finding a teacher.

[yorgatron]

and don't tell me to use the god damned search function.

 

OK, I've had some lessons here & there, but I'm still in need of some serious work.

 

I've only been playing keys for about 6 years now, and I can either play LH chords/RH melody or LH bass line/RH chords.

 

not at all interested in Alfred's/Bastien/Suzuki crap where they want you to play "Aura Lee"

 

not interested in playing acoustic piano.

don't have room/space/budget for one, and I don't want to play a digital piano.

 

what I am interested in is learning how to play electric piano (Wurly/Rhodes) and organ (Vox/Hammond) and clavinet.

 

I can figure out the synthesizer stuff later.

 

styles; rock, blues, R&B, funk, and pop.

 

maybe I should just cut & paste this into a craigslist ad.

[kanker.]

OK, I'll bite.

 

Was there a question in there?

 

[yorgatron]

the question is; how does a cranky 51 year old relative beginner find a teacher that is willing to teach me in a way that I find acceptable for a reasonable amount of money.

 

so if you're not going to be helpful GTFO.

[kanker.]

Ahh, so the question is "How do I find a teacher who will embrace and reinforce my world view all the while making me feel like I'm spending my money wisely?"

 

A teacher should challenge you, teach you in a way that is acceptable, but not necessarily because you view it as acceptable. It should be acceptable because it encourages a healthy approach to playing the instrument A teacher should be more concerned with your growth and your progress than your feelings. If you're a relative beginner, you have no idea what is acceptable. You are tabula rasa, and should accept that. There are no shortcuts. There is no magic $25 lesson. There is work, there is playing a whole lot of things you are not interested in because they are what you actually need to learn to grow, not because your 51 year old attention needs to be kept by things you're interested in.

 

Sorry if you don't find any of that helpful, but its truer'n F.

[J. Dan]

While I, of course, agree with Kevin, I will say that different teachers tend to focus on different styles. Go out to venues and see players you enjoy....people you wish to emulated, and on break, ask if they teach lessons - some of them do.

 

I keep asking Kanker for lessons, but the commute from St. Louis to Indy sux...not to mention that half the time, he's in Europe.

[Musicale]

There's probably thousands of teachers in California !

 

You may wish to decide on a style of music you would like to play. I was lucky to find a very excellent teacher, by listening to one of his students play at a gig. I asked the student who his teacher was and voila I still work with him 20 years later. So maybe go -out in public to hear various players around town, restaurants clubs hotels jazz clubs and listen and talk to the players. If you like how and what they play ask them if they teach.

Another option is to go to a local college or university and inquire at the music school reception about lessons. Another way is just to enroll in some music classes like theory, harmony rhythm etc. to get that under your hands. That way you are responsible for your own learning and if you are serious and aggressive in your studies it's money well spent.

 

Regards

[CEB]

I got lucky and found a teacher on the internet that fit what I was looking for. This person used to teach at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest. It is the type of technicial coaching I was looking for.

 

Lessons are a lot of work. Scheduling for adult students can often be less frequent than kids. Lessons need to spaced so that you can fit in the required amount of work in time between lessons else it is a waste of time and money. For what I am doing with my schedule and the way my life is structured one session a month seems optimal. Adults don't have to go every week like kids do.

 

I learned about the Hammond from a teacher I met from hanging out in a music store back when music stores served a vital role in the music community. At the time I was still a classical piano student with 14 years of formal training to date and was gigging about 3 days week putting myself through college. My situation between my Hammond teacher and myself was the type of thing that sounds like what you are looking for.

 

Maybe if you can find a place where local pros hang out.

[CaptainUnderpant]

I just hired my new music teacher. In the process, I found myself thinking critically about what methods and philosphy the teacher had regarding developing skills.

 

Here was my thought process:

 

Objective: To become an accomplished performer.

Path: To develop skills that are applicable to playing contemporary pop music.

 

My philosophy about becoming an accomplished performer is based upon my experience in being a top ranked athlete both in college and in my adult competative career. I am currently only an intermiate keyboard player.

 

I needed to find a teacher / coach, that could lead me through a series of drills / exercises, that would develop my skill set.

 

My philosphopy regarding drilling/ practicing.

 

Only Perfect practice makes perfect. Drill Baby Drill. But the drills needed to be relavant to the music that I wanted to play. They need to simulate riffs, licks or songs that I would play live. The drill should be something that represents something you will commonly play. For me, basic blues and jazz riffs, chords, scales etc.

 

I believe a musician will only improvise or play around what is inherantly in their skill set. Therefore the drills should be practiced in each key and fully understood from a theory standpoint. But then practiced so much that you don't even have to think about it, it just flows off your finger tips. This is critical, because there is no time to think in competative sports or performance. In sports, you should be thinking about strategy, NOT execution. Same thing with music, you should be thinking about composition and sound, not how to execute.

 

I first had to become clear about WHAT I wanted to learn, but more importantly HOW I wanted to learn before I could evaluate a teacher. I am in NO way saying this is THE right way to learn, only that it is my personal method.

 

Just last month my teacher moved away. So I interviewed two recommended teachers. I booked a one hour lesson with both teachers. I explained my philosophy to my first interviewee. Showed her my drilling schedule and demonstrated my skillset. She proceeded to say that's fine, but not how I work. Her assignment to me was to learn by ear 4 songs that were classic rock songs and see me when I figured them out. I could tell that we weren't on the same page. This relationship would have been a bust.

