Considerations for Finding a Piano Teacher
In Ulster County, NY there are many gifted musicians and artists but finding the right piano teacher can be a challenge. Some of the considerations include:
• Location: do you prefer lessons in your home or at the teacher’s studio?
• Style: what kinds of music do you want to learn? Just Classical? Or other styles as well? Jazz, Popular, Broadway ect…
• Techniques: It is good to learn theory as well ear training. Improvisation can be a lot of fun and learning how to play from fakebooks opens up a whole world of music: fakebooks often have 1000′s of songs in them.
• Consider what method the teacher uses. Students learn in different ways and a good teacher will be able to adapt their teaching style to the student rather than having every student follow the same method.
• Deliberate Practice: I have found that the best teachers pay special attention to practice techniques. Students can make remarkable progress when they know how to practice efficiently. Deliberate practice skills can be applied to learning anything. Here is an excellent article on deliberate practice.
• Demeanor: Nice is good! A teacher should ideally be kind, patient and encouraging.
Often, the famous performers do not make the best teachers. In college, I can recall my experiences with some concert pianists that were less than inspiring. However, I eventually studied with one of the lesser known professors who turned out to be the best teacher I’ve ever had.
The internet can be a great start for your research but I also suggest asking friends and perhaps your local school music teachers. Ulster County has excellent music programs and the music directors tend to know many local musicians who might be great teachers. After you have some names, make the calls and set up some intro lessons to see if the teacher might be a good fit. It is perfectly fine to switch teachers–once you find the right one you’ll know it!
