Interviewing Teacher

[30 thumbs]

I am looking for a piano teacher for my kids who are in the final grades of RCM.  We have had a few teachers in the last 12 years. 

The present teacher told my eldest that she is hopeless.  I felt that it's time to find a new one.  To avoid making the same mistakes over and over again, I am going to be more thorough in interviewing new teachers.  I need some suggestions on what questions to ask so that I can find out the most about the teacher without being offensive.  I hate hurting other people's feeling.  And I don't want to have a probation period.  I think it does no good to both teacher and student.

Thanks in advance 

[bernhard]

Try these for a start (you probably can add more). I do not think they are particularly offensive, and they will tell you a lot about the teacher and his/her teaching methods.

1. When and where do you teach?

(Although some teachers will go to your house, and this may be very convenient for you, it is very inconvenient for the teacher, and a teacher will do it only under economical pressure).

2. What is your payment policy?

(Really good teachers will expect to be paid on a monthly basis, not on a lesson basis. This means that they can dedicate themselves fully to your children’s music education without having to worry about money considerations).

3. How much will it cost, and what do I get?

(In this area, usually you get what you pay for. The cheaper the teacher the  worse the instruction. Nevertheless, some teachers can be very expensive simply because they are famous concert pianists. Believe me, they will not be paying too much attention to your child if they have a performing career. On the other hand, some teachers may appear on the cheap side – even if they are good – but all you get is a 30 minute lesson every week. In my own case, I am reasonably expensive, but I supply all the sheet music to the students, CDs of their pieces by different pianists, manuals on how to practise and learn their pieces, access to master classes with famous pianists free of charge, and so on and so forth).

4. What about half terms and holidays?

(Teachers need to eat all year round. I expect to be paid in full during holidays, but this means that I will be working on my students behalf even during holidays (preparing lessons, organising material and so on). Would I be eager to do so if I was not being paid just because the little Mozarts are spending six weeks in the Bahamas, but the parents are too stingy to pay the holiday month? You bet I would not).

5. What about cancellations?

(Expect good, established teachers not to put up with cancellations. Many parents like to pay per lessons rather than per month in order to save money with cancellations. When I first started, I used to be paid per lesson. Cancellations were a nightmare. The moment I had enough, put my foot down and asked to be paid  per month irrespective of how many lessons the students attended, no one evercancelled a lesson again. I kid you not. Besides the financial side, this has repercussions in the progress of the children as well: lessons and practice must be regular. In the UK the number of holidays and half terms is completely staggering. No one can learn the piano properly if they have a break of two weeks every four weeks. So my own policy is that there are no holidays. If a lesson is missed it has to be paid for, and if the reason for missing the lesson is justifiable – like illness – the lesson is always made up).

6. Some months have five weeks, is the payment still the same?

(Again, this will depend on if the teacher’s policy is payment per lesson or per month).

7. What do you require?

(I require that the student has a piano at home, and a quiet place/time to practise – especially if the TV is in the same room of the piano – Other teachers may require that you buy your own sheet music, etc.)

8. I do not own a piano and I cannot afford one right now. Is it all right to use a keyboard?

(No, it is not. A digital piano is fine, but a keyboard is a completely different instrument. No one can learn to play the piano properly on a keyboard. A teacher who says differently may be on dire straights and prepared to accept anything to get a new student – it maybe a question worthy asking just to see the answer).

9. Which age group do you teach?

(Some teachers specialise in particular age groups. For very small children – 2 – 5 year-olds, it may be a very good idea).

10. Would you object to parents’ presence at one of the first lessons?

(No teacher should object to this – they may ask you to be quiet and not interfere though, and you should comply.)

11. What style of music do you teach?

(You should choose a teacher that can teach you the style you want. Classical music teachers usually are not very good at improvising and may thoroughly dislike pop music. So if your aim is to form a rock band, a classical teacher may not be the best option. Likewise, if your aim is to play classical music, a jazz teacher will not be appropriate. Some teachers are fully conversant with all idoms and styles but they are rare).

12. What are your views on graded examinations?

13. Which examination board do you prefer and why?

14. Do you undertake aural training and theory instruction?

(Most teachers concentrate on teaching to “play” the piano and do not teach these subjects in any formal way – if you ever need to do an exam they will either refer you to another teacher for a few lessons in theory, or they will expect the student to have extra classes. A few teachers will offer the whole package).

You may already have your own ideas on the next questions, so asking these questions make sure that you are getting a teacher that agrees with you, rather than one you will be fighting all the way.

15. What are your guidelines on practising?

16. What “method” do you follow?

17. How long will it take to play well?

18. Do you enter your students for music festivals?

19. How do you like your pupil’s parents to be involved?

20. I would like to know more about my child’s instrument. Can you recommend any books for me to study?

21. Do you issue periodical progress reports?

22. Do your students have assignment notebooks?

23. Do you use any computer-aided instructional tools?

24. Do you allow your students to play in their school orchestras, if asked?

25. Do you arrange occasional student’s get-togethers?

26. Assuming that it would be helpful for my child to listen to performers on the piano, whom do you recommend?

Perhaps some of the teachers in the forum would feel inspired to answer these questions themselves, so you could get an idea of how varied teaching the piano can be.

