5 Qualities to Look for in a Good Music Teacher

I have met many music teachers in my lifetime and they have all certainly inspired me in a way. But out of these, two individuals stand out clearly to whom I owe a lot and who are role models for me of what a music teacher should be like. Tomáš Valášek, who introduced me to a solo guitar, and Pavla Forest, whom I have been taking singing lessons with at Rock Opera Prague for the last three years.

1. Experience

When looking for a music teacher, your first thought is probably that they must be brilliant musicians with tons of experience. This is of course true, although not all of it. In fact, your teacher's experience should be adequate to your own experience and ambitions as a musician. That said, if you want to learn a few chords so you can play at the campfire, you're probably not going to take lessons from a well-known and extremely busy guitarist.

Besides being unaffordable, neither of you would probably (for various reasons) enjoy it very much. This is where someone just a few years older or a few chords more experienced can be a great help, and will take the time to show you the ropes. And vice versa, if you've got a band going and want to move on, it makes sense to take lessons from someone who is an active musician and, in addition to teaching, might be able to recommend a studio, a good club or a producer.

It's always a bonus when that person is not only a teacher but also an active musician. Most of the time you don't just need to learn the technique itself, but also many things that are related to music and its production. How to communicate with the audience? How to solve disagreements in the band? What to do about stage fright? And what is the best way to sound a concert? You can discuss all this and many other topics with your music teacher. Especially if you're new to the field, it's great to be able to ask someone about these seemingly obvious matters. Experienced musician-teachers also have insight and can name what seems like an insurmountable problem and add their own experiences, often quite amusing, to guide you towards a solution.

Nowadays, in this age of perfect marketing, of course, everyone will write anything that can even be considered a little bit true about themselves. When you look for teachers, look for real experiences. You can track most things down. If they claim to have played in some bands, you can probably find their videos or recordings. It makes sense to do a little research about who you're actually going to trust with your time, money and musical development. Of course, references from former or current students are best. Don't be afraid to take a test lesson either, that alone will tell you a lot.

2. Interest

A good teacher can see each student as a unique individual with their own story. Or simply – they are interested in you. They are interested in what you listen to and what music you would like to play. This is for purely practical reasons so that they can offer you lessons that you will enjoy. But they're also interested in your band, your musical projects and your successes and failures.

Their interest is not strictly limited to a forty-five-minute lesson. They're willing to go with you to the store to pick out a guitar. Or even come to hear your concert. To give you time outside of your scheduled and paid lessons. Shortly – they would go the extra mile. Within reason, of course, that is. But any such thing means a lot to you as a student.

Example: when I made my first music video with the band two years ago (my first real music video ever, and pretty much starred in it), there were a lot of unknowns around that for me and there was no one to discuss with. Among other things: What am I going to wear? And I guess it would require some special make-up!? I somewhat chaotically scrolled through videos on the internet, wondering if I could do it on my own. Then I mentioned the situation at my singing lesson and Pavla, without hesitation, said with a smile, "Well, come here to the Rock Opera and I'll get someone to do your make-up for you." Of course, I was immensely relieved. And the fact that Pavla was willing to come to work for me on a Sunday morning, make me coffee and cheer me up before the shoot is something I still appreciate very much.

3. Inspiration

One of the reasons why it's worth taking lessons even at an age when you might feel a bit old to be standing next to the piano singing "mi-mi-mi-mi-ma", is inspiration. A music teacher can inspire you in many ways and show you what direction you can still take. Since anyone serious about teaching must have a passion for the subject and needs to be constantly looking for new inspiration and pushing themselves – only then can they take you with them. So it happens that sometimes half an hour is spent in an enthusiastic debate (or listening to an enthusiastic monologue) about David Gilmour's new record... You may be tapping your foot impatiently in your head wondering when you start playing but by the end of the day you've put the record on and you don't even know how it happened, but by the next hour you know a bit of the solo and you're wondering how David actually plays it.

