How to Find a Good Piano Teacher

[@DesertRat332]

Hi, Susan! Old, married man here in my late 60s who has been trying to learn piano on my own for the last 5 years. I have done some of the Alfred adult book and I really like the Garage Band piano lessons on my Mac. I have gone through all 15 lessons more than once. The written music in Garage Band is just the right size (Big!) for my old eyes. Pianote videos have many good exercises, too. I need to get a teacher who can help me prioritize my practices (so many options) and set realistic goals for myself. I like your #3 tip of having a preliminary meeting. I have lots of questions I have come up with over the past years on piano and just the philosophy of learning. I live near "Fun City, USA" so I'm hoping I have a good choice of teachers when I retire next month, although not everyone wants to take on adults. We can be sort of like a "fixer-upper". (lol) Thanks for the video and the good tips. BTW, you are *very* pretty. 🙂

[@PianoRoadmap]

Hi! I didn't know Garage Band had piano lessons, I'll be sure to check those out. Do they come free with the software? I'm familiar with Pianote, and yes, they seem to do a great job with online teaching. Getting a piano teacher is a great retirement gift to yourself! Good luck finding a quality teacher!

[@DesertRat332]

@@PianoRoadmap I think I had to go into Garage Band and deliberately download the lessons for piano (and guitar). There are 9 basic lessons and 6 more advanced lessons for piano. But, yes, they are free. I like how the notes turn green if you play correctly, yellow for a slight mistake and red for bad mistakes. It motivates me to get 100% and do it multiple times because it keeps a history of your performances. It also tracks your nine highest scores. A bar at the bottom shows where you made mistakes in the lesson with red and yellow sections. I also like how I can select just one section to repeat and vary the speed until I get it right and then I can do the whole lesson at full speed and try for 100%. Of course I have a MIDI connection from my keyboard to my Mac. The notes are nice and big so it is easier for me to see intervals. I wish they had more lessons. I would pay for more advanced lessons if they had that as an option. But the 15 lessons they do have is a good start for someone who knows nothing about playing piano.

[@shamrackle3712]

Thank you, Susan. I used your "piano teacher association" search idea to find 3 potentials with their phone numbers I will check with tomorrow! 😃 Thank you!

[@PianoRoadmap]

You're welcome! Hope one of them works out!

[@LuckyChukwu-fe9ik]

Thank you Susan, i understand your piano teaching, you take time to explain

[@robert-890]

Extremely helpful! Thank you!

[@PianoRoadmap]

You're welcome!

[@jiveandclaims]

Thank you, this was helpful. I started looking for a teacher last weekend. The trouble I found was that in a more remote/rural area, it seems options are limited. Fortunately there are many more online options these days. That leaves me with a large number of choices, but better than the alternative.

[@PianoRoadmap]

Yes, it can be difficult to find a good teacher if you live in a more remote area. I guess you'd need to be willing to either travel to the nearest bigger city or, like you said, seek out an online option. You might also try hitting up any local churches or high schools in your area. Churches usually have at least one resident keyboardist (good or bad, can't say...) and high school music teachers might have some good recommendations if they're not teaching piano themselves. Good luck!

[@xinxinj99]

Hi Susan, Thank you for your videos, which helps me a lot.

[@PianoRoadmap]

Glad to hear, and you're welcome!

[@lilchris26]

Thank you a really helpful video. I am a mature player and have been thinking about lessons for a while. I just want some guidance to get me going and playing better.

[@PianoRoadmap]

If you're able to find a teacher that is right for you, I think you'll be really pleased with the progress you'll make. Good luck!

[@manu-singh]

Yeah public commitment always works, Susan!!🔥 I never had a personal teacher as where I live the approach to teaching piano in my city is non western style and more indigenous approach. And some rare teachers who teach in western style properly charge hella a lot and plus I would have to travel to and fro for lessons, ouch! That's why I just bought the Alfred adult piano books, and tbh the lessons are dull and songs are very old but I am enjoying learning from the books. Also it's a real joy to learn from you, your lessons are very sophisticated, easy to follow playlists and your enthusiasm while teaching is too good. Excited to learn more from you :P

[@PianoRoadmap]

Thanks, Manpreet! I'm interested in what a non western teaching approach looks like. Glad you're enjoying learning from the Alfred books. At some point you'll be able to expand to other piano repertoire which will be more interesting for you :)

[@nhutrinh2921]

Love your videos! Keep up the awesome work! 😊

[@PianoRoadmap]

Thanks, Nhu 😃 Happy New Year!

[@Cb489]

Very nice videos. Thank you

[@suecarter1307]

Thank you that’s very helpful!

[@PianoRoadmap]

Of course, glad it was helpful!

[@bh5606]

Tried google but what I found was a bunch of “800” numbers charging $100 an hour and all were zoom lessons because none of them were local. No local teachers were listed.

[@PianoRoadmap]

Did you search for piano teachers specifically in your area? For example, "private piano teacher Denver Colorado".

[@bh5606]

@@PianoRoadmap Yes...

[@PianoRoadmap]

@@bh5606 My next suggestion is to use google or apple maps on your phone. Search for "private piano lessons", and you should get local studios.

[@bh5606]

@@PianoRoadmap Thanks.

[@AmiFriendsStudio]

What is your opinion about Zoom piano lessons? What are the pros and cons? Is it difficult to teach/learn effectively via a Zoom session?

[@PianoRoadmap]

If you’re interested in Zoom piano lessons, try to find someone who has a very good setup (multiple cameras, good microphones as opposed to just the computer mics, etc). But then, no matter how good the teacher’s setup is, if the student doesn’t have fast wifi, there can be many frustrating freezes or bad audio quality for both parties. In short, I do not love them, but I believe it’s better than no lessons at all! Have you tried them before?

[@AmiFriendsStudio]

@@PianoRoadmap Good point about unstable wifi. I haven't had a Zoom lesson but thought it might have become the new standard. It's convenient not to have to travel to a lesson and students potentially can take lessons from teachers across the globe. I guess in-person lessons are still the best.

[@PianoRoadmap]

@@AmiFriendsStudio I think they are. You could always seek out a hybrid option - maybe 1 lesson in person followed by 2-3 zoom lessons. I think many piano teachers are trying to be flexible these days.

[@Dontdothat5300]

I took in person for a year then relocated for a job. I used Fiverr and found a zoom teacher from Argentina and she’s advanced me further in a few months than I had done in a year in person - she’s been absolutely amazing.

[@chriswilt4022]

HI!

[@PianoRoadmap]

Hey stranger!

[@Zeegeetee]

Hi

[@PianoRoadmap]

👋

[@ignacygolab9039]

The title says how to find a good piano teacher, and the video only explains how to find a piano teacher, not what makes him or her good. Actually if they are willing to give free piano clases, cancel the clases at the very last moment or give just puntual clases means they are bad teachers because probably their students don’t keep on with them or they still have no experience in teaching.