Is it better if Violin a teacher can play Piano to support teaching ?

[feelingold42]

I am looking for a new violin teacher for my daughter is it better if they can play Piano as well to be able to support the learning as they move up through the grades or is it ok to go into an exam having never played the pieces alongside a piano .......

[Picturesinthefirelight]

Well usually you would arrange some rehearsals with your accompanist in advance of the exam.

[feelingold42]

Is it better if this is the Violin teacher though so its not to different for the exam and do pupils play better if they have been accompanied as they are learning the pieces ? Also is it the violin teacher that does the Aural as well or am i supposed to do that with them ?

[JulieMichelleRobinson]

Feelingold...

As a violin teacher who also teaches piano and works part-time as a pianist... I would say pick your child's violin teacher based on their ability to teach the violin and how he/she gets on with your daughter. You may get some idea about pedagogy by observing students playing - not every brilliant performer is a good teacher, and some of the best teachers I know aren't fantastic performers.

Being able to play the piano is a useful extra... you can hire an accompanist, and it's up to you to organise rehearsals with them.

The teacher should cover aural, but you don't need to play piano for that as you can get example exercises on CD (comes with the ABRSM book). You're allowed to do more at home, though.

[maggiethecat]

my view as non musician - I'd say not necessary but useful. dd's violin teacher plays piano just enough to accompany her sometimes while learning a piece (never for an exam though). this exercise proves useful to help dd sort out issues including timing, rhythm.
having a piano to hand in the lesson is also useful to sort out tonal issues, working out finger placement eg close fingers or space depending on the interval between notes.

[treaclesoda]

what age is your daughter? When I was at secondary school my friend and I were good enough pianists that we were able to accompany each other in exams, and if not in the actual exam certainly for the purposes of rehearsal. What I'm saying is that it might matter less if she is older and mixes with a lot of other musicians.

I don't remember if my violin teachers played piano which makes me think they probably didn't...

[JulieMichelleRobinson]

My first violin teacher was a pianist, violin was her second instrument (it's now her first and she teaches jazz fiddle at conservatoire level). However - and this is the point - her string pedagogy was great. My other two fiddler teachers... I don't even know if they could play piano a bit. Of my local string teaching colleagues, we all play piano to a certain point but while everyone could play for a beginner's performance, not everyone would feel happy to play for a grade 8 pupil's exam. I might, depending on pieces, and have certainly accompanied concert performances of grade 7 repertoire though not the actual exam.

Basically... I don't think you can judge a violin teacher by his or her ability to play the piano.