Hey, I wanted to get some outside opinions because I’m kind of unsure about my current teacher.
I’m 18 and just started piano and voice about a month ago. I’ve only had around 4 classes so far.
For context:
- Piano → this is literally my first time ever touching a piano (started a month ago)
- Voice → I’ve always sung casually on my own, but I’ve never had lessons or done structured exercises before
I do have a background in violin (6–7 years, plus some private lessons), so I’ve experienced what I think is a really good teacher before.
My current teacher has a legit music background—he studied music education (piano, composition, production) at a university and also did some studies in music tech abroad. He’s been involved in music for a long time (concerts, production, directing, etc.), so he clearly knows music and can play well.
How classes are structured
Voice:
- 1st class: mostly theory—body anatomy, eating habits, how the voice works, breathing exercises (diaphragm)
- 2nd class:
- checked if I practiced / had questions
- did several repetitions of breathing exercises
- vocal warmups like “mmm,” “momo,” “lala”
- After that (3rd and 4th classes), we mostly stopped doing breathing exercises regularly and focused more on warmups + songs
He also:
- stops going higher when I start to strain and goes back down
- sometimes asks if I feel tension
- tells me to open my mouth more, not be afraid to sing, add emotion
- told me to push air out (not sure if that’s correct)
- told me to breathe through my nose as much as possible
- recommends singing along with the original artist and watching live performances
I do feel like my breathing improved from the exercises, which is a big positive.
But for voice, I’m unsure because:
- he doesn’t really stop to fix specific technical issues
- feedback is mostly general (“more emotion,” “louder,” etc.)
- we haven’t talked about things like head voice, chest voice, mix, etc.
- songs aren’t broken down in detail, it’s more just singing through them
Piano:
- we’ve been working on exercises and basic pieces
What’s bothering me:
- he explained posture and distance from the piano on day 1, but after that barely corrects my technique
- he’s only physically adjusted my hand once (to tell me to play softer)
- sometimes he’s on his phone during the lesson
- when I make mistakes, he tells me to repeat at the same tempo instead of slowing it down
- I often have to slow things down myself because it feels too fast
- there’s very little detailed feedback on fingers, wrist, tension, etc.
Comparison to my previous teacher
With my old violin teacher, lessons were very different:
- constant technical corrections (posture, shifting, hand position)
- adjusting tempo and practice strategies
- explaining musical ideas and phrasing
- very specific feedback
With this teacher, it feels more like:
> “repeat it until you get it”
Cost
Lessons are about $380 MXN per class, which feels kind of on the higher side for where I live.
Context
I mainly chose this teacher because he’s close to me and convenient. It’s a bit hard for me to travel right now, so that played a big role.
My questions
- Is this normal for beginner piano/voice lessons?
- Are these red flags, or am I expecting too much?
- Is this just a beginner-phase thing, or should there already be more detailed teaching?
- Should I stick it out for a few months or start looking for a different piano teacher now?
Would really appreciate any advice.