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Topic: What to look for in a teacher?  (Read 1134 times)

Offline pianofourty

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What to look for in a teacher?
on: September 06, 2020, 09:04:05 PM
Hello! I'm new to Piano Forum and am hoping I can get some advice.

I completed grade 8 as a teen, and sat the ATCL after starting college.  In hindsight, it was a rubbish decision because I'd moved away from home and was staying in a place with no easy access to a piano.  Needless to say I failed!

I then moved to the UK for university, and tried to keep up with my playing, which was not that easy as my uni didn't have a music programme so whilst a piano was available it wasn't part of a series of practice rooms.  Anyway, to cut a long story short, I tried to keep up with my playing over the years by (somehow!) finding pianos at work, hiring practice rooms etc, but as time went on even this fell to the wayside.

Fast forward some 20 odd years, I decided to start again back in March and bought myself a digital piano.  I'm pleased to say that I've made some progress, and am now considering taking the ARSM at some point in the future.  I don't think I would be able to do this on my own or just with YouTube help, so am thinking about getting a teacher.

What I'm not sure about is, what should I look for in a teacher? I think what would be helpful is to have someone who can help advise on exam repertoire, technique and interpretation (and probably on lots of other things too!).  Obviously it would need to be someone who can take me through a diploma exam, and there are any number of teachers who advertise themselves as being able to do this, but I'm at a bit of a loss as to how I would make sure they really can do this - do I find someone who specializes in adult students? Someone who performs as well as teaches? Someone from a music college? Help!

The following will hopefully give an idea of where I'm at with my playing:
  • Learning the following new pieces:
    • Schubert's Impromptu op 90 no 3
    • Scriabin's Impromptu op 12 no

  • Practicing the following, which I used to play years ago:
    • Liszt's Liebestraum No 3 in A flat major
    • Chopin Waltz op 64 no 2
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Offline lowk-_-y

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Re: What to look for in a teacher?
Reply #1 on: September 12, 2020, 02:20:39 AM
Ideally I'd say a teacher from a music college would be the best, however their fees can get a bit pricey so it really depends on your finances.

I say this because they will definitely have fulfilled these factors:
- Be extremely proficient in piano technique far beyond your level. Having encountered countless versions of any technical problem you may encounter
- Very familiar with standard repertoire from all periods of classical music, allowing them to provide important stylistic and musical advise to any of your repertoire choices.
- Extensive teaching experience of students of all different shapes, sizes and temperaments. So they can provide different solutions to the same problem.
- Extensive performance experience, allowing them to help in the actual practice of performing addressing things such as performance anxieties etc

In your search for a teacher, the more things on this list that they fulfill the better, however the one huge factor that is arguably the most important is the attitude of the teacher.

Look for a teacher that is open minded, supportive whilst still asking for quality standards. Someone that can critique you constructively when needed and also compliment when necessary also. There are so many teachers (music college teachers included) that are unbelievably toxic and can easily destroy your motivation for music alongside your confidence in yourself.

In conclusion find someone nice, experienced and more procient than you. I'm sure there are many amazing teachers that are unable to play proficiently but to be on the safe side, if your teacher can't play your pieces with ease then it probably isn't a good sign.
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