What Makes a Great Piano Teacher?

​What makes a great piano teacher? What a great question!
Let’s think about that….what makes a great friend, or partner, or boss...or anything? 

If you remember our blog titled, “5 Questions to Ask Your Online Piano Teacher”, (read again here) we already talked about the most important things to consider when looking for a good piano teacher.

• Educational Background
• References
• Quality of the lessons they offer
• Payment policies
• Support 

So, we already know what kinds of things to look for in a teacher...but does that really answer, “what makes a great piano teacher”? Not quite…

Great, is better than good. Webster uses these phrases to define - great:

• remarkable in magnitude, degree, or effectiveness
• full of emotion
• markedly superior in character or quality
• remarkably skilled
• marked by enthusiasm
• an outstandingly superior or skillful person
• much beyond the ordinary
• very talented or successful

In looking for greatness, we are seeking something higher, something deeper, and something more meaningful, than we’ve had before. Greatness, expands our boundaries. 

Think back to teachers you’ve had before in school. Who was your all time favorite teacher..the one who had such an impact on you that even right now, you are saying, “that was a great teacher”...? 

What was it about that teacher, that makes you able to say those words now, no matter how long it has been since you’ve seen that teacher? 

Only you can answer that. ←-and that is one of the  biggest considerations in finding a great teacher. 

You see, we can pretty easily describe what a great piano teacher looks like. Take all of the items that make up a good piano teacher, and amplify them, to make them great. It looks a bit like this. 

Great Piano Teachers:

• apply their educational and professional knowledge in a personal way for you and your level of playing.
• have a knack for shedding light on your weaknesses and showing you how to turn them into strengths
• connect with you as an individual
• care about your ‘whole being’, and not just your piano skills
• inspire you
• challenge you
• teach you how to learn about life through your music
• teach you how to think and problem solve on your own
• don’t accept less than your best

Great piano teachers are able to take all the good things, and multiply them on every level, so you end up growing not just as a pianist, but as a human being. 

Go back now, and think about that favorite teacher. You see, somehow, in some special way, they connected with you. They didn’t just impart information and then move on. There was an experience, a story, something...that created a connection that you will most likely remember the rest of your life. 

So finding a great teacher, is really...only part of the equation. The other part, is you. :)
You have to know yourself (an ongoing process) in order to find that great teacher. Here’s why.

We’re all completely and wonderfully unique! None of us learn the same ways, or think the same ways, or even process information in the same ways. Understanding the way you as an individual “see” life, and how you connect with the people in your life, will help you know who would be a great piano teacher...for you. 

There’s a great book, called “The 5 Love Languages” by Dr. Gary Chapman, that helps to explain this.  The general idea that he puts forth, is that there are basically 5 different types of “love language”: 

• words of affirmation
• acts of service
• receiving gifts
• quality time
• physical touch

He says that each one of us have a primary love language and that as we come to understand our main love language and the love language of those in our friends and family circles, we are able to have a greater exchange of love with each person. 

Once you start thinking about how you view life, and how you process your life a bit more, you can better define who would be a great teacher...for you. 

And...we want to hear what your ideas are about what makes a great piano teacher, and what your experiences have been!

Please join us for our next LiveStream Event where we will discuss this very topic! 

When:        Friday March 4th
                       8:00 pm EST
Where:       Right Here!

You can submit questions prior to the event that we will include in our discussion!

For more information, check out this video introduction to the event. 

Stay connected to LessonsOnTheWeb and learn much more!