by Nathan Andersen
“You’re a lazy little girl. A naughty little girl!” The tales of evil music teachers who scare children away from music are legendary. You don’t want your child to deal with a sadist, and you’d like them to learn to love music. Well, how do find a music teacher that will inspire? That will create such an excitement about music that your child (or yourself!) will want to practice?
Often the answer lies in the local music schools where brilliant and passionate musicians are busy studying and not thinking particularly of what pleasure they can extract from torturing small children with musical brainwashing.
A great piano teacher should be passionate and engaged in the love of music, not just the business of music. You could put a poster up at a local music school looking for a piano teacher, or if they’re aren’t music schools in your area, you could check on the internet.
One great resource for unspoiled music teachers is Craigslist.org. If you are unfamiliar with Craigslist, it’s the 17th most popular website in the United States. Its musicians section has many listings of music teachers and musicians looking for work.
You can probably save yourself some money and find a teacher who is really passionate about what they do.
This isn’t to say that every piano teacher in your area is going to be terrible. There are many fine teachers out there who do not torture children. But the key here is research! As a voice teacher and occasional piano teacher myself, I am amazed sometimes when parents come in with their children, and don’t seem to be worried about references, credentials or a background check. It’s always a good idea to get references, and then if you are still a little worried, possibly hire someone to do a background check. One of the top ten professions for child molesters is a music teacher!!!
There are many free resources on the web, or various things that you can bring home that will start to bring an excitement about the piano home for your child.
If you plan a soft-sell propaganda campaign, you can butter up your child for the eventual announcement that they will be getting piano lessons.
You might consider investing in a great piano at first, such as a grand piano. Then forbid the child to touch it. Studies have shown that children often develop a STRONGER affinity for things their parents forbid. Then you could find videos of artists such as Alecia Keys or Stevie Wonder playing the piano, and make sure that they are watched in the house, you could even tell the child that they shouldn’t watch it because they aren’t ready for piano yet.
Anyway, once you do make the decision to find piano teacher, make sure that you shop around. The very first meeting can permanently turn a child off to the idea of piano by making it un-cool.
If you’ve had bad experiences with previous teachers, take a break from
lessons for a while, and re-establish your propaganda campaign. Maybe buy the
your child some other musical toy, such as a keyboard with or synthesizer or
a great electronic drum kit. This will allow them to begin to discover music
on their own.
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