If you're looking for piano lessons, you may be getting pretty confused about the apparent range of available choices on offer, whether you're looking in your local community or on the internet. One particular area of confusion centers around the use of the words piano 'tutor' and 'teacher', words which are often used interchangeably.
For the most part, there is very little difference between the two. However, there are important exceptions that might affect your choice of piano lessons. These relate to your own aspirations and learning preferences. The purpose of this article is to identify exactly what these exceptions are.
Let's start by looking at definitions. The Collins English Dictionary defines a teacher as, 'one whose occupation is teaching others'. A tutor is described as, 'a teacher, usually instructing individuals'. So you might expect that a teacher of music, or of the piano, would take groups of students and that a tutor, in contrast, would teach individuals.
However, definitions are one thing. How are these different aspects of teaching applied in practice when it comes to the kind of piano lessons that will provide the best fit with your musical aspirations and the skills you need to develop as a pianist?
You may find that those describing themselves as piano teachers are more likely to be employed by schools of music in which group lessons are held, or where lessons are taken individually but students are encouraged to perform in front of others at occasional staff/student concerts. There may also be opportunities for students with similar musical interests to get together to play their own music.
Piano tutors are more likely to be in private practice, where you can guarantee one-to-one tuition but will be presented with fewer, if any, opportunities to play for and with other students.
A further distinction may be between teachers who provide general help and guidance towards musical qualifications, and tutors who take on problems that some students may be having with a particular aspect of their playing. This might relate to the way a piece of music should be interpreted, or to a more technical aspect of playing, such as improving sight reading skills, or memorizing a score for a specific performance.
In reality piano tutors, as described in the paragraph above, are mainly employed by professional pianists and, as a result, are quite expensive in comparison with lessons provided by more generalist teachers.
But all of this makes it more important than ever to do your research before you decide which piano lessons are right for you. Normal procedure is to draw up a shortlist of contenders, contact each one in turn and ask them some basic questions about how they teach. All bona fide teachers and schools of music will expect this kind of approach and will be more than happy to answer your questions.
Some of the questions you might ask, apart from the standard ones like what kind of music is taught and how much does it cost, should be centered around your own learning preferences. If your overriding interest is just to learn the basics of playing the piano on your own, you should make sure your interviewee's teaching style is more that of a piano tutor. If, on the other hand, you are excited by the prospect of meeting and playing with, as well as learning from other musicians, then a school of music or a teacher providing the occasional open forum might suit you better.
CONCLUSION
You might think there is no difference between the role of a piano tutor and a piano teacher. And, for most of the time, this is how things work in practice. But, especially if you're learning to play the piano for the first time, you need to be sure the learning setting is a comfortable one. It's therefore important to establish from the outset what the expectations are of those who are doing the teaching.
Hopefully, this article will help you to gather together the information you need to make an informed choice.
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