Good accordion teachers

[olivigus]

The other good thing about having a teacher who plays really well is that it can give you hope that some day your accordion in your hands might actually sound the way it does when your teacher plays it. In other words, it's not the accordion's fault...

 

[Siegmund]

I would like to add something that has not been mentioned and that is that teachers must be very good accordion players themselves. Maybe not everyone will agree but I think that you can't lead someone to where you haven't been yourself.

I agree with the latter half: you can't lead someone to where you haven't been yourself.

That does mean the teacher has to be better than the students - and has to know enough that he won't just be a little bit ahead of the students on the wrong path. That probably suggests some moderate level of proficiency that is needed.

It also means the teacher has to be able to figure out where the student's mind is at, not just demonstrate perfect technique and assign exercises. People with a spectacular natural gift for a topic often don't make good teachers for beginners (even if they might be quite good teachers for advanced students) - their students are struggling with things that are so obvious to them they don't know how to explain them.

 

[JeffJetton]

People with a spectacular natural gift for a topic often don't make good teachers for beginners (even if they might be quite good teachers for advanced students) - their students are struggling with things that are so obvious to them they don't know how to explain them.

That's something I have to keep in mind myself. There are a lot of very basic aspects of music that I've been able to do for so long that I can't remember them ever being new to me, or ever struggling with them--although I'm sure I at one time did. It's really important that I be sympathetic and patient with beginners who, like most "normal" people, don't have the knowledge or those skills that a lot of us take for granted.

Something that I find helps: Learning new things myself. For example, I've recently been trying to learn to juggle. I have pretty much zero athletic coordination, so even something as basic as making reasonably accurate throws and catches takes a lot of work and practice for me. (A musician who wasn't really into sports as a kid? Shocking!!!) I'm sure that anyone who played baseball/basketball/etc. growing up would be able to do a lot of this without even thinking about it. They'd be miles ahead of me, and probably amazed that a solid toss & catch wasn't something that everyone could just "do". As I struggle along and deal with the setbacks and plateaus, I try to be aware of all that's part of being on that "learning side" of the process. It's very interesting!

 

[Ffingers]

If an instructor can make learning both educational and entertaining, then it becomes automatic.
There's a whole raft of research to back that concept.

 

[yaroslav9728]

The main question(s) is how to find this good teacher? What check point questions the person should ask, and to which things he/she should pay attention before making a decision about particular instructors?

 

[Ffingers]

The main question(s) is how to find this good teacher? What check point questions the person should ask, and to which things he/she should pay attention before making a decision about particular instructors?

As in many endeavours, it's a bit like the young Lady trying to find her handsome Prince - there's a lot of frog kissing involved.
Trial and error plays a large part in finding the instructor with whom you can build a beneficial rapporte.
Accepting that there may not be such a person within a reasonable distance of your home can be daunting though.

 

[Tom]

The main question(s) is how to find this good teacher? What check point questions the person should ask, and to which things he/she should pay attention before making a decision about particular instructors?

Good questions! We need the "internet 2" of accordion teachers, because, as Ffingers says, the chance of finding that decent teacher in most areas is pretty slim. Online teachers are the answer but we need that site that has user reviews, profiles and ratings so prospective students can make an informed choice. Maybe it's available on one of the general teacher platforms, I don't know. An opportunity for some techie: AccordionTeachers.info....

 

[Ben-jammin]

Good questions! We need the "internet 2" of accordion teachers, because, as Ffingers says, the chance of finding that decent teacher in most areas is pretty slim. Online teachers are the answer but we need that site that has user reviews, profiles and ratings so prospective students can make an informed choice. Maybe it's available on one of the general teacher platforms, I don't know. An opportunity for some techie: AccordionTeachers.info....

I don’t want to act as an advertisement but the platform I used to find my instructor has a feature to review the instructors. There’s several accordion instructors on there that do remote instruction. But I think all reviews should be taken with a grain of salt. An instructor might be a good fit for one kind of student but a poor fit for others. It seems like we are living in an age where the loudest voices often have the most unrealistic expectations. Limited availability might be a more subtle indication of a quality instructor. I think the best way to find a good teacher is to do a few lessons with one and see how you get on. Its important to let your instructor know what your general long term goal as well as more specific shorter term goals. Learning with an instructor should be a collaboration.