Don’t you wish you could hand select all your children’s teachers? Really though! That could be dreamy! I would choose science teachers with a passion for inspiring, Math teachers who help stretch thinking in cool linear ways, Language teachers with a delightful creative side who help my children fall in love with books of all genres. Yes, I could create quite a line up of ideals. 🙂 Of course every teacher would be kind, diligent and uplifting. Welcome to fantasy-land! I do wish I could shape the surroundings for my kiddos, but that’s just not possible (and also probably not healthy!) Most teachers that I have worked with genuinely want to inspire learning. I also have come to value the humanity of people, we are all full of quirks and different strengths. You can’t find anyone perfect, of course, but you can find amazing people with beautiful gifts willing to share. Yes! Let’s celebrate that goodness right there! Choosing a private music teacher, such as a piano, voice or cello teacher is not as straight forward as being assigned to a class at school, you have options!
What is the biggest priority for your student?
- Location (close to you is how you are going to fit it in!)
- Cost (there is a huge variation here)
- Expectations for the Students (Teacher can vary from flexible music friends to dogmatic professionals)
- Recitals, Competitions & Advancing
If you are just starting this line of thought, you may not be sure what you want, the first thing to do is to ask around about teachers. You can start on-line there will be some there, but I feel confident 50% of music teachers are not represented on web pages. Query your neighbors and friends, asking who teaches their children. Ask the local school band or orchestra teacher about their connections for private teachers. You will meet new people in the process as you go from friends, to friends-of-friends asking about music teachers. Ask how their experience has been, if the child who is taking the lessons is present, ask them about the teacher! You may get a couple of suggestions for different teachers. If you happen to hear the same teacher twice or more with glowing reviews, you may be on the right track. If you are slammed with busyness and your biggest priority is someone who either lives close or is willing to come to your house, then your decision will be dictated by location and let’s hope the teacher is terrific.
When I was ready to find a piano teacher, I had already taught my kiddos the beginning concepts of piano up through intermediate (about 6th grade). By the time I needed another teacher, my kids had been playing for about 6 years, so just being close to my house and affordable were not the most important factors. Although I would have loved close & affordable! I was in particular looking for a teacher who could navigate my kids through intermediate music pieces into advanced, helping them with sight reading and music theory! Those were my main goals.
What then are your priorities? Maybe you need a bargain teacher, high school students are terrific for this, they are often close by and some of them are truly great with kids. Maybe you know a high school kiddo who plays beautifully, but doesn’t currently teach. Ask them if they would be willing to teach your child. You may be helping them start a part time job! Another resource to check would be the local community college. There are no doubt music students here who also may be just the teacher your kiddo needs.
After you have a couple leads either from on-line, the community college or suggestions from friends, contact the teacher. Here are some questions you may wish to ask:
- How long are lessons? (30 minute, 45 and etc.)
- What is your availability? (I only have Tuesday after 4 p.m. open?)
- What is the cost? Is this weekly or monthly*? (see below)
- Which music books do you use? (Hopefully available on line–a game changer!—so easy to order instead of hunting them down in a music store!)
- Do you also teach music theory? (Music Theory is the set of rules and the concepts of music…timing, note recognition for beginners up to key signatures and transcribing for more advanced)
- When are your recitals? (Often 2-3 times a year, may include competitions that charge a fee)–If they have a recital coming up—attend with your kiddo. That will give you a clear idea of what to expect, plus it may spark some enthusiasm.
If the teacher comes highly recommended and has availability—then do a happy dance and sign up! Please know dear parent—-your child’s success at a new instrument will partially depend on you. Just like potty training, learning chores and any skill, your child of any age will need encouragement, expectations and consequences (positive or negative). (See this post–are you up for it?) A successful music student spends time on their instrument at least 5 days out of the week. (more for intermediate to advanced students) It will be fun at first–yea! Then, as with most skills there comes a “wow this is hard, maybe I will ditch this now” point. You can help your kiddo get through this. Thousands have gotten past that point and millions have not! This is where a determined and encouraging parent can shine.
If you are trying a teacher that has no recommendation and you are new to the instrument, (I have no knowledge of strings—seriously why do I not have a kid playing a cello? I LOVE that instrument!) then when you contact the teacher, ask if you can try these lessons for a semester or 90 days whatever seems reasonable to both parties. That way if you find that the fit is abysmal for teacher and student, you have an out already worked into the arrangement. Hopefully, you have stumbled onto a brilliant teacher who is fairly close to your home, has a slot open that works for you and gets along great with your kiddo! That would be the ideal. (you know I love ideals!) If 3 out of 4 of those are true, you are still in luck!
Best of luck finding a terrific teacher! If you do find a terrific teacher, make sure to tell them so! People who inspire greatness in others are some of my favorite!
*One addendum to consider on cost: Some music teachers charge a monthly fee, regardless of holidays, vacation time and lessons received. I.E. $140 monthly tuition including the month of December, in which there will be 2 weeks of lessons, and two weeks of vacation. Other teachers charge you according to the lessons you receive, unless you miss the lesson out of forgetfulness or other reasons. (Then you will be charged for oversight) It might be good to know these policies before starting with the teacher.
