Welcome to the third installment of the sojournmusic.com series on playing piano/keyboard, by Sojourn worship leader Rebecca Elliott. Rebecca is a featured singer-songwriter on our Before The Throne and Advent Songs records, and will be working on a solo CD this winter. She was featured, along with Neko Case, Okkerville River, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, and other great artists on the recent compilation album Before The Goldrush. Rebecca is also an impressive pianist and experienced piano teacher. In this installment, she gives advice on choosing a piano teacher:
When it comes to looking for and choosing a piano teacher, there are several things to keep in mind: the style (or method) of teaching, the genre (classical/blues/jazz/etc.), the cost, length and frequency of lessons, the experience of the teacher, and so on and so forth. It can be a bit daunting, if you’re not sure what you’re looking for.
One of the best ways to find a good teacher is by word of mouth recommendation. If a student is excited about what they’re learning and how they are progressing, they’ll want to talk about it. If they’re happy with their teacher and lessons, it’s safe to say that you have a pretty good chance of being satisfied as well.
When it comes to the frequency of lessons, the best thing is to go once a week. I teach my students once a week in half hour time slots, for the sake of consistency and accountability in learning. Any longer than a week, and it’s easy to “forget” to practice, because you have the extra time to eventually get around to it.
Obviously, you want to find a teacher that will teach you what you want to know. You’ll want to ask about how they were trained, how long they took lessons, what kind of lessons they took, whether or not they graduated the program, etc. Any good teacher will tell you this right off the bat when you ask them about their background.
If you’re looking to be a classical pianist, you want to find someone who has been classically trained, and can teach you the technical and musical aspects of playing classical pieces. A classical teacher will have a lot of experience, especially technically (in regards to the right way to play pieces, what the original composer intended, etc), but may or may not be good at teaching improv or jazz/blues.
If you’re goal is jazz/blues, you’ll want to look for someone who has experience playing. There’s a lot of improv that goes into playing jazz/blues, once you’ve learned the theory behind it. If your teacher doesn’t know how to play it well, they won’t be able to teach you what you want to know.
A good teacher will be versatile, and able to tailor the lessons to your specific goals. If you’re a beginner and you want to learn how to follow a lead sheet to play in church, they’ll be able to put together song arrangements that fit your level and stretch you a bit, while still being enjoyable to play.
As a teacher, I always try to get a feel for my students and their goals right from the start, so I know how to create a learning path that gets them where they want to go. I have several students who are learning purely classical music, several students who are working on composing their own pieces, and several who are learning to play in a worship setting. Since I have been classically trained as well as having experience in composing and song writing, I can help my students reach their goals, even though each one is different.
Once you’ve found a teacher, it’s okay to try lessons for awhile, and then decide it’s not the best fit. The only thing here is to make sure you give it enough of a chance before making that decision. If you’ve only taken lessons for a few weeks, chances are you haven’t given it enough of a chance (unless it’s just blatantly obvious, and the teacher is obviously not a good fit, for whatever reason). For my students who are unsure at first, I generally encourage them to try it for a month, and then let’s talk about it before beginning the second month.
Once you’ve settled somewhere, commit! Practice and be intentional about you’re learning, and you might be surprised how far you get.
Read Part One Of “The Keyboard In Modern Worship”: Playing With A Worship Team
Read Part Two Of “The Keyboard In Modern Worship”: Timing And Tone
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