What Kind of Piano Teacher Do You Want to Be?

The piano teacher I am has been influenced by the many music teachers I have had. They have all shaped my musical journey in one way or another. But I’ll admit that I learnt more from some teachers than others. Some have even drastically shaped the way I teach.

I remember the teachers that inspired me, and the teachers that left me feeling misunderstood and lost. I remember the teachers who judged you based only on exam results – whilst missing other commendable attributes and abilities. I remember the teachers who read out exam results to the whole class – and the dreadful feeling I felt while waiting to hear my result.

There’s a quote, often mistakenly attributed to Einstein, that goes something like:

Regardless of who said this, it has always struck me as a crucial idea in how I want to approach teaching Piano – all students will have different abilities, and you need to teach them as such.

There’s no one, perfect teaching method: you need to figure out a pedagogical philosophy that works for you and your students.

The piano teacher who is patient when students haven’t practiced

When I was a teenager, I started saxophone lessons and picked up a few bits on other instruments like the guitar. By this point, I was already a committed piano student—practicing every day and learning more pieces and studies than my teacher assigned. (My mum still had to remind me to practice my scales, though! 😂)

I was not, however, shall we say, as dedicated with my saxophone practice as I could have been.

I think of teenage me whenever I ask a student “what have you been able to practice this week?” and I get a reply such as “well, I didn’t really have time” or “I think I practiced this song”.

I always remind my students that I will never be mad if they say they haven’t practiced. But if they answer honestly it makes it easier to know where we should start from in today’s lesson.

The piano teacher who doesn’t make recitals compulsory

I was a quiet, introverted child at school. Teachers frequently described me as shy. At Parent’s Evenings my teachers would say I need to talk more in class.

Despite this, I actually didn’t mind “performing” in front of an audience. I don’t remember ever getting nervous as a young child when I was reading something in front of the school for class assembly.

Piano solos were a little different. Initially I would get nervous, but over time I learnt how to “deal” with the nerves, and know that they would go away the moment I was walking towards the Piano.

One of my favourite music teachers was always happy for anyone to take part in a school concert. It wasn’t required to, and you didn’t have to be a specific standard. It was about celebrating our abilities, and sharing music with other students and our parents.

It was different, however, with the teacher who required that we take part in their music concerts. I would stress about the concert, lose sleep even, until the moment it was over.

I have happy memories from performing in the concerts with the first teacher. I do not have good memories from the second teachers concerts. The first teacher’s strategy allowed us to build confidence, and happy memories for life.

I always take these experiences into consideration when I am talking to students about whether they want to perform in the recital or not.

The piano teacher who doesn’t insist on students doing exams

Exams can be a great learning opportunity. It presents a deadline, and like or not we all tend to perform better (or practice more) when we have a concrete deadline! And exams are an objective measure of progress.

But exams aren’t right for everyone.

I did do music exams in my lessons, both practical and theory exams. I knew I needed to do them to progress to study music at University, but it also made me well aware of how limiting they can be.

I practiced Piano a lot so I flew through those exams. With plenty of time in lessons to cover lots of repertoire that wasn’t for my exams.

I didn’t practice Saxophone as much (see above!) so most of what I learnt to play on Saxophone was for my grades. It meant I didn’t get to learn some pieces that I would have liked to, because they weren’t on the exam syllabus.

Our students also get tested a lot during their regular schooling, and I worry that Piano exams on top of that make Piano a chore, rather than a way to measure and celebrate progress.

The piano teacher who follows their student’s interests

One of the things that has hugely influenced my Piano teaching is a method of working I followed when I worked at my mum’s pre-school called “Planning in the Moment” by Anna Ephgrave. A system that was designed to cut down on unnecessary admin for teachers in pre-schools and schools, and instead rely on their expertise.

Whilst this is a harder approach to apply to piano lessons, I find that it is highly effective in maintaining a student’s enthusiasm for learning. I love when my students come in to a lesson and say they want to learn a particular song. Sometimes we can learn part of it there and then, some chords, a bit of the melody, but other times they know they will have to wait a week and we can start on their request in the next lesson.

This can also be a way to encourage learning something that a student is less keen on, but you know is good for them, e.g. a piano exercise. I tend to say that they choose one piece, I choose one piece (or exercise).

When your students are excited to learn, it makes teaching feel like a breeze!

What kind of piano teacher do you want to be?

I want to be the kind of piano teacher I needed, but didn’t always get.