For that one hour a week, it’s just you and your music teacher. Music lessons can be a thrilling process of discovery—or they can be the hour we dread each week. Your relationship with your music teacher can make or break your musical experience. Here are some helpful tips for finding, and maintaining, a great chemistry with a private music teacher, to get the most out of your lessons and practice time.
Know what you’re looking for.
Before you search for a new private teacher, sit down and think about your musical goals, and any concerns you have about private lessons or your instrument. Is there a particular style of music that lights your fire? Then find a teacher who knows that style backwards and forwards. Have you had pain issues or tendonitis? Find a teacher who can offer you some solutions. (Some teachers are even certified in specialized methods to help with pain related to instrument practice, such as Alexander Technique or yoga therapy.) Stage fright or anxiety? Trouble with self-discipline and structure? Find someone who is willing to work with you on it.
Ask for an interview with your prospective teacher.
This is crucially important. I’ll even repeat myself: ask for an interview! You are hiring your teacher for services (often at quite a pricey hourly rate) and you have the right to ask him or her a few questions. It doesn’t have to be an hour-long Q&A, but it has to be long enough for you to get a basic impression. Five or ten minutes on the phone ought to do the trick.
During your interview, bring up some of your concerns, or goals. Be clear, and notice how your prospective teacher responds. After your conversation, check in with yourself. Did you “click” with this person? Did you communicate clearly and easily with each other? How did you feel when you hung up the phone? Inspired? Nervous? Most of all, did your prospective teacher show a willingness and ability to work with someone like you?
Go ahead and be picky. If you don’t find anyone you click with, even after a handful of these interviews, it’s okay to keep looking.
There are no stupid questions.
Once you’ve found a teacher you click with, he or she can’t help you unless you’re honest about what challenges you. If you’re confused about something, if you’re having a pain or posture issue, or if you just have a burning musical question, go ahead and ask. Asking questions helps your questions get answered, of course, but it’s also the bread-and-butter of a trustful and mutually active learning relationship.
