Things to look for in a Los Angeles Music Teacher

You’ve decided to learn an instrument, that’s a wonderfully fulfilling project and one that will provide you a lifetime of joy! You probably have your instrument at this point, and now it’s time to start looking for a music teacher in Los Angeles. Here are some helpful tips for questions you can ask so you know what to look for:

1. Find out your teacher’s history. Ask for a short bio and find out where they’ve performed and how long they’ve taught for. You want someone with a healthy balance of performing and teaching, because you want them to be able to demonstrate techniques. If they haven’t been performing for a while, they’re probably going to explain everything to you rather than show you. If you’re more of a visual learning, that won’t work too well.

2. Ask them what styles they specialize in. You want a teacher to be able to teach a variety of styles, and you should know what your preferred style is. Tell them what you’re interested in learning and find out how they would go about getting you to play your favorite kind of music.

3. Find out if they use any method books. You want to have a better idea of how the lesson will be structured. Take a look at the method book beforehand if you can. If you don’t know how to read music, ask how your teacher will incorporate music theory in the lesson.

4. Find out what their expectations for you are. You need to know exactly how much time you can dedicate to the instrument a week. Tell your teacher that and make sure they feel comfortable with that.

5. Ask for online resources. They might be able to point you to some valuable learning tools before the lesson so you can be more familiar with music terms or technique.
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I hope you feel more comfortable in your search now! As a reminder, you can ask for a discounted trial lesson but usually a trial lesson is the full price of the lesson. Every teacher has their own policy; some give a shorter trial lesson. Expecting a free trial lesson from a music teacher in Los Angeles is very unrealistic unless it’s a big school with a lot of overhead. There is a lot of investment and time that goes into each new student. Thanks for reading!