I have been told by my usual piano teacher not to use a metronome but to count out the beat in my head. My usual teacher is on maternity leave, and I have a substitute teacher. She has now told me that I should use a metronome. I dont like this new teacher but she is only temporary until my own one comes back.

I feel that I am not learning much with this substitute teacher and really want my own teacher back pronto. She is not coming back until October. Boo Hoo

I would say persevere with the metronome for a while. Your timing is only as good as your internal counting, and playing against a mechanised click gives you a chance to see how accurate your internal counting is.

I got a metronome when I started piano last December, but found that I didn't use it. I played guitar for nearly 30 years before switching instrument, and my timing is very steady - I know instantly if I've lagged or rushed a note. Recently, however, I've been using the metronome to get a better feel for tempo - how fast is 104 beats per minute, kinda thing. As a guitarist, I either relied on the drummer to set the tempo, or set it to whatever felt right at the time (own material).

I don't use the metronome all the time, just now and then to see if I'm steady and playing at the right sort of tempo.

im getting very confused now,because one teacher says one thing, and the other teacher says another. I no longer know which is correct and which is not. My own piano teacher is an extremely confident loud outgoing person, whereas this substitute teacher seems very mousy and I struggle to hear anything she says because she speaks so softly. This mornings lesson was concentrating on clapping beats and we hardly played any piano at all. We are now on a summer break until September but she did not give me any pieces to play over the summer. I came away thinking.. if she was my regular teacher I would definately leave

It sounds like she's just fulfilled her duty to give some lessons as a replacement for your normal teacher, but doesn't seem interested in your progress. Maybe you could get in touch with your normal teacher and ask her to recommend a substitute that you could get some private lessons from for the next few months? If she knows where you're at as a player and understands your needs, she should be able to pick someone that will help you progress in the way that she wants you to - such that you're at the right stage of development for when she returns.

The problem is that I go to a music school and pay by the term on a monthly direct debit basis. Therefore I cannot stop going because I have already paid for the tuition and whoever they get as a substitute, I will have to put up with it. We are on a summer break now until September so its only another 4 weeks (I think) and then my regular teacher comes back.

Neither is right or wrong. Different teachers teach differently. I think, though you may not like it, that learning two different ways may be beneficial to you because you are learning two ways of doing things. If you like what your old teacher does, and what your sub says is wrong, stick with it. You may see later on that a metronome will come in handy for more difficult, technical pieces.

i agree. learning from different teachers may be difficult at first but i think its worth it. I've had around 4-5 different teachers and each of them emphasize something different and I feel like I've learned a lot from each of them. Hope your lessons turn out alright!