There can be a lot of things to consider when you are choosing the right piano teacher for yourself or your child. As with any other topic, teachers vary in their experience and teaching style. For example, some may have a strict technical approach, while others may focus on cultivating creative expression and songwriting. To help you decide what is right for you, here are six tips for choosing your piano teacher.
1. Consider Their Background
If you are researching individual teachers online in the hopes of choosing the right piano teacher, or using a site like Takelessons.com, you’ll likely find information in the “about me” section of their profiles. This section will usually detail the teacher’s educational and performance experience.
Choose a teacher whose background aligns with your values. Does the teacher have an advanced degree in performance or music education? Maybe they don’t have a degree, but they have an extensive performance resume. Does that align with your performance goals? Do they have experience teaching in your or your child’s age range? Making sure the teacher’s background aligns with your goals will help you set yourself up for success.
2. Read the Reviews & Listen to Other Students
A biography section on a teacher’s profile can offer some useful background information, but if you want a good idea of how they actually interact with students, it is often better to read the reviews.
Look for repeating themes in the reviews. Looking at my own profile, the words “patient,” “comfortable,” and “fun” can be found in several of my reviews. Those are values that are important to me as a teacher. While a point-based average rating is a useful measurement, the personal touch of a student’s review can often be more revealing, and can help you find a teacher who aligns with what you’re seeking.
If you’re seeking a teacher in your local area, then ask friends or families who have studied with that teacher. Great piano teachers will have students who are eager to share their experiences with you.
3. Interview the Teacher
Newer teachers may not have many reviews yet, or very many photos or videos demonstrating their knowledge and approach – but that doesn’t meant that they’re not an excellent choice. If you find that you have questions about whether or not a teacher would be a good fit for you, you can always reach to them directly.
Teachers usually have a way to get in touch with them, and websites offer the option to send available teachers a direct message.
4. Check Availability
Before you go to book a session, be sure to check the teacher’s availability first. If it is not listed in their profile, this is an important question to ask during an interview.
If a teacher has several students, the most popular time slots, like after work/school on weekdays or weekends, may already be taken. If you’re looking for an online teacher, don’t forget to consider time zone differences! I am based in Dallas, and I have several students on the West coast, and have had a couple of mix-ups in scheduling due to one of us forgetting about or incorrectly calculating the time difference.
5. Check Distance/Online Setup
If you are requesting in-person lessons at the teacher’s studio (commonly a home), it is also important to check the teacher’s location. Drive time is an often-overlooked additional cost of time and expense, so make sure the distance is acceptable to you. If you are requesting lessons at your own home, it is still a good thing to check. If you request at-home lessons and the teacher is based too far away, they may not accept you as a student.
Online is a preferred option for many these days, of course. This opens up a much larger pool of teachers to consider. So especially for piano teachers, it is useful to inquire about their technology set up. Do they have an additional camera that shows their hands on the piano? That’s a very important one! The student needs to be able to see what the teacher wants them to do, and showing them with the additional camera, or at least a camera that can be adjusted easily, is the best way to do that.
For the same reasons, you should ask yourself – Do you have a camera that can show your hands on the piano? Teachers with good ears can manage, but being able to see the students’ hands is equally beneficial.
6. Try a Short Package First
If you are somewhat uncertain about your chosen teacher, or for that matter, your own (or your child’s) dedication to the subject, you can always test the waters with a shorter commitment.
Most teachers, websites like TakeLessons, and music schools, require that you purchase lessons in packages. Here, for example, you can purchase as few as four lessons at a time, or as many as ten, and you have the option for a recurring payment method. TakeLessons Live also gives you the option of subscription-based group classes online, so you can learn piano with a lower commitment and cost. It’s best to try a smaller package first, or a subscription-based service, and see if you like what you’re getting.
If you or your child is loving it and motivated to keep going, excellent! We love to add regulars to our communities.
Lance Russell