Engaging a tutor to guide your development is an excellent means of effecting change. Finding a teacher in music can be relatively easy in a college town, but as with any engagement for services, it is important to observe a few basic principles.
The University of Alabama’s Dr. Jane Weigel offers the following suggestions on how to find the best music tutor for your child.
- Credentials. Ask any prospective tutor if they have significant education or a degree in the area you seek.
If you are seeking lessons on clarinet, a teacher whose background is piano or trumpet will not be the best fit. You need someone who can address the playing technique and nuances of tone production of your instrument. By learning from a teacher who will demonstrate representative tone and technique in the lessons, you are reminded of the higher level you practice to achieve.
- Experience. Ask for, and check, references.
This could be as easy as emailing the person’s current employer (if a music store or university music outreach program), their former/current major professor or ensemble director and/or calling the parent of a current or former student. Do they show up on time and teach the full length of the lesson? Tutors who have been teaching for a while should have some demonstrated success of their students. This is measurable by asking if any of their students have auditioned for/been accepted into Honors groups (All State, Middle and High school honor bands, orchestras, choirs).
- Lesson Location. The lesson location should be appropriate to the activity. The ideal room has little distraction and is conducive to focusing on the instruction. Preferably, the room has visible access (a window) for the parent. Music schools and some music stores provide such rooms. If your teacher works out of their home, be sure to ask if they have pets (especially if you have allergies), or if other family members will be at home at the time of the lesson. Since you are paying this person to focus on and assess the sound you are making on your instrument/voice, the less competing sound in the environment, the better.
- Obtain an understanding in writing.
A clear outline of cost, when payment is due, what form of payment is acceptable, what is their make-up or cancellation policy, length/location of lesson, if books included, etc is needful. Having this information in writing, in advance of the first lesson, is best for all. This can be as easy as communicating via email or completing an enrollment form.
- Background check.
If your teacher is part of a larger organization, this may be part of the basic hiring procedure.
- Rapport. Email, telephone or, if at all possible, meet with the teacher before committing to engage them for lessons.
Even a short meeting can give you a sense of the prospective tutor’s interpersonal skills, their personality, and if you (or your child) will engage well with them. In order to fully engage, the student needs to have rapport with their teacher.
The private music lesson, by nature, is a very personal interaction between teacher and student. A good teacher will provide constructive, informed feedback tempered with encouragement and measured praise when earned.
Phone your local college music school, music stores, or music teacher in your school or church to ask for recommendations. Most likely you will hear the same few teacher names from more than one source. If you ask a few basic questions, you should know when you have found a teacher who is best for you.
Weigel is director of UA’s Community Music School within the College of Arts and Sciences. UA’s Community Music School is a non-degree granting outreach program for the School of Music. It serves interested students of all ages and levels of ability.