How Can You Tell if a Teacher is Qualified to Teach:

Even for beginning students, it is critical that the teacher teach good technique and music fundamentals, including reading, from Day One. A beginner can learn advanced technique principles even when playing beginning music. Learning this technique from the very beginning will make working on more advanced music much easier later on. Many students have to relearn basic techniques when they attain higher levels of playing, simply because their teacher wasn't advanced enough to know or use these advanced technique themselves. It is very important to seek the most advanced teacher you can find, even as a beginner. An advanced teacher will be able to convey multiple technical solutions to even beginning learning, causing the student to become comfortable using advanced technique. Later on, when the student is playing more advanced music, the advanced technique will come naturally to them, and they won't have to relearn skills.

It is also important to ask questions to find out what a teacher's proven success rate has been. A person can be an excellent musician, even have a degree in Piano Performance, but be a ineffective communicator of ideas. It is important that the teacher really work at developing a repore with the student, listen to the student, and focus on what the student needs. All too many "teachers" spend the whole lesson time playing for the student, instead of the other way around.

A teacher must have a real interest in getting to know what makes the student "tick". There are professional organizations that rate teachers depending on how well their students play. One of these organizations is The National Guild of Piano Teachers. It is very difficult to become a Certified Teacher with the National Guild, because it is based solely on the progress and balanced instruction of 25 students over the period of at least 5 years. Those students are evaluated against 50 criteria including everything from sight-reading music, to understanding music theory, and performing piano pieces accurately and with correct dynamics. The technique and knowledge of key signatures and chords is also tested. To get so many students to a high enough level to even memorize and play 10 songs, to at least level 3, takes at least 3-5 years...sometimes longer. To get students to stick with lessons for that amount of time, in today's environment of often over-scheduled children and lack of music programs in the schools, takes a special teacher. I make it my job to find teachers like this to teach at my school.

How Can You Tell if a Teacher is Qualified?

If they have been teaching over 3 years, they should have documentation from the National Guild of Piano Teachers, or another outside accreditation group stating that they are "Certified Teachers", and be able to demonstrate how many students of theirs have been evaluated and found to have been taught correctly during the term of their teaching experience. The National Guild of Piano Teachers gives this verification in the form of a Certificate that states that 25 students of the teacher have been heard by a certified Guild Judge, and have been found to have 17 more commendations in their playing than faults. If you are going to spend your hard-earned money on a teacher, you deserve to know whether they have taught students successfully in the past.

In Addition, ask your teacher to play for you. If the teacher can't manage much more than a Clementi Sonatina, or another work graded at Intermediate or less, the teacher isn't good enough to even teach beginning piano. It takes at least 10-15 years of lessons, as well as hours of practice and performance, for a pianist to be good enough to teach. Before that point, a pianist simply does not have the skills to teach a student the technique that they will need when they are advanced pianists themselves. A lot of the technique that advanced pianists use is taught in the first 3 years of piano lessons, when the student is building their core skills. To have to relearn these basic techniques later, because of a inexperienced piano "teacher", is painful and unnecessary work for a student who is working on more advanced repertoire. Many parents don't even ask the teacher to play for them when they meet the teacher. Be an informed student! Ask the teacher to play something by Chopin, and see if they can really play!

About the Suzuki Method:

For children under 6 years of age, the Suzuki Method as outlined by Shinichi Suzuki in his book "Nurtured by Love" is extremely successful. It teaches young children, who are not yet capable of reading, how to play songs "by ear", and this ability is carried forward into adulthood and can make a huge difference for children who have the genetic component for Perfect Pitch. The Suzuki Method is an intensive learning system, and because of the way it works (with repetitive listening and technique exercises), it is imperative that a parent thoroughly understand what the teacher is trying to get across each week. It is recommended that the parent first learn to play the instrument while the child watches the lesson. When the child begins to learn, it is with parental participation, and can be a source of wonderful parental bonding and mutual learning.

If the parent does not have time to come to the lessons with the child, or doesn't have time to work with the child for at least 30 minutes every single day, this method will not be successful.

