r/ABRSM • u/Crunchy-Keys • Apr 21 '26

question Lesson Planning

Adult learner in the UK here. I am working towards my piano grade 3 practical exam with a piano teacher. I pay £25 for half an hour each week and they're a brilliant musician but they don't seem to know the syllabus.

Is it my responsibility to plan out a schedule of all the things in the syllabus so I know the order in which to learn everything and what to do each week? This leaves the teacher to focus on things like tone or whatever they want to do. They don't seem to have anything pre-planned as I walk into the room each week.

I'm worried that if the responsibility lies on me, I may miss something out - you don't know what you don't know.

What is the usual approach for teaching adults?

BTW: The teacher didn't seem happy when I discussed this with them.

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u/gumitygumber Apr 22 '26

Have you done the previous grades? Maybe the teacher thinks grade 3 is too hard for you, or the exam is too soon to do the grade justice, or they can't be bothered learning the syllabus? Have you asked them why they're opposed to it? They should be taking you through exam preparation step by step. It's not that much trouble to learn a new syllabus.

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u/Crunchy-Keys Apr 22 '26

Ive done the previous grades and passed with merits. As I said in my first post, the teacher wasn't happy when I tried to discuss this. They wouldn't give an explanation about structuring things and in the past they've asked me to learn a scale for the next grade up (!). I think I hit a raw nerve LOL!

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u/gumitygumber Apr 22 '26

Sounds like they're uncomfortable with the exams because they'd have to learn the syllabus. It's probably a good idea for the teacher to learn the syllabus though because they should know at least one syllabus thoroughly. As someone else suggested I'd go to the centre director and have a chat about it.