There will, of course, be adjustments, and your son may not like the new teacher as much, but, as long as you find a good teacher, your son’s playing will be better in the long run.</p>
<p>You should definitely handle the logistics of the teacher search. Call the old teacher, thank him for 9 wonderful years, express disappointment that he is moving along with best wishes for his future, and then ask for recommendations. Tell him that you are prepared to drive a distance, if necessary, to get to a teacher that is as good as he was (we have cellocompmom beat for driving: for my son’s last two years of high school, every two weeks we drove about 700 miles round trip and none of it on divided highway and about 20 miles on a gravel road, but it was worth it). </p>
<p>Definitely call your son’s school music teacher(s) and get suggestions; they might be less biased than the percussion teacher who possibly might view some of the alternative teachers as rivals. As well, call the local colleges/universities to get suggestions. I would suggest that you do a trial lesson or two with at least a couple of different teachers first before committing to a teacher. My son had a couple of trial lessons with a good local teacher (and that would have saved us the horrendously long drives), but the teacher was not a good match at all.</p>
<p>I would suggest calling the teacher rather than emailing as there are nuances that can be said but not put into writing. Be certain that any recommended teachers have a track record of successfully preparing high school students for music school auditions.</p>
<p>I hope I didn’t sound unsympathetic in my previous post; I do understand how upsetting this can be. Two weeks is very short notice, and, as you write, email is not the way to communicate this with long-term students. Perhaps there was a good reason for the sudden move, but regardless of whether or not there was, two weeks is not enough time to make alternate arrangements.</p>
<p>“You should definitely handle the logistics of the teacher search. Call the old teacher, thank him for 9 wonderful years, express disappointment that he is moving along with best wishes for his future, and then ask for recommendations.”</p>
<p>I like that approach. Also, while I understand the comments that say he should call a long-term student, it could be tough to do. I have had to make a decision to move and had 2 weeks to get everything done. Believe me, it is very stressful trying to get everything in order in such a short time. Until you walk in someone else’s shoes, don’t be quick to judge.</p>
<p>You should have already been looking for another teacher at this point anyway. Percussion is a big wide field and it’s really important to study with more then one teacher. My son is the same age as yours and we have 2 teachers. He may loose one soon also but we’ll just replace.</p>
<p>Most people have multiple teachers, that is the rule more then not with most music students. We had the same thing with our S, his teacher moved out of the area and we needed to find a new one. She had found someone she was recommending to her students and it worked out okay. I realize it is unsettling, especially as your S was older when this happened (my S was much younger at the time), but it may very well turn out for the best.</p>
<p>One of the things we discovered is how much difference there is with teachers. When my S switched teachers from his prior one (who was the one the teacher who moved away recommended) to his current one, the contrast was glaring, things his prior teacher had let him get away with his current one bore down on, it was night and day different (and his prior teacher was pretty accomplished as a musician). Obviously, I don’t know anything about percussion, level of playing and so forth required to get into music school, but it could be that finding a new teacher might be the difference between making it and not making it:)</p>
<p>I would recommend talking to the teacher who is leaving for recommendations, it also may be that you will find someone at a local college. I personally feel that a teacher that is going away has the responsibility to see that his students find someone else they think is good enough, but maybe this was so sudden he didn’t have time to do that, I don’t know. In any event, I agree with others, I suspect this will turn out a lot better then you think, might even be a path you didn’t think would happen:)</p>
<p>Over the years, I’ve become convinced that spending more than 4 or 5 years with one teacher in the childhood/teen years (and maybe later) is counterproductive. No matter how wonderful the teacher, both parties become comfortable with one another’s quirks, so that even the experience of a new teacher saying exactly the same thing the old teacher has been saying for years can have different results. (This can also work with a summer camp teacher, although to a lesser extent.) </p>
<p>And, as musicprnt notes, different teachers can strengthen different aspects of one’s playing - we can trace D3’s bowhold to one particular teacher, her shifting skills to another, etc. While both teachers were terrific, the combination makes D3’s playing even stronger. So despite the initial upset - and a long-time teacher leaving suddenly with little notice certainly is upsetting - this could turn out to be a blessing in disguise in the long run.</p>
<p>Good points mentioned. One teacher we use is a college professor, marimba/mallet specialist who has gotten his students into the programs son is looking into including Eastman and Manhattan. The other is a professional timpanist/drumset player who works in the professional orchestral setting. He gives great tips on working towards and auditioning for actual jobs.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the comments-- I really appreciate the input! I agree that there are advantages to working with different teachers-- the problem with living in a tiny town in Idaho is that the number of teachers is extremely limited. But I will expand my search to the area within 100 miles of us and hope to come up with a new teacher. I left voice mail with old teacher and will see if I hear back. And I looked at the nearest university website and have contact info for percussion teacher there. So I am optimistic that he will have a replacement teacher by fall. Because of where we live I realize DS will not be competitive at top (or even middle) music schools. But he hopes to be accepted somewhere-- and then it is up to him how hard he works there.</p>
<p>Where you come from has nothing to do with where he’ll end up. I live in a tiny town in NY state. I drive him an hour for lessons. The difference for my son has been the fact that at 11 years old I took him to the professor to start with lessons. If you can get your son to that percussion professor it will be the best thing for him. Good luck!!!</p>
<p>ok thanks! I sent an email and left a voicemail at the college for the percussion teacher. Only one percussion teacher is listed, but when the office is open I can call and see if there is a second teacher not listed in the directory.</p>
<p>I agree with what others have written, that where you come from doesn’t necessarily limit a student’s horizons. Obviously, someone living near a larger town or city will have more choice with teachers and that can make it easier to find someone, but it is simply that, easier. I was with my S at a national competition and the girl both of us thought should have won came from Iowa I believed, and she was fantastic, she was taught by a local college music teacher. </p>
<p>If the college percussion instructor for whatever reason can’t teach your son, they probably know all the potential teachers you could get to in your area or within a reasonable range.</p>