Which piano teacher to go for?

[emy72]

Hi there,

my DD1 is really passionate about learning the piano, she is 6 in Dec and we have had taster sessions with 2 teachers, very very different. I wanted some advise as to which one would you go for? (My DD likes both!)

Teacher 1: won't come to the house, it's a 15/20 mins drive each way. He is very very experienced, he was Director of Music in a top public school for many years (not sure why he left though, a few years ago now), he has worked with top musicians all over the world and won many awards. Very ispirational character but a bid on the eccentric side, you would need to get used to that.

Teacher 2: Postgrad, youngish girl, will come to the house, very nice but obviously quite green in comparison to the other teacher. Has taught/teaches many other young children.

Any advice/ideas on questions to ask maybe in making my mind up?

For a 6yo, I'd probably go with the convenience of having the young one coming to the house. If your dd progresses rapidly, still loves it, etc, then you can always change teachers in 2 or 3 years. Teacher 1 sounds good for a more advanced pupil, and teacher 2 might be limited in that regard, but that won't matter for ages yet.

thanks AmuminScotland, I am veering towards getting the young teacher to come to the house this year, for convenience mainly (plus she is a bit less intense iyswim).

I was wondering whether it mattered and it sounds from your experience that it won't for a long while yet - tbh I don't even know whether she'll take to it yet and I am not going to push her into it if she turns out not to be too keen!

I completely agree with Amum. I would go for the younger less experienced person - convenience is a big factor, especially when your child is so young. \you can always change teachers in the future.

True cat64!

Also, I have 4 children, so that means that when I take my DD1 anywhere, then DH has to be around to look after the others, making it a lot harder to manage when one of us is away on business etc

It would be great for your DD to be taught on your own equipment, it builds up confidence and she is more likely to have a dabble.

Quite often, pianos and keyboards have very different feels, and my DC found that the pressure was very different between the tutor and the home keyboard and it caused no end of aggro.

She would be perfect at home, but when applying the same pressure at the tutor, she got it wrong because of the feel of the keys.

Young, new, more enthusiastic and may offer variety. Its really important that they feel music is fun.
Older, rigid, formal, will be focussing on keys, chords, practice practice practice, and at 6 can be offputting.

My DC has a musical talent, but the tutor pushed and pushed because she had the ability and turned her right off because she ended up with so much homework each week it needed an hour a day just to learn it all. The end result is she wont go near the keyboard.

So watch, observe, and see how your DD interacts and how she reacts after the lessons and through the week when practicing.

It might be you chop and change a few times until you find the one that suits your child.

Also, its who you feel comfortable with! Makes a huge difference.

Another consideration, the professional will still charge if you cancel (sickness), what is the other tutor's cancellation policy. WIll she reschedule or you just lose out.