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So... I'm using Alfred's Adult Beginner piano course for self-teaching. I know that I need to find a teacher. Any suggestions for determining how to find the best teachers for adult beginners? How did you find that teacher you really like? Any bad experiences?

My only idea at this point is to ask the music store where I bought my DP. They specialize in band and orchestral instruments and work with the local school district's music department. Should I just trust them?

TIA

Here in Georgia USA I used the website of the Georgia chapter of the Music Teachers National Association. They had a handy page where I could search for teachers by zip code and instrument. I selected two and arranged to have introductory lessons - I think they were 20 or 25 dollars, but that was years ago. Then I picked one of the teachers and signed up. I'm still with the same teacher today, so I was very happy with the process. Maybe your location has something similar...

Sam

Yes, you should.

Then, after you begin taking lessons ... forget about your expectations and what you think the teacher should be doing and just do what is suggested and see how it goes for at least 4 or 5 lessons. Then, if you are unhappy with your relationship with the teacher you will need to pick another one.

After you have gone through 3 or 4 teachers you will be better equipped to judge the next ones.

That is the process.

Good Luck

Both good suggestions. Thanks.

Here are my thoughts:

*Choose a teacher that is a graduate from a top/good conservatory that has a TEACHING degree in piano. Many people graduate with performance degrees. A performance degree means you can play but a teaching degree means that you can both teach and play.
*Look for someone who teaches out of their home or from their personal own studio. Studio's run by third parties take large cuts so the most qualified teachers are less likely to be found there.
*NEVER EVER sign up with a "traveling" company where the teacher gives lessons in your home. For economic reasons, the best teachers aren't traveling to your house.
*Look for a teacher that has the kids in their studio perform in competitions/and or that has their kids participate in exams. Even if you would rather scratch your eyeballs out then participate in a competition/exam, these activities serve as a way for the teacher to continually get formal feedback on the quality of their teaching. I feedback is important in any profession.
*Look for a teacher that is willing to teach you the proper way and not skip the "boring stuff" like scales and theory. Like learning a second language, it is important that you can both write/ and read to achieve fluency.
*Ask about the ages of her "kid" students. How many older children does she/he teach? How long has she/he been teaching them? There are a lot of kids who drop out of piano early but a good established teacher should have some students that have been taking from her/him for a long time.

Of course my thoughts make for an expensive piano teacher and it may not be in your budget. I would give more weight to some of the things that I wrote more than others (i.e.less weight to performance vs teaching degree) for someone who had lots of experience. Also how picky I would be would be determined by the local market. If I lived in Eastern Nowhere and had to drive 2 hours to find a high qualified teacher, perhaps the local church pianist would do.

Good Luck!

Just to present a different point of view http://www.marthabeth.com/consumer_QA.html#25 here she advocates for a performance degree rather than pedagogy.
Incidentally, this site is chock full of amazing piano information (including hints on how to choose teachers!)

Someone with a performance degree could have a ton of teaching experience.

has to be someone you can get along with but they have to be tough enough not to let you away with sloppy work. There seems to be a vast array of teachers out there and no set of guiding principles will necessarily result in finding the right one for you (although it better than throwing darts at the yellow pages). You may expect to go through several teachers as you advance, for as you progress your needs will change and the teacher you have today may not be suitable. But you will have learned more about yourself as a pianist by then and what to look for in a good teacher.

Anybody with a performance degree that hasn't start teaching yesterday and is able to make a living out of it is going to be ok. Terrible teachers don't last too long on the market.
I wouldn't focus on "competition teachers" because it's a skill like others and not necessarily what you want to learn. For some parents it's important to have kids participating in competitions for the bragging rights or to overcompensate for something... pretty much like buying a big SUV.
The best teacher for you, is the one you bond with. If you respect your teacher and your teacher respects you, you are already 50% done.

I see my wife learning the violin, her previous teacher was a way better qualified teacher than the current one, but she wasn't bonding. She didn't felt ashamed of not practicing, she felt humiliated when she got some bad comment and she ended up almost dropping off. The current teacher comes to our house, is not graduated from any major college and doesn't have any advanced degree, just a BM. But they bond, and she practice much more.

Another place to look is your local university, college, or community college. They will offer performance classes (individual lessons) for credit or audit. The faculty will have experience dealing with (more-or-less ) adult students.

A key factor for me was the distance/time I would spend driving to and from lessons. For me an acceptable teacher nearby is better than an ideal teacher far away.

As an adult beginner, I have so many other commitments that the time investment in piano lessons matters a great deal. Over the long run that time has to remain reasonable and fit in everyday life.

And I speak from experience - I used to take violin classes with a teacher whom I loved, but so out of the way (from home, from work, from anywhere) that I skipped too many lessons and for this and other reasons eventually quit.

I strongly agree with the comment about the mutually respectful relationship between the teacher and student. I have it and see how it impacts all aspects of my learning.

Elvistown, I don't know if I can provide much inputs beyond what everyone else had said, but my teacher generally conforms to most of the points in pianomom's response.

I think the most important thing is that the two of you work well together and feel comfortable with each other. Also, the teacher should challenge you but not to the point that piano becomes frustrating and not fun.

Your local area / state should have a registry of piano teachers through a piano association of some sort, I'd start by calling some listed that are geographically close to you, take intro lessons and see which one suits you. In my opinion the intro lesson is an interview for both you and the teacher to see if you are a good fit.

I think you will find someone great to teach you and that getting a teacher will be the best investment you can make in your piano learning journey!

Thank you all for the great responses. We have University of Memphis here with a pretty well respected music department. In addition, the choir director of our church was a professor there and plays tuba in the Memphis Symphony. I think I can use those two resources and the responses here to seek out a good teacher. Thing is, I have to decide what my goals are and be realistic. I would like to read well enough to play simpler classical pieces and versatile enough to play popular music.

It could well be that I end up just playing lead line music and learn the gamut of chords to accompany and fill.

We'll see.

Thanks again.

Elvistown

Good luck with your piano journey. One other piece of advice that I would give is really to take the journey seriously. One thing about piano is that learning to play in the beginning can be deceptively easy. I would urge you to try learning to play correctly without shortcuts or at least give it a shot. It seems to me in the long term learning to play correctly will,be more rewarding. However it's been pointed on Pianoworld a lot that adults just want to go the easy route. I would approach each teacher with an open mind and ask each about their approach. If you go with a highly trained teacher who is a good fit, they'll be able to help you much more then if you go in with very strong preconceived notions on how you would like your lessons structured.

Keep looking until you find a good one! It might take a while, and you may take a few lessons from teachers who aren't going to work for you, but that's just the process.