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Finding a Piano Teacher
Finding a piano teacher is relatively easy. One way is to inquire into music
teacher organizations. There are numerous national organizations that advance
the cause of teaching the piano.
The National Piano Foundation educates the public about the benefits of owning and learning the piano. The
Music Teachers
National Association promotes the benefits of music study.
There are also numerous local Music Teachers Associations'. To name a few -
Madison Area Piano Teachers Assoc, Inc. ,
Beaver Creek Piano Teachers, MTAC
or Music Teachers Association California,
Pittsburgh Piano Teachers,
Raleigh Piano Teachers and there are many, many more.
Local piano
dealers also work hand in hand with and support many local piano
teachers. They support them by allowing them to use their facilities
for recitals, seminars and student concerts. In turn, the teachers send
their students to their store to buy their pianos.
What kind of teaching method works the best?
There are many
more teaching methods and approaches than in the old days where the
conventional approach was THE WAY to learn how to play the piano. It is
pointless to say that one approach is better than another is, though
there are surely opinions amongst teachers and students who have either
taught or learned from differing methods.
The emphasis
with the conventional method is to learn how to read music immediately
as a beginner and develop your overall skills as you go along. The
Suzuki method is another prominent approach towards teaching very young
children to learn initially by ear without immediately reading written
music.
How to avoid the piano lesson failure trap
Many attempt
to learn how to play the piano and end up frustrated in the process. A
classic story is how your parents forced you to take piano lessons when
you were a kid. Didn't like the teacher or the gig and bolted, never to
play a note again. Years later, you regret you decision, but now
it’s too late. The sad truth is how this story is so common; it
is almost a cliché on the "failure" and "plight" of attempting
to learn to play the piano.
One of the
fundamental errors that some parents make when enlisting their children
for piano lessons is the lopsided emphasis on "learning to play" Such
parents often don't understand their role in helping their child
succeed. It is essential to get your child, early on at home, to listen
to good music as much as possible. It is easy enough to do by simply
substituting music for the television, computer, or video games. You
routinely turn on the music, when possible, and have it playing in the
background, so that your child becomes used to hearing it without
thinking about it.
Since music is
in many ways very similar to language, eventually, your child will be
hearing and thinking the music even when it is not playing. This
process of mentally hearing and comprehending music, even when no
physical sound is present is called audiation. The brain gives meaning
to musical sounds through a cognitive process. In essence, audiation of
music is analogous to thinking in a language. What is so good about
this? Listening to good music and learning a musical instrument such as
the piano can deepen your child’s thinking capabilities.
What is good music?
What is good
music? There are scientific studies on how listening to Mozart raises
the listeners IQ. What is most important is to listen to music that has
a clear melody, harmony, and counterpoint versus "music" that is noise
(like heavy metal.) As a parent, the more you can get your child to
hear and listen to good quality music, the more likely your child will
have a viable basis in learning the piano or any instrument for that
matter.
How do you know your teacher is right for you or your child?
It might sound
silly to say but if your child is interested, motivated and learning
how to play, the teacher must be doing somewhat of a good job. If the
opposite is true, you might want to consider looking for another
teacher after you have eliminated other possibilities or issues.
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