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They're in. 

And I immediately burst in to tears.

LCM Grade 8 drum kit.

91/100

What a massive contrast to the Trinity Rock & Pop result from Dec 2016. 44/100

I REALLY didn't expect this result. So SO proud of myself. 

As I am on line
 
Apologies if you are not.
 
But are you trolling? It's against forum rules.
 
If you want to 'retire' do it. It's your decision. Go get a "low status role working for a big company". [/size]
 
How can we offer advice as you have the figures to make a living out of teaching or not!\[/size]
Stop wasting people's time.


[/size]

A bit harsh, I feel. I saw nothing in the post to suggest trolling.

The poster is having doubts about continuing and looking for support and advice from others on the forum. That's what we are for. Many teachers on here have probably had similar feelings at some time over the years.

I found your blunt response very unhelpful and disappointing.

Sad that ma non troppo's interesting question has developed in such an unfortunate way as the posts have progressed.

I thought this forum was set up for 'teachers helping teachers'

As a learner, I would prefer a teacher afford me the most basic of courtesies of being honest as to why he or she would not wish to have me as pupil.  If there is nothing sinister underpinning your reasoning, e.g. contravening the Equality Act 2010, and have articulated this clearly and logically then surely you have nothing to worry about. 
 
The best outcome would to be constructive: explain why you cannot teach them and provide them with alternative solutions, such as another possible teacher or changes to their behaviour that would allow you to take them on as a pupil.
 
In another thread, a teacher was going on about music teachers not being treated seriously as other Professions.  To me, you do yourself no favours by acting unprofessionally: one of the core characteristics of a professional is integrity; being honest. Condoning and advocating blatantly lying about lack of spaces and waiting lists is not acting professionally, quite the opposite.

I really don't know where to begin with this except to say that this is stunningly naive view. I know I have not given any details as to why I won't take this student on, (wise on an open forum) but surely it doesn't take much imagination to realise that honesty is not always the best policy. All I can say is that you are thinking like a student here, not as an experienced teacher or professional who works on a one to one basis in their own private studio.

RESULT!!!!

A very nice man gave me his email address and allowed me to scan him in a completed form.

Phew. 

Regulation would be as pointless and expensive as DBS checks. All it tells you is that person X hasn't been charged with doing Y. It encourages mistrust and paranoia and the idea that everyone is potentially guilty until proven innocent by some slip of paper.
The DBS (CRB as was) system was not designed to clear individuals as "suitable" for work with vulnerable groups but to remove those who pose a known risk.

Take the Soham murders of the two little girls. DBS checks wouldn't have stopped that as the murderer knew the girls through his girlfriend not his job.

Yes of course there is the argument that "honest people have nothing to fear" but why should they have to pay for a useless piece of paper and probably some membership fee of some "professional body" (like the GTC) which gives very little in return.

Totally agree about not giving a reason. Don't open the can of worms. If someone has reached adulthood without learning how to behave, then that's not your responsibility. Also stick with e-mail for communication - phoning can be tricky with those who won't take no for an answer.

It may not matter to the teacher but it should matter when I am the one paying for the lesson and if I do not do the homework then I am wasting my money because I am not progressing properly and not getting my monies worth.

If you are that bothered make time to do the work. Get up earlier. Read the score on your commute or listen to a recording if you drive. Mentally practice in your lunch hour, etc. There are lots of ways you can work on your pieces away from your instrument.

You can't blame your teacher if you haven't done the work. You're a grown up according to your forum name so your teacher probably figures scolding you like a child would be counter productive. If you think you are getting away with something, it suggests you know you could do more. So do it, don't blame your teacher.

As I say to my pupils, "I see you for *one* hour a week. If you don't practice what I teach you between lessons, you won't improve. Your choice, your money."

As others have said, it is okay to take a slower pace because you have commitments that take up your time but that is not the same as blaming your teacher because you didn't complete assigned work when you could have. If you really can't find the time to practice, you need to discuss that so practice expectations can be adjusted. Slow progress is better than no progress but you have to be honest.

Nine years ago one of my boy pupils sat the one and only Trinity exam I have ever entered a pupil for - Grade 6 Piano. It was the usual story of not being able to do Grade 5 theory in time for AB G6 practical. His parents arranged for him to go to Spain to take the exam as there is no Trinity centre here - sadly they no longer operate in northern Spain  either. The pupil then went on to other things and I thought that was probably as far as his music would go.

 

In the supermarket yesterday a man tapped me on the shoulder and said "Excuse me, are you .....?" I said I was but didn't recognize him. He was, in fact the father of the aforesaid pupil. We had quite a long chat and it turns out that his son has never stopped playing and is now back in England playing  keyboard and other instruments with various popular music groups and making his living from music. You honestly never know what seeds you have sown. I was particularly pleased to hear that the young man appreciated his "classical" time with me as this gave him a good basis for other styles. It would be nice if more felt like that - I've just lost two brothers  who decided youtube would be "easier". I have been unable to convince them that a thorough grounding in reading and understanding music would take them a lot further. Well, you can't win 'em all but I was delighted to catch up on one pupil's news!  
.

I have just learned that my first piano teacher passed away last month. 

 

 I thought she should have a mention on the forums:  she was, after all,  my very first music teacher. 

And it makes me very happy that she reached the wonderful old age of 107. 

 

She was still teaching, and singing in her church choir well into her nineties. What an innings :-) 

Hilariously the teachers who seek to justify/defend their use of, or sympathy with, the term 'studio' only make themselves sound more pretentious in the process.

 

Bantock, why do you: (a) care so much which word someone else chooses to use to describe something?  (I may say couch, you may say sofa, someone else may say settee - as long as we all have somewhere to sit, does it really make any difference?)  And (b) feel a need to post on this thread, not to add anything helpful or even relevant, but purely to criticise and insult other posters?  

 

As the saying goes, if you don't have anything nice to say....  

 

I have been reluctant to post this and "feed the troll", but I care about protecting the atmosphere we have on this forum, of supporting rather than laughing at or being unkind to one another.  There's no place for that here.  (Or, in fact, anywhere.)