Teacher vs. student repertoire choices

[Calista Anne Koch]

I personally make all my students listen to ALOT of harp CDs.

[unknown-user]

In your experience teaching, how do you balance teacher and student

input into repertoire selection? Teachers are more capable of

selecting technique appropriate pieces than students. Most teachers

also have more background in selecting high quality repertoire. On the

other hand, when students select pieces that are meaningful to them,

it boosts motivation and deepens their personal interaction with

music, which is also a

[Elizabeth Volpé Bligh]

I have learned to keep students’ repertoire to a level that will challenge them somewhat,

but not overwhelm them. Once in a while, I have miscalculated, and have had to suggest

putting the difficult piece “on hold” until they have had some time to build better

technique. If it is a piece that the student has chosen, and really wants to play, this

approach guarantees that they will still get their wish. You are absolutely right that it is

better to use pieces that the student loves to play. If, however, you are teaching a very

serious student who is planning a career, then they have to learn every kind of repertoire.

whether they like it or not. To play a piece well, when you have no emotional connection to

it, this is like great acting, and it takes practice.

[unknown-user]

I am always interested in the instructor’s opinion, the other side of the picture, so to speak.

[carl-swanson]

There’s no easy answer to this, because each student’s needs are so unique. In general though, I tell the student what to play, OR, I give them a choice of two or three pieces that I feel are appropriate and let them decide which one to learn. I have occasionally misjudged a students ability and have had to withdraw a piece after one or two lessons because I didn’t like the way it was progressing. Under no circumstances should a student work on a piece that he/she is not technically up to.

I got an email this afternoon from someone asking me to blog about something quite similar, so I’m going to put a longer response to this on my blog. Soon.

[unknown-user]

I’m a student and not very advanced one at that. But I like it when I can select a piece
for myself. I usually pick something that’s the same level as what I’m currently working
on and if possible using similar techniques. It’s pretty easy to find alternative pieces if there’s something in your tutor book, teacher recommendation that you just hate playing. I can’t see the sense in struggling with a piece that leaves you feeling flat and
frustrated if there’s another piece that can do the same thing for your technique that you
like better.

I value the opinion of my teacher and as yet she is happy to help me find pieces which are both technically right and enjoyable for me. Thank goodness I don’t have a teacher with a set repertoire because I think it would be an incredibly boring way to learn.

Cheers

[Author]

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