Articles

How to Pick a Piano Teacher

by Diane S. Fischer

I have been the President of RockNFun Music Academy, www.rocknfunmusic.com, for seven years. Our company has a policy of meeting each and every student prior to starting lessons. This has given us the opportunity to speak with literally hundreds of students and parents of students face to face. Our first question to the non-beginning student is, "Why did you leave your last teacher?" The most popular answer is, "He/she never let me play the songs I wanted to play-I was bored all the time." There are other answers, but most are variations on the same theme.

The first thing all students and parents of students should look for in a teacher is the ability to inspire you. This boils down to the instructor's ability to demonstrate the songs that the beginner or non-beginner requests. This demonstration should be an exciting performance of a song/piece of the student's choosing. The teacher's playing should say to the student, "This is what I'm going to teach you to do!" The student should leave the demonstration feeling excited about learning, and looking forward to emulating that teacher.

There is so much simplified, playable popular music for the absolute beginner. It is true that it may be oversimplified, but the melody is crystal clear. It is possible for a beginning student to start working on it after a month or two of lessons. I would recommend the "Five Finger Beatles" or "Five Finger Broadway or Disney" as well as other popular "Five Finger" books. You can find them on www.foxesmusic.com, www.sheetmusic.com, or www.musicnotes.com.

Inspiration is the foundation to success on the piano. A student who is inspired will be interested in practicing. Practice is the key to becoming a good piano player. Playing songs you want to play makes you want to practice. Stay away from those teachers who want you to play "their" songs/pieces without asking the student what they want to play. So often, their non-customized approach will ultimately bore the student to quit lessons.