New to teaching piano
October 20, 2015 9:16 AM Subscribe
Am I qualified to teach piano even though I never went to music school?
I have never taught piano before but my sister asked me to teach my 14 year old niece. I took lessons for about 5-6 years and played for over 10 years. I think I'm pretty advanced but with those levels I still need practice on a song before mastering it. I wasn't like my piano teacher when I could just sit down and read and play automatically.
I agreed to teaching her but I'm nervous. I am having her start off with books I learned from but at a more quicker pace, books like Alfred's Basic Piano Library Later Beginner
I can play this song below which gives an idea where I'm at.
http://youtu.be/eI30aPn6U8g
I have never taught piano before but my sister asked me to teach my 14 year old niece. I took lessons for about 5-6 years and played for over 10 years. I think I'm pretty advanced but with those levels I still need practice on a song before mastering it. I wasn't like my piano teacher when I could just sit down and read and play automatically.
I agreed to teaching her but I'm nervous. I am having her start off with books I learned from but at a more quicker pace, books like Alfred's Basic Piano Library Later Beginner
I can play this song below which gives an idea where I'm at.
http://youtu.be/eI30aPn6U8g
Response by poster: I'm not sure honestly. I just know rules, know how to read notes and symbols, and know how to play. I plan on just teaching her what I know which I think should last 1-2 years, depending on how her interest is in piano because she seems to be taking it because she just wants to learn and is bored doing nothing at home.
posted by Asian_Hunnie at 9:39 AM on October 20, 2015
posted by Asian_Hunnie at 9:39 AM on October 20, 2015
I think the details here are in your favor--helping a family member with whom you already have some rapport, working with a beginner old enough to know their own mind a bit, and having a pretty good idea of your own limits so that there will be some natural points at which you can say "Hey, I think you'd benefit from more formal instruction with someone who has more experience with music theory/body mechanics/some particular music style."
Two things I think are important that you don't mention: Do you have any experience with teaching in general? Do you want to do this? If the answer to both is yes, I think you'd be good for about a year and that your teaching experience would help to show you the end point. If the answer to either is no, I'd give your sister a provisional one-two month promise as a way of seeing if niece likes the piano.
(I'm a passable musician but an experienced small-group teacher; my dad is a music teacher, so I have a decent sense of where I'd fall down on that front.)
posted by tchemgrrl at 9:41 AM on October 20, 2015
Two things I think are important that you don't mention: Do you have any experience with teaching in general? Do you want to do this? If the answer to both is yes, I think you'd be good for about a year and that your teaching experience would help to show you the end point. If the answer to either is no, I'd give your sister a provisional one-two month promise as a way of seeing if niece likes the piano.
(I'm a passable musician but an experienced small-group teacher; my dad is a music teacher, so I have a decent sense of where I'd fall down on that front.)
posted by tchemgrrl at 9:41 AM on October 20, 2015
Response by poster: I mentioned above that I don't have experience teaching, I said I've never taught anyone. I would like to teach someone who wants to learn piano, just for some extra cash or for fun. Nothing like a professional or a concert pianist. I was just wondreing if anyone like me has been able to teach someone how to play an instrument pretty well without having attended some fancy music program or school.
posted by Asian_Hunnie at 9:46 AM on October 20, 2015
posted by Asian_Hunnie at 9:46 AM on October 20, 2015
The biggest concern I'd have is that you are going to teach her all your bad habits and things that a later teacher will have to undo. I'd also be skeptical of how your lack of theory will affect the student's understanding going forward.
I know you said you want to earn extra cash, but I don't think this is necessarily a situation where you should be taking money right off the bat.
posted by sardonyx at 9:59 AM on October 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
I know you said you want to earn extra cash, but I don't think this is necessarily a situation where you should be taking money right off the bat.
posted by sardonyx at 9:59 AM on October 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
It is quite impossible to answer this conclusively. I'm a professional performing keyboardist and I still need to practice a "song" before I can play it.
As to "knowing rules," it would be necessary to know what rules of what. Music is vast.
Then, as tchemgrrl implies, this is just as much about knowing how to play as it is about knowing, or (reading your last answer) getting to know how to teach music.
