If you (or your parents, possibly) chose your music teacher, how did you decide who you wanted to learn with?

I am curious as to which of the many factors people would consider to be the most important, and if that changes when/if people change teachers, either because they move house or the teacher moves or if they just need something different when they improve on an instrument...

(They are all - I hope, otherwise they probably shouldn't be options - important factors to someone!)

I was confronted with this choice after I had to change (piano) teachers last September because my previous one slowly gave up his teaching practice.
Apart from the musical competence of the 2nd one (which I had proof of because she'd been my daughter's teacher when she was preparing her entrance exam for the Conservatoire) I favoured her friendly attitude andthe very precise, though soft, way of commenting on errors. Also, in this particular case, I loved the very lively though relaxed way in which she teaches and the motivation she arouses, which is all-important in an adult student of 52 (or perhaps at every age) as this breathes in the necessary energy needed for the long hours of practice.

First question I said other. My recorder teacher was recommended by another teacher I approached first but who had a waiting list, who was, herself, recommended by the local SRP and was on the European recorder teachers association or something.

2nd question, I haven't changed teacher but had to vote so said other.

I've had more than two teachers for one of my instruments, and the answers are different for the different instruments I've played...

For flute:
My first teacher was the school peri who did all the woodwind teaching in the school. After a year she refused to teach me anymore unless I switched to private lessons which I couldn't afford. I then was offered lessons through the local university (I later discovered that this had been set up by the teacher who'd refused to teach me anymore, although I didn't know this at the time). I was basically given to one of their promising students for her to gain experience of teaching a non-beginner for her teaching diploma and one of the unis maind flute teachers sat in on the lessos a couple of times a term. When I restarted a couple of years ago I knew that I wanted a flute specialist not a generic woodwind teacher. What I looked for in the teachers I approached was instrumental understanding and awareness of repertoire. If the teachers couldn't answer questions about technique and style (such as tone developement and vibrato use) and couldn't discuss repertoire with me (one had never heard of the Doppler Hungarian Pastoral Fantasy or the Chaminade Concertino, and wasn't familiar with the Faure Fantaisie or Mozart concertos ) then I ruled them out. I have no idea what qualifications my flute teacher has, but she has taken people through diplomas and did flute and recorder at a music college (no idea which one). I am her only pre-grade 8 student.

For cello:
My first teacher was the school's only cello teacher, as was her replacement.

For violin:
I started this a couple of months ago and got a list of teachers from a local luthier. I've no idea what qualifications my teacher has, but she has taught people to an advanced level and was one of the luthiers top two recommendations.

For flute:

I started with the school woodwind peri who has been my favourite teacher so far. She gave me the number of a flute specialist with whom I studied for a year. A year ago I was encouraged to have a consultation lesson with my present teacher, who teaches at the RSAMD and knows the audition requirements for the courses. In that consultation lesson we identified most of my bad habits so I decided to change teacher and my playing improved so much the past year.

I decided to change from the peri to my first flute teacher because I thought I would get a better quality of teaching.
The second change was because I loved the teacher's personality and we had made such an improvement in that one lesson.


For clarinet:

I started lessons a year and a half ago with th school peri who i already knew.


For piano:

The woodwind peri recommended her.

First teacher: recommended by the local music shop, was the only flute specialist in the area and I had already met her when she beat me (by one mark!) in the recorder open class at a local festival.

Second teacher taught at the slightly-further-away school of music (and later became a professor at Trinity ).

Third teacher was an orchestral player, recommended to me by a friend who had a friend who played in the same (excellent) orchestra.

Fourth teacher I found through Topwind, the London flute shop, who held a list of teachers who taught at diploma level and beyond.

For me, I have taken consultation lessons for my last 2 changes of teacher and that was the only real factor in deciding who to study with. As it happens both teachers have exceptional credentials and come highly recommended by their colleagues but even if they didn't, I would still have wanted to study with them. To be honest though, in order to decide who to take a consultation lesson with I did primarily look at biographies and listen to the recordings made by the teachers.
I'm not that bothered about other peoples' recommendations since I thrive under different conditions to many of my fellow students. I prefer to be put under pressure and have very high expectations on me, and I'm not bothered about getting praise or even enjoying my lessons. So I'd rather judge for myself Actually, I've been incredibly lucky and managed to find teachers who are thoroughly decent people as well as great teachers but certainly I'm more interested in the latter than the former!

