Questions Parents and Students Should Ask a Private Music Teacher
by Meri Dolevski-Lewis
Many people when choosing a private music teacher are often concerned with either price or location. But there are other, more important questions to ask. Here are some of them:
1) What method books do you use to teach beginners? There are many teachers using old, outdated method books, especially in piano instruction books. Be especially cautious if a teacher does not use any sort of method book in teaching student’s lessons. For instruments other than piano, this should be a method book that has an effective lead-in to an exam system.
2) Do you have students do exams? I feel that most teachers who do not encourage or require sudents to do exams are not very good, exams provide a certain reasonably objective standard students need to meet.
3) How flexible is you rescheduling policy? Be very careful with the teacher with a restrictive policy, such as no make-ups for any reason.
4) How many students do you teach? Up to 20 students is a good number, any more than that and the teacher may not be too flexible about expanding students from the same family or referrals. You’ll probably also like the more individual attention in a smaller studio, and have greater flexibility for scheduling lessons.
5) What do your students accomplish? If a teacher raves and especially can prove that a number of their students win competitions, do extremely well on exams, or get placements in prestigious ensembles, there’s a good chance they are doing a lot of things right!
6) What kind of piano do you have access to? Yes, this is important even if the teacher doesn’t teach piano! No teacher should teach on an old, out-of tune clunker of a piano with broken keys or strings.
7) What performance opportunities do you offer? Many of the better teachers will have one or two student concerts a year.
8 ) How do we pay for lessons? More and more teachers are using a quarterly, semester, or yearly payment system, which may be difficult for students and families to afford; however, charging for lessons month in advance is standard among private music teachers.
9) What age of students do you specialize in? There are a lot of teachers who don’t enjoy working with teen and adult students, some who enjoy almost any age of sudent as long as they have a good mindset, and a few teachers who specialize in teaching teens and adults.
10) How do you feel about about students learning pieces on their own? Believe it or not, there are some teachers who discourage their students from trying to learn things on their own: my view is that that’s a good sign tat they’re understanding what they are learning. And yet some teachers have students who can’t figure out the notes and rhythms on their own! One day they will not have a teacher, so independent learning should be encouraged!
11) How do you feel about learning non-classical music? While there are some teachers that emphasize strict classical training, there are also a lot of teachers who are comfortable in other styles besides classical music.
12) How do you enhance student’s learning? There are still some teachers who use little more than a method book, a instrument, and stickers or candies to teach students. There are even some teachers who will not use flashcards to teach students. Some high end teachers include services such as recording performances on audio or video (essential for upper intermediate and advanced students applying to some special music programs), training in composition and arrangement via computer, student forums on the internet, and more. Others may offer training in psychological or physical techniques to help improve student performance.
Many people when choosing a private music teacher are often concerned with either price or location. But there are other, more important questions to ask. Here are some of them:
1) What method books do you use to teach beginners? There are many teachers using old, outdated method books, especially in piano instruction books. Be especially cautious if a teacher does not use any sort of method book in teaching student’s lessons. For instruments other than piano, this should be a method book that has an effective lead-in to an exam system.
2) Do you have students do exams? I feel that most teachers who do not encourage or require sudents to do exams are not very good, exams provide a certain reasonably objective standard students need to meet.
3) How flexible is you rescheduling policy? Be very careful with the teacher with a restrictive policy, such as no make-ups for any reason.
4) How many students do you teach? Up to 20 students is a good number, any more than that and the teacher may not be too flexible about expanding students from the same family or referrals. You’ll probably also like the more individual attention in a smaller studio, and have greater flexibility for scheduling lessons.
5) What do your students accomplish? If a teacher raves and especially can prove that a number of their students win competitions, do extremely well on exams, or get placements in prestigious ensembles, there’s a good chance they are doing a lot of things right!
6) What kind of piano do you have access to? Yes, this is important even if the teacher doesn’t teach piano! No teacher should teach on an old, out-of tune clunker of a piano with broken keys or strings.
7) What performance opportunities do you offer? Many of the better teachers will have one or two student concerts a year.
8 ) How do we pay for lessons? More and more teachers are using a quarterly, semester, or yearly payment system, which may be difficult for students and families to afford; however, charging for lessons month in advance is standard among private music teachers.
9) What age of students do you specialize in? There are a lot of teachers who don’t enjoy working with teen and adult students, some who enjoy almost any age of sudent as long as they have a good mindset, and a few teachers who specialize in teaching teens and adults.
10) How do you feel about about students learning pieces on their own? Believe it or not, there are some teachers who discourage their students from trying to learn things on their own: my view is that that’s a good sign tat they’re understanding what they are learning. And yet some teachers have students who can’t figure out the notes and rhythms on their own! One day they will not have a teacher, so independent learning should be encouraged!
11) How do you feel about learning non-classical music? While there are some teachers that emphasize strict classical training, there are also a lot of teachers who are comfortable in other styles besides classical music.
12) How do you enhance student’s learning? There are still some teachers who use little more than a method book, a instrument, and stickers or candies to teach students. There are even some teachers who will not use flashcards to teach students. Some high end teachers include services such as recording performances on audio or video (essential for upper intermediate and advanced students applying to some special music programs), training in composition and arrangement via computer, student forums on the internet, and more. Others may offer training in psychological or physical techniques to help improve student performance.