I posted this in the pianist corner, but figured there would be some good input in this forum as well. Any comments are welcome... Thanks.

http://www.pianoworld.com/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/topic/2/10216.html

First of all I want to say that Lev Vlassenko is a fantastic piano professor.
About you teaching. Why not try it! I think you have enough experience to teach people who just like to play for hobby or little girls who start. I think it will be no problem at all for you!

If you have the time then,

By all means go for it!!!!!

Here are some articles on getting started as a private piano teacher. It's a lot of information that I learned by trial and error especially writing an effective studio policy (you'd be suprised how many parents when one tries to be "Mr. Nice guy" when it comes to cancellations just call at the last minute for anything and everything under the sun or don't show up. One needs an effective policy to keep parents/and or students accountable):

Starting a Private Teaching Studio


Preparing an Effective Studio Policy


Planning a Career in Music Teaching

For more helpful articles on teaching go to:
More teaching articles

Thanks for the links - I look forward to going through them. I could use tips like this!

8ude

i just took a quick glance at Sarabande's link. I wanted to say that the field of music education is very diverse. Educators will criticize certain methods and old (familiar) battles emerge between the people who use one or the other. In this case it looks like Bastien and Alfred get bashed.

Do your homework if you decide to use a method since there is no perfect way to teach, no cookie cutter approach that works for everyone. Each student will challenge you in their own unique way. That is why teaching is so much fun and ultimately rewarding.

If you want to know the rationale behind methods like Bastien/Alfred that teach using "hand positions", go ahead and ask questions.

Hope this helps

Just a quick note for anyone reading the thread that the articles I provided links for have much, much more valuable information for teaching and for teachers getting started than merely information about what methods to use. The portions of the articles that cover methods are just a small, small fraction of the myriads of helpful information for teachers in the articles. Piano World has the link to the site (Piano Education Page) on Piano World's list of links to other sites. If there is a question about the source of the articles one can read the history of the site they came from: The Piano Education Page - Ten Years On

As far as methods, I have used Alfred's the past 8 years and Bastein some and looked over a lot of other methods at the music stores. As there is no perfect method, there are advantages and disadvantages to each. I see a lot of advantages in Alfred's, for example, but some disadvantages as well. I wouldn't bash any particular method to the point of telling a teacher not to use it but only make them aware of some of the "pitfalls" so that one can still use the method effectively by compensating. After one gets some experience with a method one begins to figure out what "problem" areas the method has and can use your own knowledge to compensate. That's the wonderful thing about this forum is that you can ask teachers here that have experience using different methods for advice on most effectively teaching from whatever method you choose. Whatever the drawbacks of these methods, I have gotten some good tips from reading about what others on the forum do in teaching from these that make them work effectively. The biggest thing to think about in choosing a method is choosing those that you feel most comfortable with teaching from and that work well with your students. I know teachers that use a combination from various methods and don't necessarily adhere to the same method for every student. A person can teach from you're own knowledge without a method as well. There are advantages and disadvantages associated with teaching from a method.

The best thing is you have this wonderful forum to ask questions as you go.