I started piano in primary school with the only piano teacher there. With clarinet, there were several woodwind peris at secondary, and it was the Head of Music's decision for putting new pupils with teachers. For bassoon, there was only one teacher. I voted for the first one, which applies the most, I think.

I have never changed teachers (luckily!), so had to vote 'other' for the second question.

For choosing one of two teachers, I would probably speak to some of their pupils, but also see if it was possible to sit in on a lesson, to observe the way they taught.

Piano - tried a couple of local teachers and settled with the one that seemed best.

Oboe - school peri but oboe specialist. Leaving both oboe and piano teachers for Chets. The teacher I'm going to have there is the one I had a sample lesson with so I am very happy because it was good

As for qualifications, I think what matters is that YOU think that s/he is a very good player and teacher and you can't prove that with just qualifications.

I was recommended by my next door neighbour, so I went along to the piano school and was allocated my teacher And then my teacher recommended another teacher at the same school to teach me pre-grade 5 theory!!

So I didn't really do much choosing, but I'm happy

first teacher for the flute was with school the school flute teacher
then went through about 7 supply (is that how u spell it? lol) teachers because they were ill
then i got anouther flute teacher still with school
then they were ill so we had a supply teacher for the rest of the term
then we got a knew teacher which i had for a year and a half when she swapped with someone else so i had a new teacher i also dont know wether i am getting a new teacher in september or not

i dont know wether this counts as i didnt choose my teachers but i have had quite alot so i do know what i want in one

first teacher for flute was a school woodwind peri, to be fair she was more heavily competant with flute...but she didn't get me very far, hence many a time I've said on here how it took me nearly 3yrs to get to grade 1 after 2 years with her and 1 with another teacher as my school's Head of Music told her to not come back and got the music service to replace her!

This new teacher picked me up in my last year at this school, then followed me through to my current school and is still my teacher now. I can chat about anything, I know that his performance skills are first rate as he went to Bham Conservatoire and has a post grad performance diploma. He can pin point music that I might like to try and if it doesn't work, there's always something else that can be found. I still think I'm extremely lucky to have this teacher. So I didn't choose him, but he tick all the boxes really.

I'm an adult learner, so I chose my own teachers.

My first piano teacher I also found online and chose him because he lived just up the street from me and there were so many piano teachers around I didn't know how else to chose. I didn't really believe that having lots of qualifications would make a good teacher and you can't judge the things that really matter (personality, how well you'll get on etc.) from adverts or contact details. When I moved, I used the music teachers website and again, picked a teacher in a convenient location and contacted them to arrange a lesson. After a few lessons, it was clear we got on, so I stayed.

I found my first oboe teacher on www.musicteachers.co.uk. There were two and I simply picked the first one I was able to contact. Unfortunately, she was a general woodwind teacher rather than an oboe teacher and after a month or so, I realised that I needed a specialist oboe teacher. I changed to the other teacher I'd found on the music teachers website, who was more specialised. Now, a year later, she's moved away and I'm having to find another teacher. This time I had a choice between using the website again (a new teacher has appeared since I first looked) and a personal recommendation from someone on these forums. I'm going with the recommendation and have booked my first lesson for next week.

When I was learning at as a child/teenager, I started with the teacher I was given by the county music service and when I moved to secondary school, again we took what we were given. It never really occurred to me or my parents to ask for another teacher. I wasn't unhappy with the teachers and we didn't know that much about the various qualifications, so we went with the flow as it were. We only changed to a Saturday music school when I got to GCSEs and couldn't afford to lose time from lessons. Again, we just went with what was available.

This was about ten years ago. I wonder if things have changed since then? There seems to be more of an idea now that people have the right to chose things (whether music teachers, schools, dentists or anything else).