Music Lessons: good teachers are worth it

Happy new year everyone.

To learn to play jazz well, it is important to take music lessons with the best teacher you can get for your instrument. Why? Because it will accelerate your progress dramatically. Playing an instrument is not always intuitive, and jazz brings a whole host of techniques specific to its various genres.

A good teacher will help you with efficient technique, will provide a model for good tone and posture, and will help clarify what is important and what isn't?

How do you know if you have a good teacher? Here are some characteristics of bad and good teachers. This is based on my experiences as a student and my observations as a teacher and performer

BAD teachers

• don't plan lessons. They just do whatever comes into their head at the time. Teachers who "just show you a new song each week" are nearly always wasting your time
• don't give you a balanced program of technique, improvisation, repertoire, aural, theory
• are unreliable. They only really want your money, when it is convenient for them, so they will cancel your lesson for the slightest reason.
• are often late to your lesson
• do the same thing with every student instead of meeting the needs of each individual
• don't prepare for lessons. They often spend a lot of the time you paid for writing things out or photocopying. They will also answer phone calls during your lesson.

GOOD teachers

• Plan lessons for each student
• are prepared for each lesson. They spend the time you paid for actually teaching you
• work through a program that meets the needs of each individual
• present a balance in lessons between technique, improvisation, repertoire, aural and theory
• will make every effort to get to your lesson, because they are professional. Even if all their other students cancel on a given day, they will still feel it is worthwhile teaching you.
• assess your progress and help you work through weaknesses, but will move at a good pace through things you can do well

Do you have a good teacher, or a bad one? Anyone can call themself a "music teacher". However, there is a lot more to it than that. Sadly, in my experience, most of the people who call themselves teachers are really just wannabe performers between gigs. They just want money, they don't care about you. The wannabe just wants to fund their fantasy of living the life of a musician. Do yourself a favour, and avoid them!

There are lots of dedicated professional educators who will take you seriously and do a good job of teaching you. Ironically, most of them also seem to be much more successful, and busier, performers than the "wannabes".

Where can you find a good teacher? Well, there are places like my music school Jazz Workshop Australia. Also look for people who are teaching at good universities or successful high schools. A great idea is to find really good young players and find out who taught them.

Good luck, it is worth it.