Educated Music Educators
I may have an axe to grind, but hey, it’s my blog. This blog post is about educated music educators and the need for more. What makes an educated music educator? I believe a number of elements mix into the completion of this rare person.
Education: it goes without saying that a music teacher should have a degree in music from an accredited music school or be actively pursuing that degree. This means that the teacher can read music, arrange, transcribe, compose a bit, play by ear, all you would expect and in various styles – not only classical.
Experience: music is a performance art. You cannot teach someone to perform without first having performance experience yourself.
Proficiency: a music educator needs to perform frequently and be able to showcase his/her talent for the public and his/her studio.
There are many misconceptions about music teachers. I shall list a few things that are said that are ridiculous…
“I only teach beginners.” – A way for a non-educated music teacher to justify teaching for money. A nurse does not “only operate on children”. Hmm…
“I play the organ at church.” – Not a qualification for anything except playing the organ at that church.
“I used to play the piano when I was little.” – Lots of people did. I used to play baseball when I was little. I don’t coach a team for money today.
“I only charge a couple of dollars for my lessons because I’m not a teacher.” – So why are you teaching? Watch out for people trying to make a quick buck.
“My mother used to teach piano and I watched her for years.” – My father was an astronaut. NASA won’t accept that as license for me to fly to Mars.
“I only teach my own children.” – I’m not sure how to feel about this one. Some parents home school their children, so I suppose music could fit into that equation. Maybe. Kinda? Probably not.
I have taught piano professionally for over twenty years. I do not labor under the elitist delusion that my degree in piano education makes me better than anybody else. It does not. What it does give me is the legitimate right and the knowledge to teach piano professionally and give others a quality music education. The techniques teachers learn at universities about teaching and performing are extremely valuable and cannot be learned otherwise.
Over the years of my teaching I have had many students transfer from other studios, and very often I have been shocked to see that the student knows very little about their instrument or music in general. Many times it is the fault of the student and his family for not practicing and taking lessons seriously enough. Sometimes students’ problems arise from having lessons with someone who is not qualified. A mother told me once, “I cannot believe how much money we spent with INSERT NAME and my son has learned nothing.” Upon investigation it was true: the teacher had totally misguided this one child I have in mind. That’s a sad story, and it leaves a shadow over music education on whole.
When looking for a music teacher look for education, experience, and proficiency. Don’t be embarrassed to ask the teacher to play for you. If he acts offended…leave. If he can’t play well…leave. If he seems nervous or unwilling…leave. The old adage “You get what you pay for,” does not necessarily apply in this area of life. I’ve known teachers with no experience or education tell me that they teach for some inflated price, twice the area average, because they don’t want to teach a lot anyway, and if they only get a few it’s less work for some extra spending money. Expensive does not mean good.
Finding a good teacher is difficult. Do your homework.