Anyone?

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[30 thumbs]

Hi Bernhard, thank you for your reply!

One point I would like to bring up is the vacation part.  Not to start an argument.  In our neck of woods, school teachers only get paid 10 month a year.  They don't get paid during summer.  Their monthly paycheque will be 1/10 of their annual salary.

My view on piano teacher is like a self-emloyed individual and the per lesson fee charged should have that in the consideration.  I always pay our teachers monthly in advance either at first lesson of the month or with a series of post dated cheques.
But I don't think the teacher should get paid if he is taking a month long holiday,  especially if he is charging at or close to the premium rate.  And in my case, it is multiply by 3 and double that amount if they are taken theory lessons.

One more question,  is it touchy to ask the teacher about their average student's exam grades?  Not that I have great expectation on my kids, but one of the teacher we had would never send any student to exam if she thinks the result will be under 80%.  Her student's grade averages were over 80%.  During my eldest daughters junior years, she'd told her to forget about exam and just play it for fun.  In the end, she reluctantly agreed to let her go with my insistance.  Anyway, the result was over 80% and we got a new teacher after that.

[bernhard]

Hi Bernhard, thank you for your reply!

You are welcome.

One point I would like to bring up is the vacation part.  Not to start an argument.

You don’t really think you are going to get away this easily, do you?  Read on.

In our neck of woods, school teachers only get paid 10 month a year.  They don't get paid during summer.  Their monthly paycheque will be 1/10 of their annual salary.

Do you have a job? How would you like not to be paid during your holidays? Or over Christmas and New Year? After all you are not working, why should you get paid?

If the situation with school teachers in your neck of the woods is as you describe, I would not be surprised if you were not getting very good teachers. I for one would not apply for a job in your neck of the woods. Actually, I am self-employed, so I don’t have to apply to any job.

My view on piano teacher is like a self-emloyed individual and the per lesson fee charged should have that in the consideration.  I always pay our teachers monthly in advance either at first lesson of the month or with a series of post dated cheques.
But I don't think the teacher should get paid if he is taking a month long holiday,  especially if he is charging at or close to the premium rate.  And in my case, it is multiply by 3 and double that amount if they are taken theory lessons.

You are making the classical assumption that most students/parents make, that what they are paying for is the lessons. It is not. Let me give you the teacher’s situation and reality:

In the UK, with its deeply ingrained culture of holidays and half-terms, some people cannot quite understand the concept of paying a monthly fee for music lessons, rather than paying on a lesson-by-lesson basis. Their reasoning seems to be more or less on the following lines:

“I am going on holidays for 3 weeks. Why should I pay for a whole month if there is only one lesson that month?”

First of all, do you apply this same reasoning to your rent, or house mortgage payments? If you go on holidays for 3 weeks, why should you pay the full rent on your house for that month? After all you are not using the place.

What about council tax? You may not even be in the country for the duration of holidays, why should you pay the full amount of your council tax? (this is a monthly tax on the UK pertaining to housing).

And what about School? Do you stop paying school fees (or a proportionally smaller fees) during holidays and half-terms?

So the idea of a regular, monthly payment is not such an outlandish concept after all. And I am sure you can come up with many more examples.

The source of the confusion seems to be the belief that you are paying for individual lessons.

Well, you are not. The weekly lessons are just the tip of a very large iceberg. In my particular case (other teachers have different systems), this is what you are actually paying for when you sign up for my standard course:

i.   48 one-hour lessons per year plus five one-hour lessons for the Intensive Summer Course (there are 52 weeks in a year).(This means that even though I do take one month of holidays, the student still gets 53 lessons a year)

ii.   CD recordings of the pieces you are learning by a number of different pianists/recorder players (when available), so that you can familiarise yourself with the pieces you are learning as well as different interpretations of it. Recorder students also get a diskette/CD with all the piano accompaniments for the pieces they are learning, so that they can practise at home with the piano accompaniment.


iii.   Recordings of your own playing (on tape, or on midi file on a floppy disk if you have a computer), so that you can listen to yourself over a period of time.

iv.   A very structured and highly efficient way of practising so that you can play well in the minimum amount of time.


v.   Copies of my articles and booklets on sight-reading, playing by ear and improvising, how to practise efficiently and others.
 
vi.   For every piece (intermediate onwards) you learn you will get a (around) 100-page booklet on how to analyse and practise that piece with several tips on how to master its specific difficulties, plus information on the composer, piece, etc.


vii.   Specially edited copies of the score of the piece you are learning with fingerings, realised ornaments, voice separation, etc.

viii.   Every 4 – 6 months your performance will be video-recorded so that you can observe yourself, and see your improvement as your studies progress.


ix. Access to master classes by world famous pianists/recorder players (depending on availability).