How confident are you that your approach to the keyboard is solid; that your own teacher was competent; that you remember enough from those 5-6 years of lessons? How confident are you about being able to teach your niece a good general technical approach to the keyboard? How much do you know about good and bad posture, relaxed and tense hand, arm and shoulder positions etc.? Any idea about the principles of fingering and what to avoid and why? What will you tell her about useful practising strategies? How does handedness play in when playing an ambidextrous instrument like the piano?
These questions are all non-trivial, if you want a student end up happy with playing music. Beginning-level playing may seem easy in hindsight, beginning-level teaching is one of the more difficult things to do well in this profession (and let's be frank, it is a profession with a lengthy tradition of solid methodological approaches). The most important thing to consider here is, as pointed out by sardonyx, habits,; how easy it is to pick up bad lines, and how difficult they are to unlearn. Are you up to observing your niece's habit forming closely enough to help her make the right choices?
All this has really nothing to do with fancy music programs or concert levels, it has to do with knowledge, and self-knowledge. What I'm addressing here is the idea that beginning-level music teaching is a task with actual responsibilities. Only you will be able to answer whether you're up to it.
posted by Namlit at 10:12 AM on October 20, 2015 [10 favorites]
As to "knowing rules," it would be necessary to know what rules of what. Music is vast.
Then, as tchemgrrl implies, this is just as much about knowing how to play as it is about knowing, or (reading your last answer) getting to know how to teach music.
How confident are you that your approach to the keyboard is solid; that your own teacher was competent; that you remember enough from those 5-6 years of lessons? How confident are you about being able to teach your niece a good general technical approach to the keyboard? How much do you know about good and bad posture, relaxed and tense hand, arm and shoulder positions etc.? Any idea about the principles of fingering and what to avoid and why? What will you tell her about useful practising strategies? How does handedness play in when playing an ambidextrous instrument like the piano?
These questions are all non-trivial, if you want a student end up happy with playing music. Beginning-level playing may seem easy in hindsight, beginning-level teaching is one of the more difficult things to do well in this profession (and let's be frank, it is a profession with a lengthy tradition of solid methodological approaches). The most important thing to consider here is, as pointed out by sardonyx, habits,; how easy it is to pick up bad lines, and how difficult they are to unlearn. Are you up to observing your niece's habit forming closely enough to help her make the right choices?
All this has really nothing to do with fancy music programs or concert levels, it has to do with knowledge, and self-knowledge. What I'm addressing here is the idea that beginning-level music teaching is a task with actual responsibilities. Only you will be able to answer whether you're up to it.
posted by Namlit at 10:12 AM on October 20, 2015 [10 favorites]
Before I'd have said that if you want to show your niece a thing or two to gauge her future interest then that's fine, but it's not something you could charge money for. However, you say you'd like to earn some money doing this. Professionals get paid to teach music, and that's not you.
posted by cmoj at 10:27 AM on October 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by cmoj at 10:27 AM on October 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
I teach clarinet and saxophone and don't have a music degree. I'm like you; an advanced "amateur" and have performed extensively.
My own rules of the road are/were:
- I would refer a student to someone I knew who was more advanced/had a PhD or at least a Masters if I thought the student was interested in majoring in music. Not because I felt I would be somehow teaching them wrong or damaging their technique, but because I lack experience in preparing for or getting through a degree program in a music school, which is a different set of problems than just playing the instrument.
- My opportunities, therefore, were pretty much all junior and senior high players.
- You have to answer this question for yourself, but do you feel you grasp fundamentals of playing, at least basic theory, and pedagogy (the science/art of teaching, as opposed to playing) well enough to teach a beginner? That was a question I worked on with my own teacher (I took private lessons for many years), and that's why I'd only teach those two instruments, even though I play a few others. It's not enough to be "a year ahead of them," you have to understand it well enough to have a grasp of why you need to do what you do, i.e. why practice certain things a certain way, and what the results of doing things wrong are. Because that's really what learning (and teaching) an instrument are all about IMO. You can pick up a book and self-teach almost any instrument - if you don't mind having a lot of bad habits. Most kids in most high school bands are really mostly self-taught, with a little general direction from their directors. Problem is, they hit a wall when they start trying to consolidate their technique and get beyond a high school level.
