Hey everyone

I've been fascinated reading all the forums here, there's such a mix of people and instruments and abilities all talking together! So... I've finally signed up so I can chat to you all too!

As someone who would like to teach privately some time, I'm wondering what your views are as to what qualifications/standards you should reach before trying to teach someone else?

I overtook my piano teacher when it came to Grade 5 theory because she had to get someone else to teach me it. I'm not sure what practical exam level she got up to. About 4 years ago I was paying her £15 an hour I think. I remember being frustrated that she didn't push me enough and, although she was by no means a bad teacher or only one step ahead of me, i made a vow never to be the teacher only one lesson ahead of her pupils!

Anyway I look forward to your opinions on this!
Thanks

I'd say that you should definitely have grade 8, but I think in the end what it all comes down to is how good you are at teaching and communicating things to other people. I gave one of my friends a few lessons this year just for fun and it really makes you aware of exactly what it is you do when you play, and just how much there is that comes naturally to you, but still needs to be taught to a beginner!

Welcome to the forums!

Rosie

I agree that a good standard of playing is essential. It is not just a question of having passed a certain grade but in having a good reliable technique and musical experience which you can pass onto your pupils. I also consider that one of the most important attributes of a good teacher is the ability to put yourself in the pupils position in order to appreciate their problems and needs. Hope this helps.

And wasn't it a surprise to find that things you did easily as a beginner are actually quite difficult for most people? It sure was for me.

Teachers relearn the basics because we have to pass them on to others. Does us a lot of good, too I bet you understand more about playing the instrument you were teaching after this than before.

Steve

Thats true Steve. When I started teaching my playing became more mechanical than musical because I started thinking about what I was doing and how I would be explaining it to a student. Even as I was playing scales I would be thinking slide thumb here, 3rd fingers together here, 4th finger on Bb ..... Things I used to be able to do automatically became part of a conscious process of do this or do that.

This sort of thing must probably explains the 'such-and-such is a brilliant, virtuoso but an absolute fright as a teacher' stories we hear occasionally. Prodigious virtuosi will not always understand the basics of their incredible techniques and are not always able to think down to that level.

Steve

Hi miss_flautist

We have wandered off the subject of your post. That happens here

Anybody can teach privately in this country. Good teachers share common characteristics:
* Superhuman patience
* Keen sense of humour (although, having said that I know a brilliant violin
teacher who lacks this quality altogether).
* The ability to put across points simply and clearly.
* Musical understanding.
* Command of their instruments.

This last one can be interpreted in a number of ways and I do not necessarily mean teachers have to be virtuoso performers. There have been great teachers in the past who would never perform in public. I interpret it as knowing how to get the best out of the instrument; to do this they will understand the technicalities involved.

There are many ways to travel the route to acquire qualifications that suggest the holder has these skills. Music college\university and a degree are the standard ones. Private study and externally sat diplomas are another. Some of the greatest musicians in the world have held no formal qualifications. All qualifications really do is allow us to say to the world, "Hey, I am qualified to do the work I am after."

Hope that helps a bit

Steve

Welcome to the forums!!

This topic has been explored several times here so it might be worth your while doing a search. While I don't think qualifications necessarily make a teacher, I think it is necessary for potential teachers to have reached a reasonably high standard and competence. All too often I get phone calls from parents wanting lessons for children who have wasted too many years trying to learn form so-called teachers who should be receiving lessons, not giving them. Last September I had to teach 3 children who had failed pre-grade 1 exams because their 'teacher' was little further on than they were and basically didn't have a clue. Where I live, there are at least 6 'teachers' trying to teach piano who haven't passed grade 4. They are simply destroying children and making life impossibly difficult for real teachers who are invariably asked to teach and improve them.




Sorry, but someone who can't teach grade 5 theory should not be teaching music. They couldn't possibly understand the music they are 'trying' to teach. No, teachers do not necessarily need qualitfications and I don't think all the qualifications in the world would make me a better teacher, they may improve my performance standard or 'prove' that I can play a certain standard of piece. I was 16 when I started teaching but by then I had 4 grade 8's and my teacher supervised what I was doing at first to make sure I was on the right track.

I would say go with getting a grade eight, and only after that starting to teach. As a teacher, you have responsibilities to students, and to their parents who are paying you their money to learn their children the piano, or flute, or violin or whatever the case may be. I only began teaching a year ago - on piano, and flute a couple of weeks ago, and I found it so so hard at the beginning to take in a group of strange kids (ie ones i didnt know) and teach them how to play, how to read, count etc.

But now ... Well it's all going well at the moment anyway Anything below a grade 8 I would consider not 'up' enough for teaching - Sorry if that's of offence to anyone Its just my opinion considering the responsibilities involved.

Hey everyone

thanks for the advice, you were really confirming what i already thought but it makes me feel better that wiser and more experienced musicians think so too.

I'll have a search for related forums in a bit. Steve thanks for the informative reply and refocusing the forum!

I have to say I've been putting myself through rigorous practice schedules over the last couple of months, just to check I'm not slipping! I'm also looking to do my Grade 6 theory in the next couple of months, and have been reading through all the earlier grades to refresh my memory.

Needless to say, if I start getting any suspicion that I'm not getting what I should out of pupils due to my direction, I'll quit as soon as!

I was about 30 years older than that when I started to teach... and I wouldn't have done it without the support and encouragement of my teachers. I asked my piano teacher whether he thought I would be able to teach and wouldn't have done so if he had suggested that I wasn't.
Still value the opportunity to discuss teahing matters with my current teacher.