Teachers can also inspire you with their approach to songwriting, to connecting with the audience, or even to taking better care of your instrument. And, of course, to study as such. It takes a certain gift, too. For example, when they play a super-fast solo, you shouldn't feel, "Hmm... I'll never play that one," but rather, "Wow, how on earth does he/she do that? I have to learn that too!" Because a good teacher never shows off in front of a student, never brags and never shows off their skills for the sake of it. When they play or sing, it is to motivate and inspire, or of course to demonstrate a particular thing.

To this, again, one specific memory. In one of my introductory guitar lessons, Tomas taught me the very first blues pentatonic, that is, twelve notes – two on each string. Then he started playing a very slow twelve-bar blues and casually said, "Solo". I don't think I'll ever forget that feeling of absolute panic but also excitement. Although you can probably imagine the "solo" that came out of those few uncertain notes, it was an absolutely magical and groundbreaking moment. And what did we play next? We each took turns for one round and Tomas patiently soloed from the same twelve notes as I did. But the door to the next dimension was already open.

4. Joy

An absolutely essential quality of a good teacher is the ability to tell you directly where you are making a mistake, without making you feel like a nitwit, but instead having the desire to get to the bottom of the matter and learn it correctly. Finding the balance between encouragement and honesty is not easy. I think we all know that while constant praise and encouragement may be nice, it can easily give you a false sense of your abilities and make you take on things you're not ready to do. At the same time, if you come to a lesson for the first time and you hear, quite truthfully, that you cannot produce a good tone from the instrument, and very likely will continue to do so for several months, that you are singing falsely and softly, or that you are completely out of tune, it is quite possible that there won't be any second lesson...

So now the most important thing. You can tell a good teacher by the fact that even though you hardly played anything in class, the new technique or scale seemed beyond your abilities, and you felt like a loser overall, on the way home you look forward to the next lesson. It's that simple.

5. Personality

If your teacher is going to be that "master" who moves you into the next dimension of your musical adventure, and not just someone you play drilled scales to once a week to get you out at exactly 1:45 pm because the next student is ringing the bell, you need to find space for deeper conversation at least occasionally. About music or about other things. This is where the last point I want to mention comes into play. Your music teacher will leave an indelible mark on you only if he or she is a real personality, someone who can be a role model for you in other things than just musicianship.

They are communicating vessels and sooner or later it will become clear exactly what kind of person they are. Again, I'll give a concrete example. You may know Ken Tamplin, one of the most successful singing teachers on the internet. Even among my friends, there are several singers who have learned to sing from his courses and have been mainly impressed. But a few months ago, a video appeared on YouTube showing that Ken sometimes sings on playback at his concerts.

There might have been nothing wrong with that if Ken hadn't vehemently denied the whole thing, brought in conspiracy theories and whatnot and started attacking the creator of musical analyses who goes by the name of Wings Of Pegasus. The latter eventually made another video, which shows that Ken Tamplin, early in his career as a "vocal coach", made videos in which he even pretended to play "live" guitar solos that were prerecorded.

I mention this whole strange story because someone can teach you to sing brilliantly – but if you end up finding out that he or she sucked as a person, you will most likely remember him or her as a teacher with very mixed feelings. At least that's how my friend, a student of Ken Tamplin's, described it: "He's a great teacher and his classes changed my life. I recommended them to a lot of people, I would still recommend them because they are great. But at the same time, I'm ashamed to see what kind of person he is. It makes me miserable."

So a music teacher should be someone that would be the perfect fit for you not only musically, but also as a person. Someone you can respect not only for their technical ability but more importantly for who they are. Only then can you develop that wonderfully rewarding relationship that will stay with you for a lifetime.

But is there any point in taking lessons when there is so much material available on the internet? Isn't one just too old for it at some point? What about the many famous musicians who are self-taught? Maybe I'll come back to these questions in a future article. In the meantime, I'd be happy to hear from you on Facebook! And don't forget to mention your experience with music teachers :)