Piano Deadbeats

Sorry, couldn't resist the pun. 

Something I take pride in as a teacher is my extremely high retention rate.  I know this is in large part because at the first consult I am completely honest with parents about whether or not I think their child is ready to begin, and whether or not I think I am the right person for the job.  Sometimes this may be a euphemism.  I can neither confirm nor deny.

But, when I work for a school, I don't have the luxury of choice.  Today I encountered the logical conclusion of an eye-gougingly frustrating semester of uphill effort with a student who never wanted to take piano in the first place.  She wanted to quit before she even started.  I want her to quit because it was a waste of my time and her parent's money .  The school doesn't want her to quit because she is a paying customer.  And the parents are stuck between a rock and a hard place as the only instrument she actually WANTS to learn is drumset.  With a big, shiny, ear-splitting crash cymbal.

In search of solace I googled "piano student drop out rate".  Prepare yourself, dear reader.  This true confession is profoundly uncouth.  According to Morty Manus, president of Alfred Publications, one of the world's leading music publishing companies, we can infer by sales of level one books that...wait for it...2 MILLION students take up piano every year.  2 MILLION!!!!  And how many of them buy level 2 books?  By my own experience in my own studio, at least 95%.

But no, my friends...the  paltry, sad, pathetic, tragic statistic is that 10% of students stick around long enough to buy level two books.  It could of course be inferred that 90% of consumers simply prefer not to purchase any more books from Alfred.  But that seems unlikely.

Perhaps even more perturbing was Mr. Manus' assertion that this situation is no cause for concern.  As a CEO I would be beside myself with concern at the massive waste of ongoing revenue, but more to the point, according to him, "some people simply reach the limit of their potential, beyond which no amount of instruction will carry them, and wisely choose to stop studying".  Seriously?!  After a YEAR?  Even worse, another authority cites statistics that "90% of students who drop out still wish they could play the piano".  Of course they "could" play the piano.  Anyone with the cognitive ability to read, the small motor skills to write, and enough maturity to take responsibility for their own progress can learn to play the piano well.

10% retention.  Big shiny ear-splitting crash cymbal.  Go figure.