A couple of weeks ago I posted about some piano and music theory lessons I was teaching to a friend. The agreement was for me to teach piano for a month, and at the end of the month we would reevaluate their progress and see if they could continue to learn from me. The reason I made that deal was because I was nervous — this friend seemed very adamant about learning to play, and I worried they would voraciously absorb everything and excel beyond what I could give them, and their expectations would not be met.

That’s not what happened.

Today will be their fifth lesson. My plan is to make it the last. Reason being is that this friend hasn’t been practicing at all. When they come over to the house, the lesson becomes their practice time. There’s been very little growth; they are still trying to play the three pieces I assigned at the second lesson!

To be honest, I feel that this person is wasting my time so, tonight, I am going to keep our lesson to the strict one hour (or less) and then tell them this is the end. If they decide they want to continue to learn then they should find someone else.