How To Choose The Right
Music Teacher
Finding
the right music teacher for you (or your child) is
very important to your (or your child's) overall success
and development as a musician. A great teacher will
help you achieve maximum improvement in the quickest
amount of time, will fuel your passion, and will help
you avoid bad habits that can hurt your playing.
When
you work with an average teacher, some problems you
will likely have are:
You
will spend a lot more time than you should trying
to learn and master what you want to be able to play
and do.
You
will spend a lot more money for lessons trying to
learn something a better teacher could teach you in
less time.
You
will likely feel disappointed and discouraged because
your improvement will be slow, but you probably won't
know why.
You
may begin to doubt your own potential as a player
and give up the idea of reaching your musical goals.
But
when you find the right teacher for you,
You
will save a lot of time.
You will save a lot of money-even if the better teacher
charges more.
You will reach your musical goals much faster.
You will reach your musical goals a lot easier.
You will feel GREAT as you learn to play the way you
always dreamed!
Choosing
the right teacher for you is going to have a huge
impact on your playing, but also on your bank account,
your time, and the way you are going to feel over
time.
So
here are some things you need to know about a teacher
before you begin taking lessons. Ask them the following
questions:
1.
"Can you tell me how you teach the lessons?"
- This is probably the most important question that
you can ask any teacher, yet almost no one ever asks
it! The answer to this question can really help you
to determine if a teacher is competent.
Unless
a prospective teacher knows you, your musical knowledge,
experience, tastes, and your musical goals, they can
not adequately tell you how they will teach you. They
need to know about your music background, goals and
other things. This is the only way they can really
know how to teach a student.
Tip:
Listen to the language the teacher uses when trying
to answer this question. Does he talk about "what
he or she does" or does he want to know more
about what YOU want and need to learn?
2.
"How will help me to better organize my practice
time?"- Good teachers will show you in detail
how to manage your practice time. They will tell you
what and exactly how to practice each day. Great teachers
will teach you how to manage your own practice time
in effective ways. How you practice is very important
to your growth as a player.
If
you are working with a teacher now, push him/her to
get more specific with you about how you can learn
to effectively manage your own practice time.
3.
"Do you teach the style of music I want to learn?"
- You should not care if the teachers can teach all
styles of music well (unless that is your goal). You
should only care if the teacher is excellent at teaching
the style or styles of music that YOU want to play.
4.
"Have you successfully taught many other players
to reach musical goals similar to mine?"
- Are there places where you can find several of their
former and/or current students to hear what they have
to say about the teacher?
Good
results are not always based on the skill level of
a teacher's students. Not all students want to become
professional players. Many just want to play for fun.
If those students feel fulfilled and happy about their
experience with their teacher, you can consider this
a good result.
If
you find a teacher who has proven track record of
successfully teaching players to reach their musical
goals and/or play on a highly advanced level, you
have likely found a great teacher.
Tip:
Most good teachers (and great teachers) have testimonials
from their students. Search for this on their website.
Avoid These Common Mistakes!
Mistake
1. Choosing a teacher based on location! - One
of the first questions most students ask a new teacher
is "Where are you located?" If you are pretty
sure the teacher teaches within 90 minutes of your
home or job, do not even ask the teacher where he/she
is located until AFTER you are sure you want to study
with him/her. You might be thinking that it's a waste
of time to travel far to study with a great teacher,
but the truth is, the EXACT OPPOSITE IS TRUE! The
extra travel time that may be required to study with
a great teacher is time well invested.
If
you study with an 'average teacher' you WILL waste
a lot of your practice time as you study things which
are not as helpful to making you the player you want
to become. In addition the better teacher will help
you get more out of your practice time, (which saves
even more time since you can actually get better while
practicing less!) The bottom line: It's often worth
traveling 3X the distance in order to get 10X the
value from a better teacher!!! See the big picture.
Mistake
2. Choosing a teacher based on price per lesson! -
An experienced teacher with the qualities mentioned
in the questions above can help you progress at a
much faster rate than an average one. A great teacher
that can focus your lessons with proven techniques
that will get you specific results and help avoid
unnecessary practice will save you time in the long
run.
For
example, if it takes an average teacher 9 lessons
at $25 a lesson to help you achieve a certain short
term goal, that adds up to $225. But if a great teacher
charging $50 a lesson can help you achieve that same
goal in 3 lessons, that adds up to $150.
More
experienced teachers are usually worth MORE than the
higher price they charge for lessons! Excellent teachers
are usually in demand and are often not cheap. In
general, don't look for the teacher with the lowest
rates, you usually get what you pay for… or LESS!
If you simply can't afford to pay the higher rates
for a really good teacher, ask them if you can take
lessons on a bi-monthly basis instead of taking weekly
lessons.
From
the teacher's point of view, people who are primarily
motivated by price do not make very good students.
This is not always true of course, but statistically
speaking, it is. The reason for this assumption is
that when students are choosing a teacher based mainly
on price or location, this means they are not likely
to be focused on finding the right teacher
who can help them reach their musical goals. Good
teachers do not want to feel like they are "selling
lessons" like it is a mere commodity for sale,
they truly care about people and helping students
to transform their lives through music.
Mistake
3. Assuming that the best player is the best teacher!
- Many students are immediately attracted to great
players and want to learn from them. Just because
a player can play does not mean they can explain what
they do. What's important are the teacher's teaching
skills and experience. This is what you should look
for in a teacher.
The BIGGEST Mistake You Can
Make Right Now Is…
The
biggest mistake you can make right now is to do nothing
with the information you've just learned! If you want
to save a lot of time, money and energy, reach your
musical goals much faster and feel GREAT as you learn
to play the way you always dreamed about, then invest
the time right now to search for a great teacher who
meets all the criteria discussed in this guide. Be
prepared to spend a lot of time talking to many teachers
because most of the teachers you will find will not
do so well answering your questions. When you find
the one who can, you have found the best teacher for
you or your child!
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