The way I teach, the course is specifically tailored to the student. This represents a huge workload for me. Just see how long it takes you to simply type one of my 100-page guides to learning a piece. So, the student may not turn up for his one-hour weekly lesson during a holiday, but I will be dedicating (sometimes three or four hours a day – everyday) to preparing that student’s lesson/course.

To be able to do that – which I do because I firmly believe it is in the best interests of my students – I need to be assured of a regular payment. If I cannot rely on a monthly source of income from my students, then I will simply not be able to continue teaching – a since I will need to find another job that allows me to support me and my family.

I am shocked and surprised that some people consistently try to evade their full monthly payment whenever it suits them. Ask yourself this question: Why should the teacher be financially penalised because the student went on holidays?

Let us explore this issue a bit further.

A student misses a lesson, sometimes several lessons. What am I supposed to do with the student’s lesson time slot? I cannot put another student in that time, since it has been reserved for the student. What am I supposed to do with all the material I spent the whole week preparing for that student, when s/he does not turn up?

Moreover, I am always prepared to make up missed lessons, so it is not as if that lesson was somehow lost. I always go out of my way to accommodate student’s times and re-schedule missed lessons. Often a lesson will be extended beyond its time depending on the needs of the student. If the student is preparing for an exam or a recital I often will give him/her extra classes at no extra cost.

Learning music requires long-term commitment. The student needs to commit to his/her practice-study, and I need to commit to the student’s needs. A monthly payment ensures that I have the financial support to fully commit to a student’s course.

However, you are not paying solely the hour the student is taught by me. This “hourly” fee includes:

-   Class preparation time.
-   My time learning and practising the music I will be teaching, which many times holds no interest whatsoever for me.
-   Materials (books, CDs, master classes, symposiums) that keep me up to date and in condition to give the student the best teaching I am capable of.
-   Time preparing and organising the extra material below.

In addition to that I do the following – which to my knowledge no other teacher does:

-   The student is provided with CDs of the pieces s/he is working on. Usually several versions by different pianists.
-   The student is provided with articles detailing the practising and learning of the pieces s/he is currently learning. These articles are usually 100 pages long (just consider how much time and effort goes on the preparation of these).
-   The student is provided with all sheet music, especially edited and fingered.
-   Whenever available I take my students to master classes with famous pianists (they need to reach a certain level to attend though).
-   Theory lessons are part of the course. (Plus my articles on theory, sight-reading, how to practice, etc.). Most instrumental teachers consider theory classes separately.
-   Regular videos of the student’s performance.

At the same time, you are not paying for the following:

-   Music scores, which you normally with other teachers you have to purchase.
-   Theoretical materials (my guides and articles), which other teachers usually recommend you to buy.
-   CDs with the music the student is learning, which you would have to purchase.

Finally consider the long term investment. Because I pursue the bizarre idea that in the beginning students should have daily lessons,

(see here for a description of my way of teaching:
https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2260.msg19270.html#msg19270)

instead of paying for 11 years of lessons resulting in someone who usually cannot play anything, we are talking about a competent pianist who can pursue his/her interests independently after 3 years (this is average and ultimately depends on the student. I had students gaining independence in 2 years – they were special. I had students gaining independence in five years. They were slow. And I had students that I had to let go after 6 months – to everyone’s merriment. So even if things work really badly, you can cut your losses after 6 months instead of after 11 years).

Hey! I need to raise my fees!

Also keep in mind that teaching is one of the most stressful professions around. Don’t you think that it is in your best interests to afford teachers an opportunity to unwind? Do you think they can unwind knowing that while you are getting a suntan in the Bahamas s/he is wondering how s/he is going to eat the month you are not paying?

Interestingly enough, most teachers I know use their holidays to work on the many hidden aspects of their profession. More often than not they use the holidays to catch up with class preparation, to attend courses and seminars that will keep them up to date and able to teach better, to practise and to study. So, you maybe on holidays, but the teacher is still working.

Hence, my students pay every month of the year, there are no cancellations, or discounts. On the plus side, no one has to have lessons with me.  But remember that you always get what you pay for.

One more question,  is it touchy to ask the teacher about their average student's exam grades?  Not that I have great expectation on my kids, but one of the teacher we had would never send any student to exam if she thinks the result will be under 80%.  Her student's grade averages were over 80%.  During my eldest daughters junior years, she'd told her to forget about exam and just play it for fun.  In the end, she reluctantly agreed to let her go with my insistance.  Anyway, the result was over 80% and we got a new teacher after that.

You can and should ask anything that may seem important to you. If a particular teacher will feel offended is out of your control. In any case, a teacher’s reaction to your questions should in itself be a good indicator if this teacher is appropriate for you or not. (Your questions will also signal to the teacher if you are someone they want to teach)

You could also get in touch with some of his students/parents of his students and ask them their opinion.  I have never advertised. All my students came to me through word of mouth of satisfied parents.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[lagin]

Where do you and your kids live?  I'm doing the RCM thing too, and if you lived where I do, I could hook you up with some amazing teachers.   I live in B.C. Okanagan Valley.  Alright, I know Canada is a really big country, buy hey, it could happen!