Can An Effective Piano Instructor Teach Me Piano?

By Michael Mickey Charles

A common misconception when seeking a piano instructor is that if a person can play proficiently, then they can also teach piano to students as well. However, this is not always the case! Many people can play the piano but not all of them have the patience and necessary people skills to be a good teacher. In fact, more often than not, accomplished piano players do not have that patience or teaching skills.

Because high level pianists work hard to achieve success, many of them struggle with teaching the basics to new students. Their fingers are itching to run up and down the keyboard whereas new players hesitate and stutter. A number of these experienced or professional pianists derive little enjoyment and satisfaction in teaching beginning piano and do not want to relive their own humble beginnings by teaching new students. They would rather practice for themselves, elevating their own talents. What is demoralizing is that some of these accomplished pianists have no idea they feel this way until they start to teach new students. Not everyone is built to be a teacher. Therefore, it is important that you gauge the instructors personality, research their accomplishments and ask for their previous experience as a piano teacher.

Make sure that they are able to supply references and phone numbers to allow you to contact their past clients. Also, take into consideration what level their past clients were at when they first began, were they brand new to the instrument or had they received previous training? If I have no experience what so ever are you still able to teach me piano? Also, what was the highest level achieved while being given lessons from this particular instructor? These answers can help you make a very educated and well thought out decision of who to hire. If the instructor has only taught piano players that have already completed the basic lessons, then you may want to consider hiring someone else who has more experience teaching the absolute basic skills. If they have very few clients that achieved an intermediate to high level of training, this may mean that they are hard to work with, or are lacking the personal skills to stay with the same client over a lengthy period of time.

The irritations encountered when seeking a good piano instructor is the reason why more and more people look to high-tech solutions from their computer. The internet provides a wealth of options in the form of online piano lessons. There is also piano lesson software and movie DVDs too. These high-tech options are quite safe and have proven to be an effective way to learn a new instrument such as the piano. Computer based instruction is easy to follow and fits perfectly into most peoples schedules. - 18423

About the Author:

Michael 'Mickey' Charles was teaching music in the public school system for 30 years before offering private lessons. His years of experience in teaching piano gives him plenty of insight into what piano teaching software works and what doesn't. Don't purchase anything before you read what Mickey thinks of the top piano lesson software at his website: http://www.piano-lesson-software.com/