What do you look for in a piano teacher?

daisychics · June 16, 2008

Ds has been playing for almost 2 years. We have a teacher now who he has been with for almost a year. Ds has no complaints --- I just feel there is something missing.... maybe fun? I don't know, his teacher is very serious... I just can't place it. Shouldn't it be fun? He is 7? He doesn't give stickers...... KWIM?

I do see a big difference in ds's playing, plus his teacher is part of the Guild and my husband wants ds to audition for the Guild.

Are you allowed stay with dc during lesson?

He commented to me once that it would probably be better if I not watch? I don't know if I feel comfortable with that.

I'm rambling on and on.....

How do you know if you have made the right decision?

thanks for reading.

Brindee · June 16, 2008

Our teacher does the lessons out of her home. I sit on the couch in the livingroom during dd's lesson at the piano in the same room. I like it! Although sometimes I choose to walk around the loop near the teacher's house to get my exercise in.

This teacher is calm, encouraging (she gives out stickers :) ), smiles, and lets the kids explain things to her that they think, lets--in fact encourages them to explore their own ting--make their own little compositions. She ALWAYS says something positive first. She always phrases what she says in a positive way. She has good eye contact with the child and lets the child help pick what they'll work on for recitals and adjudication. She prays with each child before starting the lesson, which we like. She's relaxed and caring. She enjoys what she does and the kids know how much she loves piano and them!

My dd adores her and practices well for her!

beansprouts · June 16, 2008

IME it is very difficult to find a competant teacher who also has the right personality to encourage and motivate you and your child. If you have one, hang on to him/her, and be willing to accept some minor imperfections. Your ds seems to be doing well. Maybe you could add more "fun" to his practice sessions at home? You could look online for some games to play together, or ask your teacher about it ;)

daisychics · June 16, 2008

Our teacher does the lessons out of her home. I sit on the couch in the livingroom during dd's lesson at the piano in the same room. I like it! Although sometimes I choose to walk around the loop near the teacher's house to get my exercise in.

This teacher is calm, encouraging (she gives out stickers :) ), smiles, and lets the kids explain things to her that they think, lets--in fact encourages them to explore their own ting--make their own little compositions. She ALWAYS says something positive first. She always phrases what she says in a positive way. She has good eye contact with the child and lets the child help pick what they'll work on for recitals and adjudication. She prays with each child before starting the lesson, which we like. She's relaxed and caring. She enjoys what she does and the kids know how much she loves piano and them!

My dd adores her and practices well for her!

That's what I want for my boy. :001_smile: I'm happy for your dd.

daisychics · June 16, 2008

IME it is very difficult to find a competant teacher who also has the right personality to encourage and motivate you and your child. If you have one, hang on to him/her, and be willing to accept some minor imperfections. Your ds seems to be doing well. Maybe you could add more "fun" to his practice sessions at home? You could look online for some games to play together, or ask your teacher about it ;)

I never thought of making it fun at home. :glare: Thanks for pointing that out. He plays Music Ace Deluxe 2x a week for 20 minutes. I better get the stickers out. :tongue_smilie:

genie · June 16, 2008

I LOVE!!!!! our piano teacher. My daughter has only being going for a couple of months because I waited to start her until I found what I was looking for in a teacher.

He teaches music holistically. That's the best way I can describe it. It's not just about learning the notes and playing what's on paper. He writes songs for her to play, and gives her three chords and tells her to work that week on figuring out which chord goes where. That really encourages her to hear what she's doing... not just play what's on the page.

After only a few weeks of lessons, he has her transposing songs into different keys. (She is 11, and he admits he usually doesn't have new students do this level of work this early.) He's helping her to see and hear music as a whole. I just adore him. :001_wub:

He also very much uses a Socratic methodology in teaching. He asks her questions to help her see answers. He also makes sure that if he asks her something she doesn't know, he lets her know that it's okay if she doesn't know it, and maybe he isn't asking it the way she is used to hearing it. He just "gets" kids.

He's also a great inspiration. He's in his 70's yet he still regularly climbs fourteeners and is in general an active, healthy, positive role-model.

He allows me to sit in on lessons, and I tell ya, I'm learning so much and I took band all through my school years.

beansprouts · June 16, 2008

I never thought of making it fun at home. :glare: Thanks for pointing that out. He plays Music Ace Deluxe 2x a week for 20 minutes. I better get the stickers out. :tongue_smilie:

I have had some nightmare teachers. I have had teachers who were a little too focused on games which distracted the child from the overall purpose, and learning suffered as a result. There was the lady who was more interested in chatting with me than teaching my daughter. She once jumped up in the middle of a lesson with my preschooler to wipe a spot on the keyboard. Guess who had lost interest by the time she returned... There was the one lady who slapped my 3 year old daughter's hands because she was fiddling with the keys. We never went back... Then there was the one who was quirky and disorganized but generally an excellent teacher. After my experience with the others, I kept her for two years. Then her dh died and she kind of fell apart for a while. Eventually, I got tired of making the 45 minute drive to her house only to find she "forgot" about our lesson and wasn't home...

