Leaning to play piano can be one of the most satisfying things one can do in life. Following are seven tips to help you find a great source of piano lessons.
1. Contact your local elementary school and ask if they have a qualified music teacher who offers private instruction. Most music teachers are qualified to play/teach numerous band and orchestral instruments such as piano.
2. Locate your Local Musicians Union to search for a qualified teacher--doing a search on Google for your local union is the easiest way to contact them. Although being a professional musician doesn't immediately guarantee that you are a patient, understanding teacher, experience and mastery of many types of musical idioms, along with the demand for superb "sight reading" gives them an edge. At the very least, this will be a great source for a reference.
3. If you live in or near a college town that has a school which offers a professional music curriculum, there are typically scores of advanced students who will offer their services to teach piano. And, this is often the least costly source of private lessons. Alternatively, the department heads will usually be a good source for this information--you might even find a professor who will offer lessons in his/her spare time.
4. Look on Craigslist. There are frequently ads by qualified teachers in your area offering to teach piano. Alternatively, you could place a 'want ad' for piano instruction--you are likely to be overwhelmed by the responses, but you will at least have a place to start.
5. Search in the phone book for piano tuners. Piano tuners are frequently "keyed-in" to the local music scene and can be a terrific source of information. Many are musicians and teachers just tuning pianos to earn spare cash.
6. Visit your closest source of retail piano sales. As with tuners, stores that sell pianos are usually knowledgeable about local teachers. You might even find a deal to buy or lease a piano in the bargain.
7. Google has a pretty new feature called "local search" which uses your computer's AP address to furnish you with local vendors and sources of searched items. Include your town and state to assist Google in focusing on your particular neck of the woods.
Sighning-up for private lessons is considered the best way to learn piano by most people because teaching it requires such a vast set of skills. Reading music, learning different keys and time signatures, getting used to two hand playing and fingering, setting-up good practicing patterns, and just finding time to devote to improving over time can be a challenge, but very rewarding when mastered.
There are many piano instruction books as well as online courses for those who are not sure if they have the skills, funds, or commitment for an undertaking like learning the piano. Some are quite good, others less so. We like a system of videos, sound files and music learning game which goes under the name of Rocket Piano. Click Here to learn more about it.
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