Piano Lessons
How important is it to find a good piano teacher?
It's very important to find a good piano teacher because it's really part of your experience with the teacher and their approach to teaching you the piano, that determines how much you're going to enjoy the piano. It's also important for parents who're getting their children involved with music. You usually have one shot at getting them to like something, and if they don't like it you're going to miss the opportunity and they're going to hate you later because you didn't get them to stick with the piano in their teens or their twenties. So, finding a good teacher and getting the kids to the point where they enjoy working with the teacher or you yourself working with your teacher are going to be instrumental in enjoying your piano and getting the most out of it.
What are important characteristics in a good piano teacher?
The important characteristics in finding a good piano teacher are going to be, first of all, knowing where to find one. Piano stores or music stores in general are a good source for finding a good teacher because they're going to have met a lot of teachers and have learned their credentials either by past experiences with their students or by the teachers themselves coming in and introducing themselves. Another good source is to contact your local University and to talk to some of the people there who teach piano and see if they're willing to teach on the side, and talk to some of students who have taken lessons from them.
What can I expect to learn from taking piano lessons?
You can learn either classical, song, tune or whatever you want by taking piano lessons. There are a lot of teachers available who can teach you any or all of these. The thing that you have to do is set some realistic goals such as what kind of music you want to learn and how fast you want to learn. If there is a particular piece that you want to learn, convey it to the teacher who is teaching you.
How important is practicing the piano?
Practicing the piano is pretty much almost everything in learning how to play the piano. A teacher's going to give you a road map of what to play and how to play it, but it's up to you to execute that lesson plan and to practice. Because otherwise, you're not going to learn anything by just going to the lessons and then going home and not practicing anything.
Is parental involvement important when kids are learning to play the piano?
Parental involvement is extremely important in a child's growth in learning how to play the piano because a parent can provide many things. A parent can provide inspiration. A parent can provide new directions and what kind of music to listen to. Parents, in general, are very responsible for what kind of music children get into in the first place. If a parent is present at the lessons or, at least, present during practice time in helping with the practice either by correcting mistakes or being involved in the student's practice time, that's going to be a big morale boost for the student and how much they practice and how much they enjoy it.