I think I have finally found a keeper with our current teacher. She allows dd to experiment and develop her own style and creativity. She knows all dd's tricks (like playing the piece by ear or memory rather than reading the notes ;)) She has taught dd more theory in one year than she learned from all the others in the previous four. And dd LOVES to play! She plays all the time, we have to tell her to stop :D A year ago she was miserable and we were considering letting her quit.

Once again I want to say to all of you who have GOOD teachers, or even decent ones - HANG ON TO THEM!! Treat them well and don't let them go.

teamturner · June 16, 2008

My boys and I absolutely love our piano teacher. She is so nuturing yet she holds them accountable. This past year was their first year and since I play the piano and my own mother was a private piano teacher, I felt that I needed to help them and make sure they practiced at home. She told me that I did not need to do that as she would hold them accountable. Such a relief since I already have enough teaching to do with them with our school stuff. When I was looking for a piano teacher, I wanted someone who participated in all the festivals, theory test, and Guild. She does all of that and is on the music teacher board in our town. She is also very supportive of homeschooling and has experience working with twins. She does give them stickers for good lessons and after 15 stickers she gives them a Barnes and Noble or Starbucks gift card for $5. I like that she lets me drop them both off at the same time and I can pick them up when they are both done. I give them independent work to be done or they can do their reading. Everytime I pick them up, she sings their praises and also encourages me as a mother. I like the balance she has between nuture/encouragement and teaching exceptional technique and expressive piano skills.

I think a good place to find a teacher that participates in the Guild, theory tests, and festival is to go to the website of your local music teacher association and start calling teachers. From my teacher association's website I was able to search for piano teachers in my zip code. Then I did phone call interviews with each of them before I interviewed them in person. I think having a piano teacher as a mother and myself taking for 9 years helped me pinpoint the qualities I wanted in a piano teacher. I'm sorry this was so long! I just really love our teacher. :D

daisychics · June 16, 2008

I think a good place to find a teacher that participates in the Guild, theory tests, and festival is to go to the website of your local music teacher association and start calling teachers. From my teacher association's website I was able to search for piano teachers in my zip code. Then I did phone call interviews with each of them before I interviewed them in person. I think having a piano teacher as a mother and myself taking for 9 years helped me pinpoint the qualities I wanted in a piano teacher. I'm sorry this was so long! I just really love our teacher. :D

Thank you for sharing your story. I think I will look around some more because I do not "love" his teacher. He's a great composer and a great piano player......but an okay teacher. :)

My dh is better at interviewing people.... maybe I'll ask him to call around. What kind of questions do you ask? (if you don't mind sharing.)

daisychics · June 16, 2008

I LOVE!!!!! our piano teacher. My daughter has only being going for a couple of months because I waited to start her until I found what I was looking for in a teacher.

WOW, that's great! I'm glad I asked this question because I thought I was just being too snooty. :tongue_smilie: Now, I know. I want to see his teacher the way you all see your wonderful piano teachers.

Thanks for sharing.

Remudamom · June 16, 2008

We had the best piano teacher in the world. He died recently. Our new teacher is very good though and the girls are progressing. Our biggest problem is finding a teacher in our area that is more advanced than our oldest.

She's been taking 11 years now and it's just a gift with her. Youngest has been taking for six years.

When they were little their first teacher made it fun and low key, while still expecting them to play well. They really took off with the second teacher, who was able to instill an even greater appreciation of music in them than they already had. He was a great motivator. Our present teacher is very different, not a friend to the girls like the other two were, but she has a lot to teach them. At different stages they've needed different things. Maybe your son needs a more fun teacher.

Ours told us she expected parents to be very involved with their children's music. Then in the next breath she told me I could wait in the hall. (HUH?) I asked her how I was going to be of any use out there? She got the point. I don't sit in all the lessons, but I did at first. If I'm not welcome to sit quietly and observe I'll start looking again.

daisychics · June 16, 2008

Maybe your son needs a more fun teacher.

Ours told us she expected parents to be very involved with their children's music. Then in the next breath she told me I could wait in the hall. (HUH?) I asked her how I was going to be of any use out there? She got the point. I don't sit in all the lessons, but I did at first. If I'm not welcome to sit quietly and observe I'll start looking again.

