I love composing and plan on doing it professionally in the future. However, despite the fact that I compose frequently, know a fair deal of music theory, and love to improvise at the keyboard, my piano skills are lacking. People hear me improvise and tell me that I am an excellent player, but I've never been formally educated for any significant length of time and know that compared to a 'serious' pianist, I hardly compare.

I've now just graduated high school and have a source of income. This means that I will have money to take lessons and time to practice multiple hours per day. In the fall, I would love to take bi-weekly piano lessons and devote myself to becoming a legitimate classical pianist.

So my question is, how do I go about finding the right teacher? I'm looking for someone who will really drill me on fingering and technique. I'm willing to pay as much money as necessary for the best teacher I can find, who will give me opportunities to play publicly and who will provide the best guidance. I don't want some old lady down the street who only teachers young kids (not that there is anything wrong with that).

I have searched around using google but am having trouble pinpointing who to contact. Here are some of my questions:

1) How do I tell a 'good' teacher from a 'bad' one?
2) What are the most important things to look for from in a teacher?
3) Is there any kind of society or a place that I can contact to look for a great teacher?

I am hungry to learn and am progressing slowly on my own. If anyone would help guide me in the right direction, I would be incredibly thankful. :)

(FYI, I'm not trying to generalize in any way)

-Good teachers won't tell you "do this, no, not that! more like this!"
-Good teachers will elaborate on what you need to do in order to correct a mistake
-Good teachers will have a degree or at least a Bachelor's in Music. MAKE SURE you ask for this!
-Good teachers will have many years of experience. I generally recommend a 5 minimum year of teaching experience.
-Good teachers will NOT be mean in any way!
-GOOD TEACHERS WILL ONLY OFFER CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. If you have a teacher who tells you that you suck or anything deragatory on a personal level, quit immediately and switch to a better instructor.
-Good teachers will have known about music theory
-Good teachers will listen to what you already know and will recommend on what to improve on
-Good teachers will know classical composers and what judges/critiques expect while playing
-Good teachers will make you feel like you're improving. Compare the beginning of your lessons to a few months later. How have you improved?

Make sure you practice. I'm sick of people who only spend like, 30 minutes a day practicing. It really depends, but the general time amount that is perfect for really getting down and grinding/polishing a piece seems to be 2 hours for me, at most. Just make sure to practice MORE than what your teacher tells you to (finished with one piece? START ON THE NEXT ONE. NOW. I'm serious!)

If you don't feel it's working out, don't be afraid to switch. Don't be afraid to tell your teacher what you know and what you want to improve on. And it's really, REALLY, REAAAALLY important that the person you hire has experience, most importantly a degree.

If you can, ask students of the teacher you'll be getting how it is in lessons. I'm serious about this one as well.

Good luck!

It's about humour. A lesson with a boring/strict/unfunny person can be... painful. If the teacher isn't amiling when you first meet them, it's a no. Unless you're heading into playing piano proffesionally, a strict teacher isn't necessary. They must be merciful, kind and helpful. Don't practice multiple hours daily... too much practice means that it's hard to change what you've practiced. There are always ways to find a teacher. Ask friends who learn, ask friends about friends who learn. Local websites, music centres... there are normally ads in local papers for piano teachers, since it's such a quick and easy way to make money. By the way, the more expensive the teacher, the more likely that you'll improve quicker... that's why they can charge those prices.
I would say that half an hour a day for a beginner is more than enough, if you're as musical as I expect you to be. Don't push yourself. Don't worry about stopping lessons with people either. And make sure that you can choose what to play to an extent, because playing ugly pieces every day is a pain. Enjoy your lessons and good luck finding a teacher :flower:

You can look up good music schools. They often have a list of their teachers so you can check out their credentials. Word of mouth is also important, so you should see if the teacher you're interested in has a good reputation or not.

In my opinion, a good instructor will, at the beginning, ask you what your goals are, and will help you not only reach those goals, but exceed them. In addition, they will add to your skills and knowledge things that weren't even part of your goals, but will still help you in your playing. In other words, if you have it in your mind that you want to learn certain things, a good teacher will teach you all those things, but not only that, will also teach you other important things you hadn't thought of or considered.

I mostly agree with celestialriceball's post, but I think good teachers are the ones who know what they're doing, regardless of degree level. And I wouldn't automatically reject someone who hasn't been teaching long and doesn't have 5 or more years of experience. I think every teacher deserves a chance at least, and if you're observant, you will realize within about two lessons whether the teacher will be any good for you. Also, if everyone only went to experienced teachers, then how would new teachers ever gain teaching experience?

Key trouble signs to watch out for are:
-You're listening to the teacher play the instrument more than they're listening to you play. (Run and don't look back)
-The teacher is having you play most of the favorites from their own repertoire, and not setting any time to go over the music you personally want to learn. Yes, the teacher should be challenging you with pieces that match your skill level and which push you to become better, but you should also have a little time to cover your favorite music too.
-Another bad sign is if you're spending more than 2 or 3 lessons going over the same tune (unless it's an extraordinarily lengthy and complicated). This could be the teacher's fault (by giving you something too hard for your skill level), but there's also a good chance that it's your fault (are you practicing enough?).


And on that last note: Some things are the teacher's fault, but some things (like, as I mentioned, not practicing enough) are the student's fault. So don't blame the teacher if you haven't practiced enough. At the same time, a teacher should have at least a minimum amount of empathy and understanding, because once in awhile, things happen and practice can't always happen. So it's give-and-take, compromise, etc.

This reminds me about how suckish my piano instructors are when I was with them... The first one gave me numbers for the notes so I know where I place my hand and press what keys and the second one just gave me the books, played the song once to set an example and... took a nap. (I know... WTH)

Moving along, try to look around in your area first and ask if they have any private lessons you can take. If you do, then you can go up there and talk to them about the piano instructors they have. In my opinion, the piano instructors....

1. Should NEVER take a freakin' nap in the middle of practice
2. Should at least teach the keys, notes, etc.
3. Definately they should teach you a couple of techniques on the piano
4. They aren't yelling at you every five seconds for making a mistake