Mine does and it makes it hard for me to concertrate on my own playing. I mean shouldn't a teacher be watching a student play? She likes to play the harmony to the scales that are very difficult just with me playing let alone someone else playing along.
If it bothers you, I'd ask her if she wouldn't play, or just ask if you could play it by yourself.
Sometimes my flute teacher plays with me, but not that often. She usually only plays parts that im having trouble with, like she'll play it for me then we will both try it together, than just me again. I actually like it, but if i felt it was interfering with my own playing i wouldn't like it at all.
She should be playing with you at points, but how advanced you are, and what material she's playing along with should be deciding factors. If you're yet in the early stages of learning, she certainly should be playing FOR you (as appropriate) so that you get a good concept of what's possible, and have a live model to emulate, but playing WITH you could certainly be distracting. In any case, if you're a beginner, she should be spending most of her time observing you and offering suggestions rather than turning things into duets. It may be causing you trouble now, but eventually you're going to need to play with a LOT of different things going on around you, and without letting any of it affect your playing, so this could be her attempts to train you for that. However, if the scales she's harmonizing are new to you, I think she needs lay out and let you try to play them, perhaps offer some suggestions, and when you've got them down solidly in a few weeks, she can try to "spice them up."
In any case, you're a big part of your musical education, so if you find anything she's doing (or not doing) to be distracting or to otherwise detract from your learning, then you need to say something. It's your job as a good student to be sure you get the best you can out of your teachers. If she's an experienced teacher, it's likely that she has a reason for playing along with you during scales, so discuss this with her and see what she has to say.
She should be playing with you at points, but how advanced you are, and what material she's playing along with should be deciding factors. If you're yet in the early stages of learning, she certainly should be playing FOR you (as appropriate) so that you get a good concept of what's possible, and have a live model to emulate, but playing WITH you could certainly be distracting. In any case, if you're a beginner, she should be spending most of her time observing you and offering suggestions rather than turning things into duets. It may be causing you trouble now, but eventually you're going to need to play with a LOT of different things going on around you, and without letting any of it affect your playing, so this could be her attempts to train you for that. However, if the scales she's harmonizing are new to you, I think she needs lay out and let you try to play them, perhaps offer some suggestions, and when you've got them down solidly in a few weeks, she can try to "spice them up."
In any case, you're a big part of your musical education, so if you find anything she's doing (or not doing) to be distracting or to otherwise detract from your learning, then you need to say something. It's your job as a good student to be sure you get the best you can out of your teachers. If she's an experienced teacher, it's likely that she has a reason for playing along with you during scales, so discuss this with her and see what she has to say.
I've only been playing for 10 months so I am still a beginner. I play out of the E. Wagner book which is very difficult.
my teacher lets me have a go at it then she plays it though if i can't then i have another go and she corrects bits and helps me get thigns right, then last week as a final thign she played the piano through with it
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but i would definatley ask your to stop if it is bothreing you or putting you off while your trying to practise a part but in theory you should be able to play with your teacher after you get to a certain age
My experience as student is that it could be a little soon to play together after 10 months study. But concentrating on your playing is part of the training. I find that imitating what your teacher does (at the correct level) helps a lot in improving your playing.
But if playing together with a good flutist is nice (once you get used to it), playing two voices -and listening to what the other voice is doing- is something one can enjoy so much that the first successful experience can become unforgettable. So it was to me.
I would suggest you just be honest with your teacher in how you are feeling. The worst thing that could happen is she could say no she won't stop. But if she is a true professional and good teacher then she should be open to the ides of listening to what a student may want or need.
It might be a good balance for her to not play as much with you, but still play occasionally with you using arpeggios/broken chords for the harmony. It will greatly help your ear as far as intonation and harmony is concerned. If there is one thing I wish I learned more of before entering college as a music major, it was listening to harmony and intonation. It's so vital, but you should be able to play a majority of your lesson by yourself.
When she is playing with you, try not to think of it as a distraction, but listen to the combination of your two sounds. Sometimes merely changing your perception can change your entire listening and learning experience.
My teacher will play a bit of the piece for me then I'll go and practise it. If you don't like it then ask why they're doing it. My teacher usually plays the piano part for me but i've been playing for a few years now.
There are very many good reasons for a teacher to play along with a student, and one obvious reason is to illustrate proper rhythm without explicitly critiqueing a student's poor rhythm. In the vast majority of cases, students who are uncomfortable with this are uncomfortable with it precisely because they resent being forced to play correct rhythms, an indefensible position. Even if this is not what is happening here (which would make it a rare exception), it is not for the student to impose a method on his teacher. If a student simply can't keep up, a good teacher will recognize this and eventually slow the tempo or break down the rhythm in some other way.
".....it makes it hard for me to concertrate on my own playing"
This is actually a very good reason to play with others such as your teacher who may be playing the notes more correctly than you. What is "hard" is not necessarily impossible. What is hard makes up grow. A very big part of playing an instrument is to listen and to match your playing with others. To do this with others who are better is a vital key part to being a good musician.
The only time where your teachers shouldn't be playing with you is if you need to hear your tone better or when you become so good at following that you aren't counting on your own. A good teacher can detect these things in your playing very quickly. That being said, if a teacher is trying to push you too much by playing too fast then they need to slow you down and not be trying to impress you or you need to work to improve your speed outside of the lesson. Both would be good.
I can't tell you how often lately I have students tell me that they can't do something. My response is "I know that." BUT I also say to them that they need to try to do these certain things to make a change in their playing. Finding that it is hard or that you can't do something is THE first and very important step in the learning process. The second step is to do whatever it takes to overcome the difficulty. It is like learning to walk. How many babies try to walk once and fall on their faces to never ever try again? Even if they fall and get hurt a bit they get up, try again and learn not to bang their nose into the floor.
From the U.S.M.C. :
"Improvise, adapt and overcome to conquer adversity"
For musicians a paraphrase:
"Study your faults in your playing, find the best way to adapt and overcome them."
Bilbo is correct, sometimes when I play along with a student, I purposely drag or rush to see if they can learn to lead, also, I make them learn how to start a duet without having to count off the beats..
My flute teacher (for two more lessons ... then I'm getting a new one, again - my current one was just a temporary teacher until the other one returned from maternity leave) plays along with me on the pieces..it does help me so much! I dont know ... maybe it helps me have more confidence (because I'm not the only one playing ... it's a team effort!)
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