teaching adult/amateur students - my thoughts.
when
I was a student at a music conservatoire here in dublin, i mentioned my
interest in teaching adult/amateur students, or those who may not have
any formal music training. my then professor had a fit - she strongly
suggested that i forget about the idea completely, that it is too much
hard work, and pointless to presume that someone who is in their
twenties, thirties or even sixties, has any chance of playing music to
a high standard, simply because they didn't start learning an
instrument when they were young..... 
....knowing that this was a bizarre presumption, i began working with
adult beginners, nervous adult students, students who may have studied
music as children but had given it up in their teenage years. i found
that not only were the majority of these people keen and motivated, but
they were willing to work hard, and absorb all aspects of music
learning. i have found working with adult and amateur students to be
extremely rewarding - to see someone who may have never played a note
on the piano in their whole life play a beautiful Chopin prelude after
just a few months of instruction, or a nervous out-of-touch student
being able to perform in a public recital for friends and family - its
absolutely fantastic to be a part of this process (note:
photo on the left features adult pianist marita porter who performed
for the first time, in public, for an audience of 140 people at the end
of year student recital).
above - piano & vocal students including adult/amateur students after a public performance
adult
student workshops are informal,
encouraging and a way for students to perform music of their choice for
other participants in a masterclass setting. all participants are at
different levels, but everyone is encouraged to take part, and
observe performances. this is also a great way to meet other
students, as well
as prepare chamber music, piano duets and more.
an adult/amateur student is one who falls under one or more of the following categories:
1) adult beginner: no background knowledge, never played an instrument or studied singing.
2) someone who did study music at a young age, perhaps took piano or singing lessons, but gave up during teenage years.
3) someone who has reached a reasonably high level of proficiency, but
struggles with nerves, or has never worked with a teacher to a high
level.
4) someone who wants to develop an all round knowledge of their
instrument with a view of being able to play in public recitals,
informal workshops and more.
congratulations to
marita porter and jennifer griffin who obtained honours results
in their silver recital certificate piano examinations after under a
year of resuming piano tuition. both marita and jennifer had played
piano when they were children, and had not studied for over 10-15
years. marita performed works by bach, beethoven and tiersan, while
jennifer played bach, mozart and satie as part of her program.
congratulations to stephen o'hare who obtained an
honours in his silver recital certificate piano examination after only
18 months of formal piano tuition. stephen's program included works by bach, satie and chopin.
congratulations to gabrielle mahon, a piano student in
her mid fifties, who won the permanent tsb high achiever award for her
piano exam result.