How to Teach Piano Even If You Have Little Or No Experience Playing

How to Teach Piano Even If You Have Little Or No Experience Playing
By Rhonda Bradley

I never imagined that I would have a career as a piano teacher. In fact, the thought never even crossed my mind until the age of 27, when a misunderstood conversation one afternoon at a noisy pub in Green Bay, Wisconsin got me to thinking. While enjoying lunch at a local hotspot with my piano teacher, I looked across the table and asked her “Do you like teaching piano?” She looked me right in the eye (after hearing me incorrectly) and answered “Yes, I think you could teach piano!”

Nineteen years later, I look back on that conversation and see more than 18 years’ worth of smiling faces set to music. And every time I reflect on my career as a piano teacher, I say a quiet “thank you” for a journey that has offered me not only the freedom and flexibility to be my own boss, but also the opportunity to embed my life into the history and memories of my community.

If you are interested in becoming a piano teacher, it might surprise you to know that it is possible to become a good piano teacher even if you have little or no experience playing the piano. There are two areas of piano pedagogy that are wide-open to newcomers with little or no experience:

If you have taken one or more years of piano lessons at some point during your life (even if it was decades ago), consider teaching Elementary First-Year Piano. You could specialize in the first year of piano training for children ages 6 -9, and then transfer your students to a more experienced teacher when they “graduate” your program at the end of one year.

If you have never learned to play piano, but you love music and are good with preschool-aged children, you would probably enjoy teaching Preschool Piano to children ages 4-6.

The above niches are areas of this industry that are always in need of good teachers, because during the earliest years of piano training the educator’s ability to *teach* far outweighs the importance of his or her musical background.

Here’s how to self-evaluate your musical abilities and get started teaching piano:

1) Make a trip to the local sheet music store, or go to one of the many online sheet music stores that carry “piano method” books (piano lesson books). Purchase one or two piano lesson books that seem to be “user-friendly” for new teachers.

2) Once you have the book(s) in hand, take them to your piano or keyboard and go through them cover to cover to see if you can play through and understand all of the concepts in at least one of the books.

If you can easily play and understand the book, then you already have the musical skills needed to begin teaching first-year piano to children ages 6 -9.

If you understand most, but not all of the book, or if you are unsure if you are playing the songs correctly, find a local piano teacher willing to give you one or two (paid) lessons to help you with the first book.

If you can’t work your way through the book at all, simply find yourself a good private teacher and he/she can likely get you up to speed with a handful of private lessons.
3) Make a business plan – it doesn’t have to be fancy or formal. Simply sketch out a plan in writing to prepare yourself to start teaching. Here are a few things you’ll want to include in your business plan:

• What is your teaching philosophy?
• Will you teach at home, from a music studio, or in other people’s homes?
• How much will you charge?
• How will you handle cancellations and makeup policies?
• How will you get the lesson books and lesson materials into the hands of your students? Will you have them purchase the materials, or will you buy the materials for them and have them reimburse you?
• How will you get students?

You can find (free) ideas, guidance and information by visiting piano teacher forums and a multitude of websites designed to help new piano teachers. The “How to Teach Piano” video series, and Faber Teachers’ Forum forum are good places for new teachers to start.

4) Finally, the most important step to take if you’d like to become a professional teacher is to become a student yourself. You can even wait until you’ve earned enough income from your first few students to begin taking lessons for yourself. It’s important that you find a good private piano teacher and do your own daily music practice so that can stay one step ahead of your students and learn about the music theory you’ll need to offer them.

Even though you can get started teaching piano with little or no experience, that doesn’t mean your job as a teacher will be an easy ride. But if you invest your personal time developing business and musical skills, ask for help along the way, and show the highest level of respect to your students and their parents, then you have a good chance of becoming successful at a job that truly rewards your efforts with a tremendous amount of meaning and fulfillment.

Cherish your vision; cherish your ideals; cherish the music that stirs in your heart…If you remain true to them, your world will at last be built. -James Allen

About the Author Rhonda Bradley is a Pianist/Composer who has worked as a professional in the music industry for over 25 years. She has been training children, adults, and teachers to play and teach music since 1991. Rhonda is also the founder of Music at Your Fingers sheet music publishing company, and the author of the Miss Rhonda’s Piano Lesson Books series.

Rhonda’s blog, More Musically offers a wealth of information on how to live a happier, healthier and more musical life.

Check out the page titled 365 for a daily music challenge that’s good for your health.

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Making Your Own Music Music is enjoyable. Which is the primary reason people make music. It scratches an itch that nothing else can. Music is a very personal expression and each individual has different likes and needs. There is something to the old expression “music hath charms to soothe…..”and few other things can make that claim. Few things can touch us as does music.

Is there any wonder why people like to make their own music? Many times people ‘fat finger’ their favorite melody on the piano. Others seek private lessons as a means to learn how to make music. Any of these can follow their need to make music back to the desire to learn.

Some have more talent. Some will require more lessons in order to attain the same level of proficiency than a different person. It is possible for a less talented person to play better, through practice, than the more talented person.

There are sites available that can get you into a course to help you learn if you elect not to go the route of the traditional music instructor. Some of these sites are better than others. In addition there are review sites that rate online training courses.

Take some time and read through some of the review sites that contain areas you want to research. Look for sites to help you choose the right medium and course to meet your needs. Those sites are set up for this reason. The sites with music educators as contributors are typically the most reliable.

Look for a way to validate that the course is able to deliver what it promises. Look for independent reviews and ratings of someone not on staff of the course provider to give you additional insight.

Some sites are great at ’shaking coin’ from visitors by means other than those associated with knowledge of music. Some sites are designed by professionals who are far more gifted at web sales than they are at evaluating music. Sites designed by a professional web designer might not have the same music focus as a site designed with a music pro and web designer. The unsuspecting person will purchase what looks like a good course only to be disappointed by an inferior product.

An outstanding site to source this is. [http://www.pianolessonsonlinefinder.com/make-your-own-music/]Ratings and Reviews.

Check out this review site for more information on Making. [http://www.pianolessonsonlinefinder.com/make-your-own-music/]Your Own Music.

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Making-Your-Own-Music&id=4032717] Making Your Own Music

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