* SPECIAL NOTE: It has come to our attention that there are "teachers" out there inappropriately using the "Suzuki Method" on students that are older than 6 years old, without the strict curriculum, structure, and intense parental involvement that Shinichi Suzuki made clear that this method requires. This is a total misuse of the "Suzuki" name, and results in students that can not read a note of music. If a student can not read at the same level that they play, they will have to go back later and try to relearn everything. This is a complete waste of your money, and your child's effort, and very few students make it successfully through this process without quitting. They end up with low self esteem, always feeling like incomplete musicians. They have effectively been ruined by incorrect teaching. (The "Suzuki Method" is perfectly appropriate and effective for groups of students under 6 years old, if taught with active parental involvement and the correct routine at home as outline by Shinichi Suzuki in his book, "Nurtured by Love".)

Rates for Private Lessons

Rates are based on the level of the teacher and amount of the lesson time each week. We require that all students take at least a 30 minute lesson, once a week. Each Instructor's rate is based on their Qualification level. There are 4 levels of Instructors, specializing in various musical styles, ages, and levels. We can teach up to 2 students at a time, in a private lesson. (This is limited to Parent/Child, Adult/Adult, or Sibling Combinations.) We are also open to the idea of teaching small groups, and have taught families of 3-4 members... all at the same time, for the same hourly rate. Please Note: Vocal Instruction is done only by level 1 or 2 Instructors.

Teacher Qualification Levels Are As Follows:

Level One: Expert Teachers

Bonnie J. teVelde, Piano & Voice

Mark Hatchard, Violin & Viola

- 15 to 20 years of private and/or collegiate lessons

- 20 to 40 years of playing the instrument

- Specialized training in teaching music. Including interpreting and working with a wide variety of learning styles

- Experience with various forms of applied music theory and composition

- Exprience and training in identifying and working with various learning disabilities (ADD, ADHD, Autism, Asberger's, etc.)*

- Experience and training in various forms of Music Therapy, including pain management, brain damage recovery, etc.*

- Experience judging other teachers and their students in NGPT & Certificate of Merit programs

- Love of music and of teaching

* Rates for Therapy Sessions vary on a case by case basis.

Level Two: Advanced Teachers

Joe Emenaker, Guitar & Bass

Dean Giles, Drums

Brian Kim, Piano

Holly McNeil, Suzuki Violin (Pre-School)

- 10 to 15 years of private lessons or collegiate training

- 15 to 20 years of playing the instrument

- Specialized training in teaching music

Level Three: Intermediate Teachers

Erica Jarvis, Piano

- 10 to 15 years of playing the instrument

- Specialized training in teaching music

- Love of music and of teaching\

Level Four: Apprentice Teachers

- At Least 8 years of private lessons

- At Least 10 years of playing the instrument

- Undergoing specialized training in teaching music

- Love of music and love of children

Semi-Private Voice Classes

Students of similar ages ranging from children to adults are placed in classes based on style of music they wish to study, whether they are at a beginning, intermediate, or advanced level, and what age/gender they prefer to study with. We have classes that focus on all styles of music including pop, country, show-tunes/music theater, contemporary Christian, and opera.

Class size is limited to a maximum of 4 students, with a duration of 75-90 min. Students spend about 30-40 minutes doing classical vocal warm-up and tone production exercises together. They work on breath control, solid tone production, pitch accuracy, and maintaining vocal health. After that, students take turns working on the songs they want to sing, first singing with the original artist, and then singing with an instrumental or karaoke version of the song. The goal is to get the student to figure out what they want their own, unique, vocal style to be, and then helping them apply it to the songs they love to sing. An unexpected side effect of the group classes has been the feeling of mutual student support. The students seem to really bond with, and encourage each other, and this has been the most effective form of vocal lesson we have ever had at the teVelde School of Music! It is also a lot more affordable for the students, so everyone wins!

Tuition for these classes is handled like a college class, in that once you are in a class you pay for all of the classes held that month, regardless of whether you attend. There are no classes (and you are not charged for) on Holidays and other predetermined dates. Classes are held once a week. Class enrollment is subject to availability, and enrollment is handled on a first come, first served basis.