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Kid's Piano Teachers Need Personality
Kid's piano teachers need personality to improve the chances of the child surviving the lessons. A boring pedant is exactly the personality to avoid. Who else makes a poor candidate for a children's piano teacher?
Surely not everyone is suited to be a child's piano teacher. Apologies to the teachers who are the obvious exceptions to these "rules."
Piano Is Easy
Some Piano Teachers Are Inexperienced
1. THE TOO YOUNG I've seen countless high school kids and early college students start piano teaching businesses, and they all have one goal: income. All teachers need income, but new piano teachers are bound to make mistakes of all kinds. They will make these mistakes on your children.
The biggest crime is thinking that going page to page in a piano book constitutes a piano lesson. In fact, the piano book is the least important element in a piano lesson.
Some Piano Teachers Are Burned Out
2. THE TOO EXPERIENCED Old or young, if piano teaching does not amuse and entertain you still, you are not qualified to inhabit a room with eager six year olds. It is easy to get into a rut as a piano teacher, especially if you teach the same thing to each student.
Big Teaching Companies
3. THE BUSINESS I've worked for big companies that teach in a group. I can safely say that you, the student, are the least important part of the process. In general, they are like hotels, they just want occupancy. Piano teaching should be personal and big companies just do not provide that, either in quality of teaching or commitment to the student.
You Have To Be An Extrovert
4. THE WEIRD, THE DULL, THE INTROVERT Sorry to lump these together, but the moment you enter the lesson room you had better light it up with your engaging personality. A piano teacher must find a way of constantly correcting a student, for years, without breaking their spirits or destroying their will to play.
Manners and humor matter just as much as your musical pedigree. A course in child psychology wouldn't hurt, either. Even a Juilliard trained teacher can easily bore your child at the piano if they have no horse-sense, and no experience dealing with everyday children. Personality, not pedigree. Kids could care less where and how you learned the game. It's their turn now.
REFERENCES
Piano Teaching
Using Piano in the K-12 School Classroom
So You Want To Be A Piano Teacher?
The Art of Teaching Children’s Piano
Piano Starting Methods
Starting A New Child Piano Student
Even A Good Piano Teacher Has A Bad Day
What Sort Of Piano Teacher Are You?
Carrot and Donkey: Find The Interest In The Piano
What’s The Point of Piano Lessons?
Patient Piano Teachers, Pro and Con
How To Find A Good Piano Teacher
Teaching Children’s Piano
Piano Lesson Minute By Minute
A Short History of Piano Methods
Piano Fun for the Teacher, Fun for the Kids
