At 10:55 AM 2/4/03 -0800, you wrote:
That just makes me cringe! I can't stand teachers like that. Actually, no, I change that. I appreciate teachers like that, because those students generally end up coming to teachers like myself, and that's one way I make my living. I have 18 piano students now, and I'd say half of them came from a teacher who "fired" them because they didn't progress at the "proper pace" or wanted to play "inappropriate repertoire" or didn't "pay attention" or some such fool thing.He eventually yelled at me and threw me out for good when he found out that I was playing traditional music.
I still teach classical approach, but with a large helping of ear training, jazz, folk, and self-paced fun.
Similar things happen with the clarsach. I've had people thank me just for playing on wire strings. It helps them on those (increasingly seldom, thankfully) times when someone tells them they need to get a real harp.
I'm so glad that stick-in-the-mud teacher didn't stop you Toby. We'd be much poorer for it! And you've reminded me to be more grateful for the luck I've had in my teachers. They were all encouraging no matter what I wanted to do. That's one reason why I chose the college I attended, because I knew the head of the piano department played Ragtime!
--Cynthia Cathcart
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