My 14-year-old son has had one piano teacher since he began lessons five years ago. He thinks it’s time for a change, and I agree.
I think it’s important to find a teacher he “clicks” with so he’s not only growing as a musician but feels motivated to continue his lessons. (He’s not on a path to pursue music as a career, but I know from my own experience that you have to achieve a certain skill level to make it enjoyable to play piano as an avocation.)
Any suggestions about going about this – questions to ask, for example? Is it common to ask for an initial meeting with a teacher before committing to lessons?
I’m being “auditioned” as a voice teacher by a 12 year old girl in a couple of weeks. No problem with shopping around to find somebody you like.
My suggestion would be to actually take a lesson with a few teachers and see who he likes. Not all teachers would be amenable to this, but you don’t have to go to them. Whenever somebody’s asked me, I’ve thought “why not?”. It’s no more pleasant for the teacher to teach a student they don’t click with than it is for the student.
My thought: You could ask about their training, and their own music preferences. If your son wants to learn jazz piano, for instance, he may not want a classicist at this point.
My own experience was actually a woman with classical training, recently moved to the US from Hong Kong. She had little to no exposure to American Song Book (Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, etc) which I love, so we compromised: one classical piece that she chose, one modern piece that I chose. Worked out great.
You also sort of want to be alert to age/gender. I know, it’s politically incorrect, but you want someone that your 14-year-old boy will LIKE studying with. Some such boys would love a grandmotherly teacher; others might want a more youthful male. Matter of taste, but still important.
Different teachers have different philosophies & approaches to the piano, and some students respond to one much better than to another.
There is a too-well-represented presence among piano teachers of the “piano keyboard as typewriter” school of thought. Practice practice practice. Plop down sheet music and reproduce the notes correctly in the order they are written. Do lots of scales and exercises. Get really good at converting sheet music into finger movements and you’ll grow up to be a player piano.
(wait, wasn’t that supposed to have been ‘piano player’ ?)
Because they are over-represented I tend to look for some evidence of teaching skills in other areas. Can you teach picking out something that you’ve heard? Ear training (recognizing a complex chord when you hear it, recognizing the change from one key to another when you hear it)? Do you teach your students how to improvise? Do you teach your students how to compose formally? How about tonality, phrasing, dynamics? The skilled use of the pedal to create this sound, tricks of changing the velocity of the attack after the hammer is in motion?
I’ve done lessons before in my spare time. It’s fine with me for people to shop around. I’d be less inclined if you’ve never had a lesson before, but someone who has should have a good idea of what they want and need.
Someone who hasn’t might expect a teacher that, while likable, would be turn out to be ineffective. Don’t just assume that anyone who can play can teach.