Your or your child found that they LOVE music and are equipped with the right instrument and gear, have a bunch of fun music to play, and practice as much as you can- but something still isn’t clicking. So now what? Finding a private music teacher or instructor is a great next step. Private teachers are experts at their instruments, have experience performing publicly, and most importantly love teaching and sharing their love of music with their students. Finding a private teacher will help you overcome any technical difficulties learning the instrument utilizing many tricks and tips to get you playing better, quick. So how do you know who is going to be a great teacher? Here’s 5 things to look for in a private music instructor to help you out.
- They Have Experience Performing– Obviously they need experience, but what kind? They should actively be performing in groups, as a solo musician, leading a band/orchestra, professional gig musician; it doesn’t matter where, but they should be an active performer in some capacity. A lot of teaching students is preparing them for performances, and your private instructor should know how to talk about stage fright, how to prepare, how to overcome mistakes, etc. It is one thing to know how to play technically correct, but another to play in front of people.
- Education- Having a degree in music is NOT a necessity, but it will help you find a teacher that is passionate about education and their instrument. People that have dedicated 4+ years of their life to their instrument and the pedagogy of their instrument are full of information on how to play the instrument efficiently, and can overcome any obstacle when performing by using various learned and practiced techniques. When in college, we are given music that is a challenge to us- and through that we learn how to push through difficult technical passages and spend massive amounts of time extending the range and technique of our instrument. We have been through it all and can trouble shoot with ease most problems of beginner and advanced players.
- Works For/ With Local Musicians– Someone that works with other musicians is bound to have a great reputation. Find someone that is working for your local music store, contact professors at local colleges about their students they would recommend to teach you, reach out to local community bands, orchestras, jazz bands, etc to see who in their groups they would recommend as a private instructor for you. If they have a great reputation among other musicians, they are bound to be reliable and great for you.
- Adaptable- No student learns the same way, and I have a few students of my own that are on the spectrum and I need to change how I deliver information to them. There is always a best way to achieve the perfect outcome, but how your student gets there may look different from another student. Band class is great for students to learn to play as a group, but when it comes to their needs as an individual, it can be difficult for even the greatest of directors to help each individual student all the time. Individual lessons allow for your student to be met where they are according to their skill level and allow the teacher to provide appropriate challenges to help your student grow. A private music teacher will be able to help your student overcome their own learning obstacles through a variety of methods. If your student is having the same problem week after week, and the instructor is not providing new ways to approach the problem, then the instructor is not adapting their teaching methods to the students they have. A one size fits all approach is not the way individual lessons should operate. Ask the teacher before you meet with them how they vary their approach from student to student.
- Patient- The best teachers are the ones that exhibit patience with their students. Have you ever watched someone complete a new task, one that you have done hundreds of times and can easily do in seconds, but it takes them minutes to accomplish? Do you feel like bursting out, “JUST LET ME DO IT I CAN DO IT BETTER!” That is not an effective mindset for a teacher to have, and it is ineffective when it comes to teaching any skill. Find someone that is in love with the journey of learning and teaching, not one that is only driven by fast results and outcomes. Learning music is not just about pushing the right keys or buttons at the right time, but about improving stamina and endurance through proper practice techniques. A lot of the muscles used in playing instruments are not ones that we normally exercise, so we need to create muscle memory, and all of that takes time. Find a teacher that has a realistic expectation of what is developmentally appropriate, and one that has patience while your child develops their skills. Learning a new instrument is so fun and exciting, and it feels like progress comes very fast and soon, and then all of a sudden the learning curve plateaus, and achieving a new skill takes more time. A teacher with patience will understand that. A teacher that loses their patience with a student that practices but isn’t achieving results fast enough is not a good teacher, and should be avoided. Great teachers take the time to help develop their students’ skills with encouragement and utilizing multiple techniques, and will celebrate any type of progress, no matter how small.
I hope this helps and if you have any more questions regarding finding a teacher, comment below and I’ll be happy to answer!