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How to find the best piano teacher for you
Modern life makes us continuously face choices where we need to make decisions about how to find the best of anything we want—the best school, the best house, the best car, etc. If we know about the subject we are looking into, this can be an easy and interesting process, but if we don’t, it can become a painful and confusing experience, leaving us stressed and lost.
In finding the best piano teacher, there are many ingredients that must be right. Sometimes the best piano teacher for one person could be a complete nightmare for another. Therefore, in choosing the right teacher for yourself, your child or someone else, it is important to use certain criteria that go beyond professional qualifications and/or a friendly personality.
Below is a simple “TO DO” list that I recommend going through when looking for a piano teacher:
Qualifications
Years of teaching experience
Main area of expertise
Level of professionalism
Personal compatibility
The extent of piano teaching
Location
Online piano tuition
Here is a little more information about each of these points:
Qualifications
It is good to have a teacher who studied at one of the major music schools or colleges. If you live in London (UK), these could include the Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, Guildhall School of Music & Drama and Trinity College of Music, to name a few. Why? Because studying at these establishments can be a good indication of a teacher’s musical training, although qualifications alone cannot guarantee a high standard of teaching or healthy teaching methods.
You can find out about a teacher’s qualifications by simply looking at the letters following their name and checking them online. Also, if you can access the teacher’s biography, the degrees and diplomas may be explained further.
Among the most established UK qualifications, here are a few examples of music degrees:
BMus, MMus, MPerf, MComp, MA, MPhil, PhD, MMP and DMus.
Diplomas include:
LRAM, PGDip, AdvDip, ARCM, DipRCM, ADCM, Artist Diploma, LGSM, AGSM, DipGSM, ATCL, LTCL, FTCL, PGA and PGD.
I have used examples from the main educational bodies: the Royal Academy of Music (www.ram.ac.uk), Royal College of Music (www.rcm.ac.uk) and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance (www.trinitylaban.ac.uk).
Years of teaching experience
This can be quite beneficial. Although there are many young teachers who can be very good and effective, the benefits of working with a more experienced teacher mean that, once a student starts facing difficulties—and believe me, this moment always appears in the tuition process—an experienced teacher may know more quickly how to guide a pupil through them, whereas a less experienced teacher may take longer to find a solution.
It is also good to get feedback from past and current students of the teacher in question and, if possible, find out about the teacher’s achievements—for example, how many students have won competitions, achieved high grades or participated in public performances.
Main area of expertise
The next point to check is the teacher’s main area of expertise.
Some teachers are strictly classical, some mainly teach jazz, and some teach several instruments. The last group would be one that I would approach with caution, to make sure that their level of expertise is high enough to teach each instrument.
It is also quite good to see if the teacher can play a little for you, as you may then know straight away whether you would like to learn from this person.
Level of professionalism
This is a quality that I personally value very much in any area of expertise. It is important that a teacher starts and finishes lessons on time and clearly explains the fee structure and the terms and conditions of the lessons.
It is also important that a teacher informs a student what needs to be brought to the lesson and what role they expect parents to play in their child’s education.
Personal compatibility
This is a very important consideration. It goes beyond just being friendly. The teacher’s energy and way of teaching piano should match the energy of each student.
For example, if the student is in a receptive mode, the teacher should provide plenty of knowledge and be in a “giving mode”. However, if the student is in a creative and active mood, the teacher should provide this knowledge through inspiration, encouraging the student to find an answer for themselves.
An experienced teacher should be able to match the energy and state of a student’s mind on each separate occasion. It is very important that the teacher and student have a harmonious and balanced energy exchange during the lesson.
The extent of piano teaching
This area often gets overlooked, as all we want at the beginning is piano lessons. However, as time passes, some students want more than just an hour’s piano lesson per week. They would like to know about performance opportunities, the best competitions, help with choosing piano repertoire, information on the best performers, concerts, etc.
If you know in advance that you might require some of the above information, it would be a good idea to ask the teacher whether they would be prepared to provide it. Some would be happy to, while others would not, sometimes simply because of a lack of time and/or knowledge.
Location
Of course, if you want to learn to play the piano, you should try to find the best teacher who fits all the points outlined above, and that teacher might not be in an area close to you.
However, it is important to consider the location. Particularly if you live in a big city where a one-way journey takes an hour or more, taking your child to lessons after school every week may tire them out.
In general, from my personal experience, students tend to have more regular lessons with teachers who are close to them, compared with less frequent, often longer lessons with teachers who live far away.
For more advanced adult players, this may not be a big problem, but if you are a beginner, you may want to have regular weekly lessons—and this is what I would recommend.
Online piano tuition
Over the last five years, the number of students I teach online has grown. Faster and better internet connections have made this possible.
Apart from the obvious benefit of not having to travel, I find that online lessons can become more precise and concentrated, as the camera allows you to focus on a specific angle of the hand and/or finger.
The drawback is the sound quality, which, of course, is not the same as hearing the piano in person. However, it can still be very good. For my students who live far away from London, online piano lessons provide a great solution that should not be overlooked when choosing the best method of studying to fit your lifestyle.
To help you further, I have devised a simple questionnaire, which I give to students who enquire about lessons and courses at Piano-Yoga® Studio. This helps them and us choose the best teacher and approach to piano tuition:
What is your name?
What is your age?
How would you describe your current piano-playing level?
What are your piano aspirations—for example, performing in public, taking graded exams or learning to memorise music?
How much time do you realistically have to practise?
Finding the right piano teacher is a personal journey, and I hope these points help you make a choice that feels right for you.
At Piano-Yoga® Studio, we offer one-to-one tuition, workshops and courses for different levels, from initial assessments to specialised courses. Feel free to browse our lessons and courses .
Some of these are listed below:
If you are unsure where to start, get in touch— we would be happy to help you find the best approach for you.
Remember, finding the right piano teacher is already 50% of your success on the piano!
With warm wishes,
GéNIA
Founder of Piano-Yoga® Studio
GéNIA is a concert pianist, composer and founder of Piano-Yoga®. Trained in her native Ukraine by Regina Horowitz, sister of pianist Vladimir Horowitz, she later won scholarships to the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. She has lived in London for most of her life, combining her performing and composing career with a passion for promoting wellbeing in piano playing. When not travelling, she teaches at her Piano-Yoga® Studio in London, alongside giving workshops and Piano-Yoga® masterclasses around the world. GéNIA is also a qualified BWY yoga teacer.
You can read more about GéNIA here.
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