Choosing a teacher for a beginner

[aerostranger]

hello,

I'm 20 years old. I play the piano for 4 months all by myself, I'm able to play easy classical pieces.
I want to start taking lessons in order to improve my technique and become more advenced player.

I visited a teacher today, 48 years old guy who plays the piano for 40 years.
He's very kind and I can imagine myself learning from him, but I'm not impressed from his abillities as a pianist. I played for him what i've learned till now, and he played for me two nocturnes of chopin, knowing that I'm deeply touched by his compositions. the cost per lesson is a little bit above average, but he lives very close to me, so it's still worthwhile.


my question is whether a decent piano teacher should be highly capable as a pianist? or maybe his ability as a pianist is almost meaningless as a teacher?

how should I find a decent piano teacher in your opinion?

[m1469]

Personally, I've had all sorts of different expectations when it comes to that, and every teacher I've had (with both voice and piano) have been slightly different when it comes to that.  I can't say that I don't enjoy being impressed by my teachers' playing/musicianship.  And, while there are things about that that I absolutely love, and it can be a lot, it's not absolutely everything.  There is definitely more to teaching than being a mere performer/player.  The answer though is that it's completely up to you, really.  Personally, I am most thrilled by their actual ability to teach, which very well may involve playing.

[aerostranger]

thank you for your comment....

he says last time he played these nocturnes was 3 years ago, so it might has an effect on his poor performance, but still, I want to have a teacher that I will fully appreciate as a musician, and it will be very hard to fix the bad impression I have about him when it comes to his abillity

so, i guess i will try to find other teacher....

i will be glad to hear what other people think....

[keyboardclass]

If his playing doesn't 'wow' you then you're not going to 'wow' anybody either ('wow' does not equate with fast).

[m1469]

If his playing doesn't 'wow' you then you're not going to 'wow' anybody either ('wow' does not equate with fast).

That's actually not completely true as a rule.  And, there is absolutely no guarantee (and I don't even know if it's necessarily likely) that just because somebody else's playing 'wows' an individual and that individual studies with them, that then the student's playing will 'wow' others.

It's very tricky to actually put into words, but besides inspiration (which is great but can happen from other sources besides just your teacher), something I've experienced is just a sense of relief, actually, when I hear certain things in somebody's playing who I am working with.  I've been willing to still study though with a person even if I don't hear that or if I don't even know what they sound like at all (and they still may have much to offer and I can still learn from them) but that's not the case at the moment and hasn't been for awhile.  Also, there's been some people who I connect with musically very much, but the student/teacher rapport just wasn't quite right.  I don't want to say too much because I don't want to give the wrong impression. No matter what though, a teacher's musicianship is one thing, the student's is another, even though in a great match there may be quite a bit of overlap.

[m1469]

I also believe in matches made in heaven  .