 

The second teacher got exactly where I was at, and gave me drills that expanded upon my current skill set. I could tell we where a perfect fit. BINGO! I have a lesson every other week and practice about 2 hours a day. This give me enough time to really grind on the lessons.

 

Best of luck in your search for your teacher. I hope my experience might help you.

 

 

[Musicale]

Well Captain I really like your approach, make great sense to me..

[FatMarathoner]

I like the approach, too.

 

Just last month my teacher moved away. So I interviewed two recommended teachers. I booked a one hour lesson with both teachers. I explained my philosophy to my first interviewee...

 

The second teacher got exactly where I was at, and gave me drills that expanded upon my current skill set.

 

Do you mind my asking if you paid for those first lessons, or conducted your interviews as part of a freebie/introductory session? My last couple of teachers have not been exactly what I was looking for, but it took me a couple of lessons to figure it out (on my dime, as was appropriate). On the one hand, I want to quickly- and politely- remove myself from a teacher that isn't going to take me where I want to go. On the other hand, I want to respect the process, and give him/her a bit of a time to show me the teaching style (acknowledging that I might not at first necessarily recognize the steps along the path towards my playing goals). Because I really think this is great advice:

 

If you're a relative beginner, you have no idea what is acceptable. You are tabula rasa, and should accept that. There are no shortcuts. There is no magic $25 lesson. There is work, there is playing a whole lot of things you are not interested in because they are what you actually need to learn to grow, not because your 51 year old attention needs to be kept by things you're interested in.

 

That advice is what has led me to conduct a little bit of a longer interviewing process in the past, at a little more personal expense.

 

I need to strike the right balance between interviewing/instructing a teacher to show me exactly what I learn and being led down different paths with the hopes that someday it will bring me to where I want to be. When I do, Ill be back to taking lessons in the Boston area (hopefully north of)

[Joe Muscara]

My first lesson with my current teacher (started 2009 November) was free so that we could evaluate whether we felt we could work together. I think that should be standard policy for private lesson teachers.

 

Longer term, I think a lot of people forget that they can stop at almost any time. Most instructors charge per lesson so you can stop whenever you need or want to, or take a break. If they make you pay in advance, you can just finish those out and let them know.

 

I was once taking lessons from the wife of a friend of mine, and decided she wasn't right for me. I felt bad about stopping and told my friend. He said, "don't worry about it! She's used to it. Students quit all the time." That opened my eyes.

 

It's not a marriage.

[yorgatron]

I just hired my new music teacher. In the process, I found myself thinking critically about what methods and philosphy the teacher had regarding developing skills.

 

Here was my thought process:

 

Objective: To become an accomplished performer.

Path: To develop skills that are applicable to playing contemporary pop music.

 

My philosophy about becoming an accomplished performer is based upon my experience in being a top ranked athlete both in college and in my adult competative career. I am currently only an intermiate keyboard player.

 

I needed to find a teacher / coach, that could lead me through a series of drills / exercises, that would develop my skill set.

 

My philosphopy regarding drilling/ practicing.

 

Only Perfect practice makes perfect. Drill Baby Drill. But the drills needed to be relavant to the music that I wanted to play. They need to simulate riffs, licks or songs that I would play live. The drill should be something that represents something you will commonly play. For me, basic blues and jazz riffs, chords, scales etc.

 

I believe a musician will only improvise or play around what is inherantly in their skill set. Therefore the drills should be practiced in each key and fully understood from a theory standpoint. But then practiced so much that you don't even have to think about it, it just flows off your finger tips. This is critical, because there is no time to think in competative sports or performance. In sports, you should be thinking about strategy, NOT execution. Same thing with music, you should be thinking about composition and sound, not how to execute.

 

I first had to become clear about WHAT I wanted to learn, but more importantly HOW I wanted to learn before I could evaluate a teacher. I am in NO way saying this is THE right way to learn, only that it is my personal method.

 

Just last month my teacher moved away. So I interviewed two recommended teachers. I booked a one hour lesson with both teachers. I explained my philosophy to my first interviewee. Showed her my drilling schedule and demonstrated my skillset. She proceeded to say that's fine, but not how I work. Her assignment to me was to learn by ear 4 songs that were classic rock songs and see me when I figured them out. I could tell that we weren't on the same page. This relationship would have been a bust.

 

The second teacher got exactly where I was at, and gave me drills that expanded upon my current skill set. I could tell we where a perfect fit. BINGO! I have a lesson every other week and practice about 2 hours a day. This give me enough time to really grind on the lessons.

 

Best of luck in your search for your teacher. I hope my experience might help you.

 

 

Thank you, that's exactly the sort of advice I was seeking.

[CaptainUnderpant]

Well Captain I really like your approach, make great sense to me..

Thank you!

 

I like the approach, too.

 

Do you mind my asking if you paid for those first lessons

I paid for both lessons. It is possible that I may have been able to arrange an interview, but I kind of like the idea of paying for the time. Then I feel like we can get down to business. Plus I feel that true professionals should be paid for their time, and if I pay I can expect better service. Sort of like "you get what you pay for".

 

Thank you, that's exactly the sort of advice I was seeking.

Really glad I could help, as everybody on this forum has been so helpful.