Is it Ok to Change Teachers?

As I’m writing this post I’m in an airplane somewhere over perhaps Omaha, NE enroute to visit family in California for Spring Break. It’s been a smooth flight, and I’m looking forward to seeing my family and enjoying some vacation time. To mix things up, I decided to bring my dog, Roxy, with me on the trip. She’s enjoying her first ever flight and is being very well behaved on the plane! If your family takes lessons from us, I hope you are enjoying your Spring Break and maybe managed to get away for some vacation time. If you don’t take lessons from us, I hope you’re having a wonderful day wherever you live! Now onto today’s topic…..

Having thirteen (fourteen if you count myself) amazing teachers here at Winterhalter Music provides a lot of options teacher-wise for our students. From the different personalities of each teacher to the instruments they teach to their teaching approach, our teachers really run the gamut. While each teacher differs in their personality and teaching styles, they all share a love of music and a desire to impart that love of music onto their students in lessons. In fact, inspiring students to love music for life is the entire premise around Winterhalter Music. I never even consider hiring a teacher if he or she doesn’t share that core desire that fueled me to start my studio in the first place.

From time to time our students may need to take lessons from another teacher. Maybe your family or the teacher is moving and you have to change teachers. Maybe it’s not quite the right fit with the current teacher. Maybe your son would like to try a new instrument that the current teacher doesn’t teach. Maybe your daughter is really serious about her instrument and needs a teacher who can push her even more. Maybe you can’t make it work with scheduling… So if one of these scenarios comes up, is it ok to change teachers?

While I have to say, it’s never easy for students to change teachers, it is certainly ok, and can often be a good thing. Growing up, I had a bunch of different teachers. I had four piano teachers and three oboe teachers from the time I started lessons as a kid and through college. For me I had to change each time because my family moved and if I wanted to continue in lessons (I always did!), I simply had to start lessons with someone new.

Each time I moved and needed to start with a new teacher, it was always very sad for me to say goodbye to my soon to be previous teacher. While each teacher helped me learn an incredible skill, they also knew me well and genuinely cared about how I was doing/what was happening in my life. It was a bit like losing a friend.

On the other hand, once I got situated in my new home, and started with a new teacher, it was wonderful! While I missed my former teacher a ton, I gained a new and different perspective the old teacher hadn’t been able to give me. For example, my first piano teacher let me play whatever music I wanted to and for recitals, I never had to memorize my music. My second teacher took only serious, committed students– kids that usually ended up majoring in music in college. While at the time I didn’t know I’d be a music major and an eventual music teacher and music studio owner, I did know that I loved music and wanted to be more serious about my piano lessons. I wanted to learn more classical pieces, take a longer lesson, perform in more recitals, participate in competitions, etc. With my new teacher, I was able to do all of this, which was just what I needed at the time.

If something does come up and your son or daughter needs to start lessons with another teacher, it is ok. The new teacher will bring his or her unique gifts to lessons which will expose your child to wonderful new concepts and ways of doing things. The new teacher may even fill in some gaps that were missed by the previous teacher. Maybe the previous teacher didn’t teach composing in lessons, and that’s just what your daughter finds she adores the most after she’s exposed to it by the new teacher. Maybe the previous teacher taught a very structured lesson and your son thrives on a looser structured lesson. Maybe your daughter works better with a teacher who can laugh and joke with her rather than taking everything so seriously. Anyway, I can say that for me personally, it always ended up being a good thing when I changed teachers. For our students, I can say it almost always is a good thing as well.

I would caution, however, that changing teachers extremely frequently is not great. This can be hard on students. If they have to change to someone new just after they got accustomed to their current teacher, it’s difficult. Students bond with their teachers and gain a certain level of comfort with them. Teachers too become close with their students and are sad when they no longer get to teach them.

Honestly, though, if things are not quite working or someone is moving, in my opinion, it’s so much better to continue with a new teacher than just stop lessons altogether. I can’t tell you how many adults I talk to who stopped their music lessons at some point, and regret it today. They always wish they had stuck with lessons longer than they did.

Now I want to hear from you…has your child changed teachers; how did it go? Teachers, what is your perspective on this topic? Leave a comment below with your insight. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to the newsletter list and “like us” on Facebook. Have an incredible day!

Sincerely,

Cassie