How To Select A Private Music Instructor.
"Whether you are considering taking lessons with me or thinking about studying the piano or some other instrument with another teacher, trying to find a competent yet reasonable instructor can seem like a daunting task. Particularly in a major metropolitan area like Los Angeles, there are a lot of teachers to choose from, many of them quite well qualified ,who all seem to be offering the same service. The following offers a few guidelines to think about and addresses many of the questions I am most frequently asked by potential students:
1) Is this person a professional? The word "professional" has many connotations in
the entertainment industry, but I will use it here to describe someone who has derived a full time living for a significant period of time by performing, recording, composing and/or teaching music. Music teachers can be students with fairly limited experience, or are sometimes people who obtained some college music training but now do something else while teaching a bit on the side. If the teacher is a professional, how long have they
been doing it? Have they earned a college degree in music and if so, from where?
Are they currently performing actively somewhere where you can hear them or do they have recorded examples of their playing available for you to listen to?
2) Is the teacher well versed in a variety of musical styles and, if so, are these the styles
you are most interested in learning? Or do they tend to teach all of their students pretty
much the same thing? Do they have ability to tailor your lessons to your individual
tastes and interests?
3) How much time does they teacher expect their students to practice each day? Does this seem realistic to you?
4) Does the teacher have knowledge about current music technology if this is something
that is of interest to you?
5) Does the teacher seem to have a personality that is compatible with yours? Do they
seem patient?
6) Their price. Obviously everyone wants to get the best possible value for their money but it is important to remember that if you select a teacher based solely on their low price who ends up not being able to teach you a whole lot, then any money that you had invested in the lessons will have been wasted..
DG"
1) Is this person a professional? The word "professional" has many connotations in
the entertainment industry, but I will use it here to describe someone who has derived a full time living for a significant period of time by performing, recording, composing and/or teaching music. Music teachers can be students with fairly limited experience, or are sometimes people who obtained some college music training but now do something else while teaching a bit on the side. If the teacher is a professional, how long have they
been doing it? Have they earned a college degree in music and if so, from where?
Are they currently performing actively somewhere where you can hear them or do they have recorded examples of their playing available for you to listen to?
2) Is the teacher well versed in a variety of musical styles and, if so, are these the styles
you are most interested in learning? Or do they tend to teach all of their students pretty
much the same thing? Do they have ability to tailor your lessons to your individual
tastes and interests?
3) How much time does they teacher expect their students to practice each day? Does this seem realistic to you?
4) Does the teacher have knowledge about current music technology if this is something
that is of interest to you?
5) Does the teacher seem to have a personality that is compatible with yours? Do they
seem patient?
6) Their price. Obviously everyone wants to get the best possible value for their money but it is important to remember that if you select a teacher based solely on their low price who ends up not being able to teach you a whole lot, then any money that you had invested in the lessons will have been wasted..
DG"