Help please - any teachers of piano out there??

[notsogoldenoldie]

I need to get back to work, need to be flexible and i am thinking of becoming a piano teacher. i have been in touch with the Associated Board and it seems to be reasonably simple - too simple maybe!! - are there any piano teachers out there who could offer some advice? I've got some ancient diplomas (Grade 6 practical; Grade 7 theory) and I'm a qualified teacher and CRB'd. I'm a reasonable pianist still - a bit rusty - but nothing much else. I also studied music for a year at University. Any thoughts??

Grade 6 practical is not a diploma. A diploma to teach a musical instrument is a post grade eight qualification.

I would imagine with a bit of practise you could take on beginners perhaps teach to about grade three or four.

Not sure how much you would be able to charge but I would not expect to pay top rates for a piano teacher who only had grade VI.

The ABRSM run all sorts of professional development courses - it might be worth looking into some of those first. You could also consider having some lessons yourself - it's always a good idea to have feedback from another professional, and it will make you a better teacher - can often throw up good points of discussion about teaching issues, and makes you think about technique issues in a specific way, plus they can often help out with repertoire choices, which books to use in teaching and so on (there are numerous possibilties, which can become a bit daunting).

(At the risk of stating the obvious, although there is flexibility in being self employed, teaching privately is, for the majority of the time, an out of school hours job, which doesn't always fit in with being a parent.)

Thanks all. I'm already taking lessons (Jazz) as I haven't had any since the age of 15. I'm not thinking of charging as much as a better-qualified teacher, and I'm also glad that there are possibilities for professional development. Need to swot up, though!!