Voice & Piano Lessons

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. My most common types of jobs are piano lessons for elementary-school aged children and voice lessons for middle and high-school aged kids. Most of the families I work for have two to three children who take lessons from me. I use the Alfred's Piano Book series for piano lessons and Glover's Scale Book for the basis of my students but I also allow them to pick songs that they like to learn as well like "The Pink Panther," "Fur Elise," "Harry Potter," etc.
For my voice students, I use a combination of vocal methods: Berton Coffin, Dalcroze method, Alexander technique, and other sundry methods and combine that with repertoire that I deem sufficient for the student's learning and that the student deems interesting.

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. Look for a voice or piano instructor who is organized and who puts your lesson as a priority. If a teacher reschedules on you over and over or is not prepared for your lesson, you are most likely not receiving the full attention and lesson benefits that you could be.
Also look for a music instructor whose main passion is teaching. I have had personal experience in taking lessons from teachers who teach as a way to make some side money but whose main focus is on performing. While this kind of teacher can be a valuable asset, I believe that the teachers who spend their time obsessing over how to be a better teacher are really going to be the better teachers.

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

A. As a customer, I would look for a teacher who loved what they did, someone I could get along with as a person and not just as a teacher, someone who I knew placed me as a priority and someone who I would feel comfortable talking with about things other than music. Singing is a very vulnerable action and I believe that if I don't have a teacher with whom I feel I can talk to about relationships, personal things and personal interpretations of my music, I know I will not feel safe singing and performing songs with that teacher.
I also enjoy finding teachers who encourage me to find as many performing experiences as possible. The only way to get over performance anxiety is to make performing an act of habit rather than a once a year, life or death situation.

Q. What questions should a consumer ask to hire the right service professional?

A. Ask your potential teacher about their hours. Ask them about their previous experience teaching, performing and accompanying. Ask them what their strengths are--are they a personable person, a down-to-business type person, an easy-going person? Do they have good piano and accompanying skills? Do they have good accounting and business skills? Are they timely? What genres do they specialize in? What is their teaching style? Who is their favorite voice or piano instructor and why? Most importantly, they should ask you what you want to get out of lessons. A good teacher will always cater to you and will help you with your own personal goals in music performance.