I really don't know what he needs. :D Somebody, other than mommy trying to motivate him to practice.

Yes, I will be looking around, for sure!

teamturner · June 16, 2008

What kind of questions do you ask? (if you don't mind sharing.)

I wish I could find my notes when I was interviewing teachers, but alas I cannot. I'll write what I remember about the process. I started out with the teachers that were members of the music teacher association in my town. I think that at least tells you who is involved in the assoc. events such as the theory tests and festivals.

1. How long is your lesson and how much do you charge?

2. How much time do you devote to teaching theory?

3. Do you participate in the theory tests and festivals? In our area the festivals are the events where the student plays a single piece before a judge and is rated on their performance. Last year, my boys, who were in their first year, participated in both: Hymn Festival and Sonatina Festival.

4. Do you participate in Guild?

5. What music books/method do you use for beginners? When they answered this question, they usually discussed their teaching methods in general.

6. What hours do you teach during the day? I wanted morning lessons and did not want someone who was teaching piano on the side. I wanted teaching piano to be their sole professional occupation. Some teachers were ps music teachers during normal school hours for instance.

7. Will I be able to bring both of my boys at the same time and let them wait for their turn? One teacher said that the boy waiting could wait outside. The teacher I went with said, "of course, if one interupts the other one's lesson, I'm a teacher, I can handle it."

8. Do you want your student's parents to sit with them during practice? I actually talked to a piano teacher that expected the parent to sit with their beginning students at each practice.

That's all I can think of right now. Through discussing the answers to these questions, I was able to get a feel for the teacher's personality and how they felt about teaching kids piano. The teacher we went with just seemed so nurturing and positive and I truly felt she loved what she did. She also had so many good things to say about homeschoolers and teaching twins/siblings. I could tell just by talking to them which teachers did not think highly of hsing. She understoond that siblings have the whole compitition thing going on and knew how to handle it. I didn't sit on entire lessons since I have two other children and one of them was 16 months when they started lessons. However, I did get to see some of what they did when I came in to pick them up. Plus, I knew that she was an excellent teacher by their progress and the love of piano that she instilled. Also, my boys immediatly took to her and loved her from the start. They never wanted to miss. Hth's.

love2read · June 16, 2008

We're on our fourth teacher in 10 years and I really like the current one. It is a fine balance. Some of them are so much fun that you only get half a lesson because the teacher/student are chatting or laughing. Some are so strict that the child becomes discouraged. These are the qualities I look for

-serious/strict about the piano lesson, but has a light personality

-confident in her or his ability to teach

-has child play things that are difficult and offers help rather than just moving on and telling child to practice the piece more

-displays behavior I would want my kids to copy. One teacher put her feet on the edge of the piano during lessons--very odd.

-has a plan. They don't have to tell you the plan, but you will quickly get a sense that the teacher is moving in some direction and not just randomly teaching as they go along

-experienced. He or she shouldn't be spending a lot of time praising your child. If a teacher is experienced, they will have seen many very talented children and will only give appropriate encouragement when needed.

Stickers never helped my children, they just took up time. They learned the least from the teacher that was the most fun and friendly. They learned the most from the teacher that was strict and stern, but after a few years they were uncomfortable in her presence.

Hoggirl · June 16, 2008

in music choices. My ds is a pretty good piano player. His teacher is a Guild teacher (our auditions are "closed" by the way, meaning it is just the child and the judge. However, I am able to sit outside the closed door and listen in). My child plays quality, classical music. However, he also plays jazz, hymns, and Christmas carols at Christmas time. He has an interest in composing and learning to improvise. These are "summer activities" for the teacher and him. We always continue lessons over the summer, but do NO classical music then...only "fun" stuff. His teacher does stickers for practicing. She gives awards at her spring recital for students who have practiced the most. She gives play $ to younger students and they get to buy prizes after they have earned enough money to buy something. Money is awarded for practice time, completed theory assignments, arriving on time, and GOOD behavior DURING the lesson. My ds is "too old" for the play $ now, but it was fun when he was younger.

I think Guild participation is important. I think learning classial music is important, but if your dc does not ENJOY music, he/she will NEVER stick with it.

I also think it is good to have a teacher who teaches all ages and stages. Our teacher has a lot of student-students but she also has adult students.

Just my $0.02

myfunnybunch · June 16, 2008

We also L-O-V-E our piano teacher. She is serious about teaching children to play piano well, and her students do the Guild auditions. My 7 y.o. ds is finishing his third year of lessons, and 5 y.o. his first, and they look forward to the lesson most weeks.

