How does one find a piano teacher?

[stclair]

Dd (7) is keen to start learning the piano but I have no idea where to start to look for one (London). Ideas please if you would be so kind.

Try your nearest music shop - they often keep lists of teachers for various instruments.

Musicteachers.co.uk is also good as you can look for teachers by location

School? My younger children all have piano lessons at school. My older daughter goes to the same teacher but privately.

I actually googled "piano teacher in..." my location and managed to come across a few websites. I picked one that I liked what it said (qualifications, experience, location) and contacted the teacher. We've been really lucky, we found an amazing teacher, I am not the only one saying it, a friend moved her DD to her ado after another two teachers and loves her method, and have been with her for over three years now.

But initially I thought we'd give it a try, before starting I've done my research and knew what I wanted. (Teacher who has pupils that take exams but is not exam driven was my main expectation).

Personal recommendations from school music teachers are useful. If your own school cannot suggest any teachers contact another school with a strong reputation for music and email their head of music - they should be only too happy to offer a recommendation - and their own piano teachers might even offer tuition. And never be afraid to change teacher if it isn't working out. You might even contact the Royal Academy of Music for some advice - their Junior Academy people will surely be able to recommend teachers or, at least, point you in the right direction.

Thank you so much, some really helpful ideas here.

Try asking on your local Streetlife forum or search gumtree?

I also did what fleur did 6 years ago, and struck gold. Didn't have the first clue about piano.The challenge with asking the school mums at the time who they used was as if I was asking for some magic, secret tutor - details only shared with those in the inner circle as if it were some private members club. Even with the school, all paths led to this one local piano teacher who was very particular with who she taught, only acoustic full size piano will do type demands. London at its very worst.

Interestingly, 3 years down the line, these parents were all trying to source a new piano teacher (like ours) due to lack of results/progress/motivation by their children by Y6. By that stage, ours had grown in experience and reputation and was fully booked.

Long, round about way of saying, don't be scared to try out an unknown teacher that hasn't necessarily come by referral. As previous posters have said, you can always change if things don't gel. Finding a teacher at the early stage who knows how to connect with your child to keep them motivated to progress, is key.

We found ours by word of mouth and it turned out terribly. I later found out the person who recommended her took her DD out of lessons shortly afterwards. I wish she'd given us a heads up when she did so.

It is worth asking the teacher how they measure progress and what sort of progress they expect to see. I should have realized there was something wrong with ours when she had a recital for all her students and even the ones who were teens and had been learning for years were still at a grade 2 or 3 level. She was a great pianist, but spent most of the lessons playing at the students, rather than listening to their playing and helping them improve. Each time a music book was completed we got a new one, and it would be pretty much the same level as the old.

If you don't want to take exams, that is fine, but make sure you have some measure of progress in place.

If it isn't working out, don't be worried about giving notice. The teacher is in business and is used to pupils coming and going.

London - fantastic! Zillions of options. How about approaching a student at one of the conservatoires (RCM, RAM, Guildhall, Trinity Laban) and seeing if a student would like the idea? For a 7 year old, this could be a great start and if your DD turns out to be really good, they will be able to point you in the direction of a more experienced teacher.

There is Russian Music School in London or smth like that, would you consider this? They say school is good though I don't know anyone from there.
I would personally look for a professional musician teacher, that is teacher who is also professionally playing (now or in the past) rather than only teaching (I am not saying it is a universal advice but definitely for certain instruments, piano one of them). Talking from experience here.
I would also ask some specific questions like at what stage they introduce scales (the earlier the better), do they do studies, how and when they start teaching sight reading (some use special books, some make students to play various pieces as much as possible), what do they think about exams and how long does it take on average to move between grades (this is not necessarily for exams sake but to make sure that teacher gives other staff rather than only exam pieces which some teachers do) , what students are playing between grades (should be different from exam pieces) and how long it takes to prepare for an exam (I would expect 3-6 months depending on level and ability), do they teach music theory (some don't)?

Several idea:
Private school website music teacher list.
ABRSM HLR, can be found from ABRSM website.
Good teachers are usually not on music teachers website, because simply they don't need to.
Local festival organizer.
Rotary musician competition organizer, could be found from local rotary club website.

Oh thank you all, you've been so helpful. I am speaking to a local teacher tonight so have written down a list of things to ask from your suggestions! But I think that's a great idea going down the student route, so I will try that too.