How to Find a Music Teacher
Music teachers, no matter what their instrument or specialty, can be found easily if you know where to look. The best way to find a music teacher is to investigate your local music store, which often has a printed list of teachers and ways to contact them. Another method is to access an internet search engine such as "Google" and type in your musical interest and location. Checking with local public and private schools, especially universities, is another excellent way to find a music teacher. You might also check with your local community center, church, or check with adults or children taking lessons already who could refer you to their teacher. That teacher may refer you to another instructor if she/he has a full schedule.
Other wonderful teacher searches can be found from the following links:
How to Select a Music Teacher
The key to matching a prospective student with the appropriate teacher is found by determining the qualities of the student and teacher. Finding the right teacher consists of what you know about yourself or your child (see student goals and student availability), interviewing the teacher for his or her qualities, and then determine if you or your child would work well with that teacher . If not, keep doing more research into area teachers. As a musician I highly advise against exclusively using videos, books, or internet lessons to teach yourself how to play the piano. Many of these mass-produced forms of information neglect proper piano technique and thus can lead to physical injury. Over time they also prevent you from being able to play challenging music, and often allow bad habits to form. Nothing compares to having a perceptive teacher that can guide you through not only how to to play and perform beautiful music, but also lend assistance where needed to train your hand to play with an injury-free playing technique. Other reasons to have a personal teacher include: meeting other people with similar interests, performing and listening to others perform, participating in festivals or contests, achieving your musical goals and dreams, and learning music faster.