Moving - Need help finding new teacher!

[telekineticturtle]

This board is very well organized for pretty much anything piano-related except for advice for students regarding piano teachers. Seems like a bit of an oversight.

I'm moving later this year way across the country. It is tough enough to find professional-quality piano teachers to start with, but finding one 1. in a new town and 2. in a place rural enough where I have to call it a "town" instead of a "city" is going to be next to impossible without help.

I'm not looking to build a career as a pianist, but I want to take it seriously and that means getting a serious teacher, not some housewife who bought "learning piano for dummies" in order to make some money on the side.

Any and all advice is appreciated, even if it's stupid. I have so little of an idea of where to start that "sacrifice a goat to Satan" seems like an idea worth considering...

[michael_sayers]

Maybe you can find a pianist whose playing you admire, and who teaches in your new geographic area.


Mvh,
Michael

[kawai_cs]

I am looking for a teacher myself. I am not a beginner and would like to have somebody really good - so I know how hard that is to find somebody competent. In the area where I live now there are schools of music where one teacher teaches like 5 instruments I imagine they probably only teach young children.
However, there are those Skype lessons - many good pianists offer them. Maybe this would be an option for you if you do not find anybody reasonable in the new area?
I do not know however if they really can replace traditional one-to-one lessons. Maybe we should start a new thread on people's experiences with Skype piano lessons. Would be totally interesting to get to know that.

[dogperson]

How can we help in no one posts the needed location ?   If you don't want to do that,  look on Yelp for piano teacher reviews, or look for teacher certifications

[taoxia1970]

check local colleges/university, some of the "professors" will be happy to take on some "private" students, if you move to a college town, there will be plenty of 'degree' students willing to do some teaching on the side. If no big college or university around, check local music studios.  Important thing to remember is that always check if they have completed a music degree, or a music degree in progress.

[compline]

Besides all the other sources mentioned, your local classical music store might have a list of local musicians.  That's how I found my professional tutor.

[telekineticturtle]

How can we help in no one posts the needed location ?   If you don't want to do that,  look on Yelp for piano teacher reviews, or look for teacher certifications

It's not set in stone, and I was honestly hoping for general tips.

In addition, my planned destination is Bumfuck Nowhere, Texas. A large city or noteworthy area wouldn't have that kind of issue - it would be trivial to find a professional teacher in NYC.

check local colleges/university, some of the "professors" will be happy to take on some "private" students, if you move to a college town, there will be plenty of 'degree' students willing to do some teaching on the side. If no big college or university around, check local music studios.  Important thing to remember is that always check if they have completed a music degree, or a music degree in progress.

Besides all the other sources mentioned, your local classical music store might have a list of local musicians.  That's how I found my professional tutor.

Are these people professional quality tutors, though?

I'm not exactly planning to use piano as a career, but I want to know that my tutor a.) is highly experienced specifically in the art of teaching piano to professional pianists and b.) is willing to challenge me even if it means hurting my poor fragile feelings.

I may be taking this a bit too seriously - not trying to make a career out of my piano, after all, just nab a scholarship or two and impress people at parties - but I want to make sure I'm getting the best available education. I also plan on taking vocal lessons and want to apply the same rigor.

So honestly the question isn't so much "how do I find any teacher," but "how do I find the right teacher." - especially in an area I'm not familiar with.

[compline]

It's not set in stone, and I was honestly hoping for general tips.

In addition, my planned destination is Bumfuck Nowhere, Texas. A large city or noteworthy area wouldn't have that kind of issue - it would be trivial to find a professional teacher in NYC.

Are these people professional quality tutors, though?

[compline]

Most definitely!! All concert pianists or violinists, I have had experience with. Expensive, but that's  life.
 You have the choice of someone with less experience, but that's not for me.

[slane]

The bullet proof musician has a post about things that great teachers do...
https://www.bulletproofmusician.com/19-things-that-great-teachers-do-insights-from-the-approaches-of-three-renowned-artist-teachers/

But first you have to find someone to give you a trial lesson to see if they're like that!