Choosing Your Teacher

A student came for a tryout lesson the other day. My class was pretty full for the year but I have decided to give her a chance because of certain tragic circumstances concerning her previous teacher and because giving people a chance is something everyone should do.

So she came for a lesson and I asked her to play something. She then told me she had not “really” practiced the violin during the summer. This left me in an awkward position to be needing to give a lesson with no material. She did eventually play a piece she has learned before, but it was only showing a certain element of her playing, and could not really do anything else. So I sent her on her way and asked her to return within a week with a full Beethoven sonata of her choice and try again. I also mentioned that I was teaching all weekend in the college and suggested she should come and listen to some of these lessons so she can sense my style of teaching. She never showed up. And I have a feeling I wont be hearing from her next week…
Although I find this kind of behaviour odd; I mean why come to a lesson with a new teacher without anything to show? I was not surprised bythat lesson.

I have encountered such behaviour before many times and it is usually not done because of malice or disrespect (although easily interpreted so). Students who strive to be professional take themselves very seriously , sometimes too much so, but when it comes to the things that surround the practice room, such as choosing repertoire, preparing for a lesson, dress code, etc. many simply let faith propel them to a random direction.

Take choosing a teacher, for example: You most likely did not choose your first teacher and even the one in your teens, but choosing a teacher as a professional wannabe is the single most important choice you face in your professional life. It is more important than choosing the School/University/College you will attend, as any establishment, even the famous ones, is full of many teachers who differ in teaching styles, to put it mildly…
A good teacher will make you fulfill your potential and reach beyond what you think is possible while a bad choice can waste years of your life, the damage could be irrecoverable.

To just walk in to any school and trust you will be assigned a teacher who is best for you is putting your future in someone else’s hands. Wouldn’t you want to have a choice in that?

You hear about teachers through other students and rumours as well as the teacher's own prestige and success both as a violinist and a pedagogue but the best way to find out is to go and sit in other people’s lessons. This way you can experience the event without being in the spot light. You could find out if the teacher is using motivation or fear, if they are technical in their approach or concentrate on musical aspects. You’ll sense their style and aura and most importantly: you will find out if you are inspired to do better. Only after you have sat in a few lessons and decide to try for a certain teacher should you approach the teacher and ask for a lesson. Some establishments, like the one I work in , Royal Northern College of Music, give students the possibility to go for one off lessons. In other cases you should invest money and have a paid consultation lesson. Remember, from the point of view of the teacher, once you approach him/her for a lesson you are interested. So do not walk in the class as if you are walking into a shop. A teacher - student relationship is very important and will directly influence your future.

Now, I can not stress it enough. Come Prepared to the lesson. Know your stuff. Bring two or maybe three pieces. Use something you have played before and are comfortable to play under stress and perhaps another piece which is more fresh. But for your own sake do not come to a lesson with something you can barely read off the page.

I always ask new students the following question: “if you were to be granted one wish relating your playing, what would that be?” - the answer must be as specific as possible ( “to improve my technique” is too general). Many students have no clue, or at least do not trust themselves to confront their problems. They wait for the teacher to diagnose them and produce a cure. Yet even when we go to a doctor we usually know what is wrong with us and want help for specific problems. You should know what are your weaknesses are (and strengths as well) and specifically ask for advice concerning them. This will give the teacher a clue about how aware you are and a direction of where to start.

From the teacher’s point of view, we all look for talent and competence, obviously, but this is not a talent show where the most blessed are taken. For a true teacher the important thing, the source of pride, is to take a student, any student, from a certain level to a higher level. I have seen teachers (my father being one of them) taking on students I would not think they’d accept simply because they wanted to help that person and felt they could, or sometimes simply because they liked the student’s personality ( and no, I do not mean “like” in a nasty way).

If the teacher senses you are serious and intelligent, that you are open but not empty, that you are ready to work and know the responsibility ultimately lies with you, then he/she will be ready to take you on even if they feel you lack perhaps in certain abilities.