Originally Posted By: Mac
Originally Posted By: Guitarhacker

Find one who will work with you on reading as well as playing by ear. Some refuse to accept playing by ear as legitimate. Avoid them.


+100

Things are getting better along those lines, though, as aging rock, blues, pop and jazz keyboardists are spotted offering lessons, even in some of the local music emporiums, and these people are teaching in the real, things they often had to find out on their own. The old ladies with the picture piano book methods that only taught sight reading and didn't even know theory and such, much less able to teach it, are dwindling - and that's a good thing.

Local colleges are also a good place to find music teachers, if not one there able to do it, often is the case that they can provide a reference to someone outside.

I've encountered far too many over the years who won't hesitate to spend mucho monies on instruments and equipments, yet for reasons unfathomable to me will balk at spending a few dollars a month on private lessons that would make all the difference in their usage of all that expensive stuff.

Runnin' rings around that guy with the multi-bucks custom boutique flattop on yer old cheapie Yamaha plywood top is always fun...


--Mac

I'll +100 on that as well.

Our kid's piano teacher is teaching them to identify chords by ear as well as buried in the classical and other sheet music that she teaches from.

She encourages improvisation and composition, playing by ear, playing from chord charts, playing from sheet music. What she's really giving my kids is a full-on music theory education, while learning piano. She encourages and arranges for performance in formal and informal settings (my kids have had recitals at churches, art galleries, and retirement homes).

If you lived in Colorado Springs, I would recommend her to you without hesitation.

-Scott

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