The first part of this post dealt with issues related to terms and your direction in your musical career. This post will focus on an area that I know well and that would be the study of an instrument (in my case the trumpet). No matter what your area of performance, trumpet, sax. piano, bagpipes or voice, the following information will apply to you.
What to Look for in a Teacher
The selection of your applied teacher is more important than the selection of a school. This may sound odd but when you consider that you will have more personal contact with your applied (private lessons) teacher than any other instructor in your four year stint in college you will have to be comfortable with his/her teaching. In making this decision, consider the following.
Information you can learn before you meet him/her by searching online or visiting with people who know him/her.
- If your friends have studied with this person, ask them about his/her teaching and consider the source of this information.
- Have you seen improvement in your friends playing after working with this person?
- Do they like this person because he/she is COOL, or have they learned anything?
- Do others in the music field speak highly of this person?
- Go to the instructor’s web site and check him/her out.
- If they do not have a web site, be couscous.
- If the web site is all about them and little about their students, be conscious.
- What have his/her students accomplished during study and after graduation?
- How active is this person currently performing?
- How long has this person been teaching?
Information you should learn after you meet this person.
- What was your first impression of this person?
- Do you feel comfortable visiting with him/her?
- Did he/she dominate the conversation with information about themselves?
- Were they interested in you and your interests?
- How many students do they currently have studying?
- How many positions are there in the school’s ensembles for your instrument/voice?
- What kinds of scholarships are available?
- What do these scholarships include?
- Is there an immediate need for your instrument?
- Why is there an immediate need for your instrument?
- What kind of contacts does this person have outside the school?
- Where have recent graduates gone after leaving the school and what are they doing currently?
- What is the job placement ratio at the school? and in his/her studio?
- How many graduates stay in contact with this person?
My final posting in this series will address the following topics-
- What to Expect from Your Teacher
- Trumpet Instructor/Graduate Assistant
- Location of School
- Financial Considerations
