Hello,

My friend is looking for a music teacher. She doesn't live in the same town so I can't recommend anyone to her. She asked me how I found my teacher.

I went into musicteachers.co.uk put in my details and picked a teacher closest to my house. It occurred to me that this method may not work for everyone.

What qualities do you look for in a teacher and how did you find your teacher?

Learnerflute xx

Hi learner flute. I found my violin teacher by asking the head of music at my son's school if she knew anyone who would be prepared to take me on as an adult beginner. My teacher is a retired classics teacher who is a viola player. He's the right teacher for me because he's passionate about music and very encouraging, and a little bit bossy! He doesn't mind me telling him what I want to do each lesson, he meets me where I am. Even though he's not the best technician or have formal music teaching qualifications, he brings what I can't teach myself from a book at home. As we hit it off straight away, I haven't needed to shop around. He's starting to make noises about passing me on to a "proper" teacher who can move me forward but I don't want to move on, we have a laugh and I'm still improving, so long may it last.

I found my best teacher by possibly the weirdest method, but we shall see if anyone out there tops it. I was learning at school but my progress was being restricted by 30 minute lessons, termtime only, and having to share a group lesson with others who were not as keen. I asked some friends about their teachers and one teacher (who I'm glad I never ended up having any real dealings with!!!) said that she would come along to the school concert since she was accompanying some of her pupils there anyway, and she'd listen to my performance: an audition for a teacher. She got up and left ostentatiously the minute I'd performed which looked really odd, and the next day she called to say that on balance she thought we were not the right match for each other (never did say why, but she was right) but she knew just the teacher for me. She passed me on to someone from the city symphony orchestra who was a little bit round the twist but lovely.

Since then I've had a nightmare finding a teacher as most of the people I know are of the same sort of standard as me, that's how we know each other. Searches have been somewhat fruitless, really, I've ended up with a few dead end lessons where clearly the person had nothing to offer me.

First thing to look for is, will anyone be willing to teach you? - So, about ten years ago, my husband, wanting to stop my whingeing about how I couldn't make progress on my own, suggested a young chap: I was dubious, thinking no way would he want to teach stuck-in-the-mud-me, but we invited him and his partner to dinner, drank enough booze to dare to play to him, and gave him enough so he mightn't notice.... and played to them afterwards, whereupon he agreed to take me on.

Second time round I had a clear idea also of what I wanted in a teacher.....and again, the first question was, is anyone willing to do this, the second, is anyone able to? Edinburgh was dire - my first teacher had been one of the best in the city, one of the other top names never returned my call, another was unavailable on the number I'd been given, and with the third I'd somewhat blotted my copybook by beating three of her pupils at the local competition festival, winning the recorder medal: she said she wouldn't take on anyone with "baggage".

Eventually I found the second teacher after a recommendation from the fora here: arranged to meet her, had a lesson from her. She is knowledgeable, able to communicate, prepared to speak her mind and challenge, asks me to think about my playing in a way I'd not encountered before, which equips me now to make my own decisions in learning and developing where before I was more passive and needing to be guided. She also has a sense of humour, so we laugh a lot, and she has corrected some technical gremlins and developed my musicianship in the direction of more ensemble playing.

I looked on musicteachers.co.uk and only considered teachers around my postcode. I was looking for someone to teach me advanced piano technique. I didn't feel I needed a music teacher as I have a music degree, my particular issue is that my technique is much weaker than my musical skills (though i don't claim to have those at a professional level either). Obviously we do work on musical stuff too but we don't do any theory or aural. To describe it somewhat unromantically all I am after is someone to show me how to move my limbs in a certain way.

I never hire anyone to do anything without a personal recommendation (too many bad experiences!) If she talks to some learners in her area, to find out what the teachers are like, then this is probably her best bet.

I looked at musicteachers.co.uk too but there was only one teacher listed close by so I googled music schools in the area and came up with a couple. Sent an email to one and arranged a consultation lesson, had lesson, instantly got on well with teacher and signed up! As well as being a great clari player, he also plays piano to a very high standard, has oodles of patience and a great sense of humour, very important in my opinion. Perhaps not as strict with scales etc. but is constantly pushing me with the pieces we/he pick(s). I really fell on my feet with my search for a new teacher

Makes me feel very lucky!!

I had looked everywhere locally, and could only find oboe teachers who also taught bassoon, but I wanted a bassoon specialist. I tried Leeds Uni, and Leeds College of Music, who told me they used Opera North's bassoonists, but neither of them taught beginners. I eventually found a piano teacher, who played bassoon, and who agreed to get me started with the caveat that she wasn't happy teaching me beyond Grade 1, as she felt she didn't have enough knowledge.
In the run up to grade 1, I went to an Opera North concert, and in the interval, asked to speak to a bassoonist. Out came their second bassoon, who said he'd never taught an adult, and had never taught a beginner, but he would give it a go. He taught me for four years, but has now passed me on to the first bassoonist (who has also never taught an adult) as he's moved to a new house too far away for me to travel.
The moral...be cheeky, you can only be told "no", and you may be told "yes"

With over 60 years playing the piano, when I decided to learn to play the flute it was going to be without a teacher and just using a first tutor book (I knew music, had no problem reading treble clef, and it was only one note at a time - what could be easier? ). This worked for all of three months, then I found I could not get any more new notes, particularly those in the middle or higher register. I even bought a second tutor book, since I suspected my breathing and embouchure were not quite what was required. During the purchase of this second book, the kind assistant asked me if I had a teacher, and when I said no she printed out a list of those in our area.

I narrowed it down to three in my town using post codes and telephone numbers, and casually mentioned to my wife that I was going to have to find a teacher. She told me that her friend's daughter was having lessons with a lady in our town and it turned out that she thought she was very good. So good in fact that when she had to stop having the teacher for school music, she said she did not want anyone else for private flute lessons.

So I telephoned this lady, mentioned the young girl that I knew she taught and asked if she thought she could teach a 67 year old pianist how to play the flute properly. She giggled (which I was not too sure about ) but suggested a trial lesson. She was so nice and friendly, asked me about my music experience to date, and asked me what my objective was in taking up the flute at such a mature age. My reply was that I was very keen to play music with an orchestra. I did not expect either the orchestra or me to be any good at it, but I just had this desire to experience what it was all about after so many years of solo piano. After playing her a couple of simple pieces (Merrily We Roll Along comes to mind ) I asked her to be honest and tell me if she thought I had any chance, taking into account that I had no idea now many years it might take to become that proficient. Her reply was "would you like to come at the same time next week?".

The results are in my signature, plus playing in an orchestra and a concert band for over a year. I find every rehearsal and concert a wonderful experience, and consider myself very fortunate to have found such a lovely teacher. She has certainly pushed me at times, she has a terrific knowledge of flute repertoire, she seems to always have a trick up her sleeve for ironing out difficulties in technique when they occur, she usually plays for me in each lesson to show me what it should sound like, she very often asks me what I would like to do in the lesson, and she is always interested in any performances that I give, such as at one of the Forum Adult Learner concerts, helping me to prepare fully for each piece. She has also managed to get me through Grade 5 theory, so all in all I have been very lucky.