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guitarnan
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Location: Maryland
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| Posted: Aug 03 2006 at 12:47pm | IP Logged
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My daughter is 8. She can learn a simple piano piece if someone shows her how to play it a few times. I've taught her how to read the notes around middle C position and what sharps and flats are. We've now exhausted my piano knowledge.
My kids' karate instructor is also a piano teacher, and I could work out an arrangement where he could come by the house and teach here.
I really don't know how to choose a piano teacher. One of my friends in Virginia Beach teaches, and she told me long ago that she prefers students to be 8 when they start (I don't think we have any future Mozarts here, so that's fine), so they have a better attention span. That's all that I know about piano lessons!
Any suggestions are welcome, including lesson length, frequency (I assume it's usually once a week), etc.
I did buy a beginning piano book of Catholic hymns, so now my daughter is plunking out "Immaculate Mary" and "Come Holy Ghost" instead of "Jingle Bells." Vast improvement!!!
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: Aug 03 2006 at 4:45pm | IP Logged
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Nancy,
I was also told by a piano teacher that she prefers the child to be reading before starting lessons otherwise they can get very confused.
I just discovered a music class in the neighboring town which we're going to try out for a 12-week session. The lessons taught there are Musikgarten and no age is considered too young.
(I'm opening a new thread on this because I've been wanting to see if anyone is familiar with it.)
Like you, I've let my 8 yr old play the piano and get comfortable with it. I had a friend who teaches lessons give her some lessons before Hurriane Rita hit and we never got back on track after that, but she loved it and has been begging to go back.
One thing I hear over and over from hs friends is that the piano teacher can make or break the child. You might have to experiment with a few teachers to find the right fit. But, if your child starts showing a distaste for her weekly lessons, it's probably time to find someone else. One friend told me her three boys LOVE to go to piano lessons with their new teacher. The teacher they had before, they would cry when it was time to go. So the teacher and his/her interaction with the studnet is probably the biggest factor of all.
I spoke to a friend yesterday whose dd didn't like her teacher because he talked about theory the whole time and she just wanted to play. Of course, while theory is important, this child learned to play beautifully on the piano from a teacher who taught both but didn't talk theory the whole time. They've since moved to Texas and had to find a new teacher. They're still looking... 
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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Dawnie
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Nancy,
I took piano lessons for about 8 years and I have taught piano lessons.
When I was a teacher and a student, my lessons were about 30 minutes long, once a week.
I also think it's important that parents be involved by encouraging the child to practice and by coming to lessons.
There are a lot of different ways to teach children to play piano--different teachers use different methods, and it seems that they all work fine. You might call a few teachers, ask about their fees, and whatever other questions you may have and then set up an interview with the ones who you are interested in. See which teacher "meshes" best with you daughter and go from there!
HTH!
Dawn
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Visit my blog!Water Into Wine:Vino Per Tutto!
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ALmom
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| Posted: Aug 04 2006 at 2:14am | IP Logged
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Ditto what Dawn said. Teachers and how they mesh with your child is probably the most important factor of all. If you interview the teacher, be sure to bring the child so that you can see this interaction first hand.
I'd also ask around - find out from different people in your area about what they like and/or dislike about their teacher. I've had great teacher's that meshed well with my child, but were disorganized and while it was fine for one child (an older, self-driving child with lots of drive), it would have driven me nuts with my younger children. You'd want to know this ahead of time, too. I knew this about the teacher before we started with her. Some have very set ideas of lesson books and would not incorporate what your child is trying to have fun with at home and some would. Some are highly involved in competition and some aren't. Decide if it is important to you that the teacher is part of a music teacher's association - this means some minimum standards but there are good teacher's that are not a part, too. You just may not have as many opportunities to do some things and it is a bit more hit or miss. Good teacher's will be very up front with you about all this. When you have lots of information about teacher's in your area, then you can pick about 3 to interview and let them know you are looking for a piano teacher, and would like to talk with them, see their studio and maybe have a short lesson before deciding.
Janet
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4Real Forums : The Arts in the Everyday
Topic: Choosing a piano teacher