On the money question, I think if you're good enough to do it at all, you're good enough to charge something for it. I wouldn't charge family members, necessarily, but I wouldn't be shy about charging others. One thing that non-musicians sometimes don't realize is that really master-level teachers are in pretty short supply, outside of university towns.
posted by randomkeystrike at 10:31 AM on October 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
My own rules of the road are/were:
- I would refer a student to someone I knew who was more advanced/had a PhD or at least a Masters if I thought the student was interested in majoring in music. Not because I felt I would be somehow teaching them wrong or damaging their technique, but because I lack experience in preparing for or getting through a degree program in a music school, which is a different set of problems than just playing the instrument.
- My opportunities, therefore, were pretty much all junior and senior high players.
- You have to answer this question for yourself, but do you feel you grasp fundamentals of playing, at least basic theory, and pedagogy (the science/art of teaching, as opposed to playing) well enough to teach a beginner? That was a question I worked on with my own teacher (I took private lessons for many years), and that's why I'd only teach those two instruments, even though I play a few others. It's not enough to be "a year ahead of them," you have to understand it well enough to have a grasp of why you need to do what you do, i.e. why practice certain things a certain way, and what the results of doing things wrong are. Because that's really what learning (and teaching) an instrument are all about IMO. You can pick up a book and self-teach almost any instrument - if you don't mind having a lot of bad habits. Most kids in most high school bands are really mostly self-taught, with a little general direction from their directors. Problem is, they hit a wall when they start trying to consolidate their technique and get beyond a high school level.
On the money question, I think if you're good enough to do it at all, you're good enough to charge something for it. I wouldn't charge family members, necessarily, but I wouldn't be shy about charging others. One thing that non-musicians sometimes don't realize is that really master-level teachers are in pretty short supply, outside of university towns.
posted by randomkeystrike at 10:31 AM on October 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
>I mentioned above that I don't have experience teaching
To clarify and add on to some other points, I was talking about any teaching experience, not purely music teaching, which you did say you lacked. I think that someone who is a good teacher of beginners on one topic will have learned what goes into teaching other topics and is better able to gauge their own skill. I love music and am somewhere in your skill level on what I play, but don't pay enough attention to the technical details to be good at identifying the order in which things should fall into place. I wouldn't be a good music teacher unless I put a few months of hard work into it, which would involve some lessons and observations. Some people at that skill level do view their music through that lens, and would be excellent teachers as soon as a student sat next to them. I don't think a "fancy program" is necessary, but a good understanding of why each step happens the way it does is important.
posted by tchemgrrl at 10:34 AM on October 20, 2015
To clarify and add on to some other points, I was talking about any teaching experience, not purely music teaching, which you did say you lacked. I think that someone who is a good teacher of beginners on one topic will have learned what goes into teaching other topics and is better able to gauge their own skill. I love music and am somewhere in your skill level on what I play, but don't pay enough attention to the technical details to be good at identifying the order in which things should fall into place. I wouldn't be a good music teacher unless I put a few months of hard work into it, which would involve some lessons and observations. Some people at that skill level do view their music through that lens, and would be excellent teachers as soon as a student sat next to them. I don't think a "fancy program" is necessary, but a good understanding of why each step happens the way it does is important.
posted by tchemgrrl at 10:34 AM on October 20, 2015
Best answer: My childhood piano teacher had a doctorate in music and a degree in education. I went to him for years. He was a horrible teacher and I sucked and hated the piano. About two years ago, I took a community college keyboard class, with a fabulous teacher, and found out that I really enjoyed piano and I wasn't that bad at it.
If you are connecting with your student, then you are a good teacher. No degree can make that happen for you. You can totally do this. Follow her interests as much as possible. Look for simple versions of her favorite songs to work on. Let her have fun with it. And remind her to move her elbows. I only learned that my elbows should move 2 years ago. Huge improvement!
posted by myselfasme at 12:30 PM on October 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
If you are connecting with your student, then you are a good teacher. No degree can make that happen for you. You can totally do this. Follow her interests as much as possible. Look for simple versions of her favorite songs to work on. Let her have fun with it. And remind her to move her elbows. I only learned that my elbows should move 2 years ago. Huge improvement!
