RCM or an online music degree?

I started my RCM journey as a 30 year old and very happy I did.  I got my Grade 8 practical certificate and my Grade 2 theory.  From there I was able to start teaching students to a Grade 6 level and theory.  I would have loved to keep going, but my hands were already giving me trouble at that stage and didn’t think I could keep going.  I’ve done a lot of professional development to keep current and read a plethora of “teaching” books and workshops.

I would say however, that I studied with teachers.  It kept me accountable to practice and particularly to prepare for exams.  I had a full time job and time was precious.  I never could have put myself through on my own.  You need the teacher’s knowledge of the repertoire, what examiners are looking for, and to push me to stay engaged in the process.  I am proud of my accomplishments and be able to hang my certificates up in my piano studio.

Hi, I pursued a similar path. I was able to complete DipABRSM, LRSM, LTCL and FTCL diplomas in piano performance while working a full-time day job. 

Here are a few things that helped me:

1. I did not have too many family commitments at the time. I was married but living in a different town from my wife. We also didn't have kids then. So I used my weekday mornings and evenings to practice. 

2. I always tried to stay close to my workplace and thus saved a lot of time. 

3. I used a digital piano for most of my practice (yes, it's fine!) and would use the acoustic whenever I visited home on weekends. Using a digital helped to stay consistent despite living in an apartment where noise would have otherwise been an issue. 

4. I kept playing in recitals, concerts, etc. (both solo and collaborative) in both towns. This helped me to learn not just my exam repertoire but also a lot of other music, both solo and collaborative. 

5. I set targets for myself to work towards. Like "I'm going to do *** diploma this November", quite a few months in advance and then would work backwards from there. My repertoire consisted of both fresh pieces and some that I already learned and needed to refine. 

I managed without a teacher, but it really takes a lot of dedication. I would advise most people to sign up for lessons with a good teacher (online or offline) who can keep you accountable and focused, identify and work on blind spots, and give you regular targets to work towards. 

What are your goals? 
 

I work full time outside of music and began piano study at age 30. My goal is RCM 10 by age 35. I take a 90 minute lesson every week and practice daily (sometimes more, sometimes less due to work). 
 

My teacher has many music degrees and I have discussed this exact question with her. We have agreed, the path I am taking is basically a music degree! 
 

She has a lineage from Rachmononiff and being able to learn from her every week for years is truly invaluable. That is in fact one of the largest benefits to music degrees - private lessons with exceptional teachers. Before colleges, music pupils learned all their skills from a few teachers. No online dashboards or essays! 
 

I guess my rant gives you another option. I love music and will be exceptionally proud (probably more so than any online music program) to hang my RCM 10 or RCM ARCT diploma one day. 
 

John 

Thanks for raising this topic.  I've been teaching about 2 years now and have been trying to determine what type of certificate or recognition of achievement programs to pursue for me and my students.  The RCM seems like a great "official" certification program and I think it provides a good structure to help a teacher be more rigorous in their teaching approaches.  I have also looked at "Road to Virtuosity" as a way to recognize achievement for my students.  While not as pedigreed as the RCM, it does provide a good way to organize achievement and get connected to a community that supports moving students forward in an organized and recognized way.

I think it really depends on what your long term goals are. Being able to perform and being able to teach are two completely different skill sets. If you just want to be able to play at a high level for your own benefit, then pursuing performance exams like RCM makes the most sense. As others have also suggested, I would recommend taking lessons in order to do your very best. (Even the world's greatest tennis players still have coaches to help them refine their skills!)

If you want to teach, you would be better to pursue a teaching course. I don't know what is available with RCM (I'm in Australia), but I do know that ABRSM and Trinity both offer teaching qualifications, as do the various Australian examination boards, so it is highly likely that RCM offers something similar. These courses involve understanding educational philosophy, child development, analysing method books to determine which ones might best suit your goals as a teacher, how to incorporate supplementary material (and what sort of supplementary material), how to break down pieces in order to teach them effectively, how to know what order to teach pieces and techniques in and more.  Online groups like The Curious Piano Teachers (based in Britain, but has members all over the world) are a wonderful resource for additional training and support in your teaching.