You may be able to observe a lesson, or even a recital, depending on the time of year you're looking. A lesson would give you a better idea about teaching style, a recital would give you an idea of how well the students play overall. When I called our current teacher, she asked me to come to her studio toward the end of a lesson so that I could observe her teaching.

She also encourages students to arrive early (and quietly), or stay a few minutes into the next lesson, so that they can hear different pieces and listen to what other students are playing. She encourages parents to watch the lessons, especially parents with younger students, so that we can help our children practice at home. Siblings are encouraged. (A smart move--many of her families have more than one student taking lessons.)

The qualities we appreciate most about our piano teacher are experience, patience, flexibility, and the ability to balance high expectations with meeting students where they are in the moment. She's interested in teaching them about music, not just mastering pieces. She's very encouraging and positive. She has a genuine regard for her students and their families. She loves her job. I'm not just bragging up our teacher--I also think it's valuable information because those qualities are what make my boys look forward to lessons.

Hmm, maybe I should print this and take it to our next lesson, as it pretty much sums up what we love about our piano teacher. :)

Cat

mktkcb · June 16, 2008

Here is what I love about my son's piano teacher (whose feet I kiss at every opportunity LOL!). First, my kid was *exceptionally* musical from birth, but not the most mature flower in the bunch, so I fought my panic over *not* giving him lessons early (we did do Kindermusic for a year or so at about age 6-7), even though I knew it was the right thing to do. I knew I wanted a *really good* teacher from the beginning for him, not just one that would trot him through the method books, so I was quite nervous about finding someone, not to mention not having a clue where to find such a person. I ended up on the Music Teachers Assn website, checked out some of the teacher websites, was impressed with one in particular, called, (realized sometime after calling that this person was actually the president of the MTA in our area....eek!) went to meet her, had good gut reactions, and the rest is history. OK, the short list.

1. This is what she *does*. She has the time to invest in customizing her materials & music to the quirks, sensibilities, and inclinations of her students. Once she knows the kid well, she is always keeping their "style" in mind as she chooses music for them to learn. (I spend a lot more on sundry music than some, I'm sure, but its worth it to me)

2. She has been teaching a looooooonnnnng time (she's actually an older lady), and has dealt with lots of kinds of kids from beginning to end. She teaches *teachers*, as well as beginners.

3. She is extremely patient with wiggly little boys who tend to stand up, sit down, make faces in the mirror, wander off, thump the pedal for fun, look inside the piano to feel the strings....etc., a nice blend of cheerleader, grandma, and drill instructor.

4. She has realistic expectations at all times. She has judged all manner of guild, CM, festivals, competitions, etc., so knows what judges want/expect, and what not to sweat. For example, my sons last competition of the year was a Sonatina festival that he was in. I felt like he had his piece down "pretty" well, but could have used another week to work on it. I didn't lose sleep over it, though, and he played it fine, I thought. Not great (I thought), but ok. Made a couple slips. Other kids made mistakes also. I wasn't particularly wowed by his performance IOW. And I said so to her afterward. She assured me that he had done fine, Sonatinas are very technical and hard to interpret yada yada......she'd let me know if he made the top third that were considered the winners. I replied that I wasn't holding my breath LOL! Well, he ended up being one of the winners.....which just reminds me that I am glad to have a teacher that assesses more realistically than me.

5. She is very ethical in her judging/assessment, and protects her students from potentially unethical situations. She did guild auditions with her students for years, but quit doing guild about 3 years ago when a judge was assigned to her students that she knew from previous experience to exhibit favoritism in his judging (she wouldn't give too many details, but boy was she upset that this guy was still out there, and no way was he judging her students). I think it was the "straw" for her. Her students do festivals with a different assn. now, instead of the national guild (I'm not casting aspersions on the guild mind you, It's a great program in general).

6. She takes genuine physical/developmental issues into account when setting expectations and goals. My son is fairly gifted musically and academically, but has very small hands, and "floppy" (for lack of a better word) fingers. Oh, he can make a piece sound right, but struggles to have those nice rounded piano hands. His knuckles cave in easily. After 4 years he has improved immeasurably in this area, but put this kid with different teachers (like at piano camp last year), and they will "always" comment on 1)how musical he is/how well he plays, and 2) that he needs to work on his hand position. His teacher knows this is an issue, and told me in advance last year that there would be comments to this effect, and to ignore them. He's getting there. At his own speed. She understands the developmental differences between little boys and little girls, and time is often the only cure.

Upshot: take the time to look around. ask lots of questions. See if you can sit in on another person's lesson to get a feel for how the person teaches.

Hope you find a great teacher....there are lots of them out there

Kayleen

mktkcb · June 16, 2008