posted by myselfasme at 12:30 PM on October 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
I taught my kids piano from scratch up to Grade 5(?) in one case and Grade 2 for the younger one. After that they had a real teacher. I was taught piano and could play but never took any exams nor did music in school. It helped that the theory requirements for each grade are publicly accessible. I got a little old-fashioned book called The Rudiments of Music and taught them the theory out of that - stuff like beating time, intervals, names and durations of notes etc. Scales and key signatures. It's not dreadfully technically difficult but you do need clarity and the ability to pass on knowledge without confusing the person being taught.*
The challenging thing in learning music is of course PLAYING and also enjoying it. The whole point of the lessons is to give people the tools to play with skill, spirit and enjoyment. People come to this with different innate advantages and it will be clear very soon what sort of relationship the pupil will have with making music. Some people don't want to go any deeper than playing a simple tune, others are going to get completely lost in the sensory sensual physical emotional gestalt** of it. Anyhow long story short I was able to give my kids the tools to get the basic knowledge to enjoy playing, pass a few grades and be ready for a better teacher. I had never taken any grades (none where I grew up) but was taught by my mum - so had a pretty good idea what a lesson should be like - and then allowed to practice often with another adult giving me a few tips from time to time.
I would say do lesson plans and keep notes and a homework/practice book. It doesn't have to be any more complicated than a record of what was covered. Useful to have this to pass on to the next teacher if there is one, and it can be a nice diary thing for your niece that records how she progresses. Think stickers and pictures and comments. But for taking her through the books you were taught by, yes I'm sure you'll be able to do that easily. Mind you, until you start teaching her you won't know how quickly she will pick it up, or even if she will like it at all. And yeah, remember those arms should stay loose.
So one of my girls has now asked me to teach her 4-year old, and with hindsight I'm really puzzling over how best to integrate it into her general experience of music rather than some elite skill, you know, so that her experience of music is of a continuum, not a series of separate fenced-off territories. Less emphasis on reading music and more on messing about picking out tunes I think.
* I expect the system is the same in America: here the Grade exams have a practical and a theory component. If you're interested you can download the syllabuses from the Trinity College website (first link) to give you an idea of what the UK standards are for each grade.
** sorry
posted by glasseyes at 2:36 PM on October 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
The challenging thing in learning music is of course PLAYING and also enjoying it. The whole point of the lessons is to give people the tools to play with skill, spirit and enjoyment. People come to this with different innate advantages and it will be clear very soon what sort of relationship the pupil will have with making music. Some people don't want to go any deeper than playing a simple tune, others are going to get completely lost in the sensory sensual physical emotional gestalt** of it. Anyhow long story short I was able to give my kids the tools to get the basic knowledge to enjoy playing, pass a few grades and be ready for a better teacher. I had never taken any grades (none where I grew up) but was taught by my mum - so had a pretty good idea what a lesson should be like - and then allowed to practice often with another adult giving me a few tips from time to time.
I would say do lesson plans and keep notes and a homework/practice book. It doesn't have to be any more complicated than a record of what was covered. Useful to have this to pass on to the next teacher if there is one, and it can be a nice diary thing for your niece that records how she progresses. Think stickers and pictures and comments. But for taking her through the books you were taught by, yes I'm sure you'll be able to do that easily. Mind you, until you start teaching her you won't know how quickly she will pick it up, or even if she will like it at all. And yeah, remember those arms should stay loose.
So one of my girls has now asked me to teach her 4-year old, and with hindsight I'm really puzzling over how best to integrate it into her general experience of music rather than some elite skill, you know, so that her experience of music is of a continuum, not a series of separate fenced-off territories. Less emphasis on reading music and more on messing about picking out tunes I think.
* I expect the system is the same in America: here the Grade exams have a practical and a theory component. If you're interested you can download the syllabuses from the Trinity College website (first link) to give you an idea of what the UK standards are for each grade.
** sorry
posted by glasseyes at 2:36 PM on October 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
Oh, and sorry after all that waffle above - I was just wondreing if anyone like me has been able to teach someone how to play an instrument pretty well without having attended some fancy music program or school.
I'd say yes you can, and also I've done it myself.
posted by glasseyes at 2:43 PM on October 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'd say yes you can, and also I've done it myself.
posted by glasseyes at 2:43 PM on October 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Btw I feel the people worrying about bad habits/wrong technique etc are thinking about students whose aim is to play professionally which I did not sense from your question is the case with your niece? And it's harsh to say it but starting playing at 14? Not gonna make it as a professional classical musician. But there are plenty of other ways to play and enjoy and maybe even earn from music! I really enjoyed your playing.
posted by glasseyes at 2:59 PM on October 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by glasseyes at 2:59 PM on October 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
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If you plan on teaching others, maybe a good idea to fully disclose what your qualifications are.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 9:28 AM on October 20, 2015