Finding a music teacher for your
child is a task that is far more difficult than it might seem. Some people have
higher standards and spend more time searching for the right pair of jeans
than they do for the person teaching their child music. That is often because
they do not know what qualifies one as a good teacher. This post will give some
ideas to parents of what they might seek in a music teacher for their child.
These are just my thoughts based on some people whom I consider to be highly
qualified teachers and some horror stories of poor teachers that I have heard in
my several years of teaching.
My very first pedagogy professor
(who shall remain nameless for this post) said to our class that was one phrase
she hated to hear: “There’s a little old lady from church who gives piano
lessons.” She had dislike for this for a number of reasons. The first problem
was with the word “gives”-as music teachers, we aren’t “giving” anything. We
are selling our time and expertise. If someone is giving these things away, we
should really question the quality of the teacher. The second problem my
professor had with this phrase was the familiarity with the teacher in
question. Not that there is anything wrong with knowing your teacher prior to
beginning lessons. However, familiarity is not a good enough qualification to
seek out a teacher for lessons.
As someone with multiple degrees in
music, I don’t want to dig myself into a hole on this first point. However, a
college education is not necessarily a good enough qualification for a good
teacher. The pedagogy classes are very well structured, but as in so many areas
of life, a classroom cannot replace experience. I think training is very
important for a qualified teacher, but that training may not necessarily come
from a college education. There are several high quality certification
programs, including the MTNA’s NCTM program and the Royal Conservatory of Music
pedagogy diploma. Some teachers don’t have any of these things, but are
excellent because they had good training growing up and are naturally gifted
teachers. I tend to favor some form of degree/certification, but I can think of
at least one teacher in my immediate circle of colleagues who has none and is a
fantastic teacher.
The next thing I would recommend looking
at is professional affiliations. Teachers active in local chapters of MTNA,
regional NFMC festivals, or the Royal Conservatory of Music examinations tend
to provide their students with opportunities to perform and win awards. The
festivals hosted by these organizations provide give performance opportunity
beyond the studio recital, where students receive feedback from another
qualified individual. Teachers who are confident in their abilities should have
no problem providing their students with such opportunities.
Parents should also seek out
teachers who are active in music. The old adage is “those who can’t do teach.”
This is the worst possible philosophy for becoming a teacher. Teachers should
not only be capable of doing what they teach, they should be in the habit of
doing it on a regular basis. There are plenty of fantastic performers who
cannot teach, but there should never be a teacher who cannot perform. Depending
on natural ability and the amount of time available for practicing, teachers
may not have a heavy performance schedule. They may not play solo repertoire
exclusively or even often. They should be doing chamber music, collaborative
music, or church music to stay active as musicians.
More important than any of these
things is for the goals of the students, parents, and teachers to align. Where
expectations differ, the teacher should be trusted, within reason. The teacher
should not mind giving initial reasoning behind why they choose to do things a
certain way nor why they have the expectations they do. However, it can be very
tiresome for the teacher to have to continually justify his/her choices.
Assuming you have done the research as parents, and have decided to make a
commitment to a teacher, you must trust the teacher to do the job.
I will say again that lessons are a
long-term commitment. From searching for the proper teacher, to starting
lessons, there are times it might feel like pulling teeth. If you can stick to
it and make your child learn to stay with it, the long-term results will be
more than worth your investment of time and money. Music is with all of us from
birth to the grave. It is important to find a qualified teacher who pushes
their students to do their best.
