Photo Credit: Candy Beauchamp
After one last winter hurrah (skiing last weekend), I was so excited for the onset of spring and the warmer weather and sunnier days (thanks to daylight savings time) that I thought would ensue. While it was warmer and beautiful outside earlier this week, today is just crazy. In the DC area we have wind gusts of up to 55 mph and a temperature of 18 degrees Fahrenheit that feels like 0. Ouch! Even my dogs who love hanging out in the backyard, want nothing to do with being outside. When will spring really be here?
At Winterhalter Music we currently have 13 incredible teachers who play and teach a wide spectrum of instruments from piano to guitar to violin to voice to drums to a multitude of other instruments. While most of our teachers teach piano since it’s our most popular instrument, not all of them are piano specialists. Furthermore, some of them have advanced degrees or are working on advanced degrees (master’s or even doctorate) in another instrument than piano. Parents often wonder if the teacher we propose to teach their child is say a flute specialist, is she really fit to teach piano lessons? Since this comes up frequently, I want to address it in today’s blog.
I have to say that most musicians I know are extremely passionate about music in general. They are intelligent and curious and usually love learning or even teaching themselves how to play multiple instruments. In my case, I started piano lessons at age 10. Just a few months in, I picked up the clarinet at school. Then two years later, I began learning oboe. Finally, during my junior year in high school I switched from clarinet (which I played in marching band) to trombone. That’s four instruments that I played extremely well!
Fast forward to my college days at Ithaca College. As a music education major, I was required to learn how to play just about every instrument. In addition to my private piano and oboe lessons (and the clarinet and trombone which I already knew how to play), I also learned to play: flute, bassoon, saxophone, trumpet, French horn, tuba, and percussion. In addition, I took class on organ, sang in the chorus and took voice class, and briefly learned to play the string instruments (violin, viola, cello, and bass). It was really insane!
Ithaca had extremely high standards (which I’m so grateful for!), and we had to be able to play each instrument at an 8th grade level. Even after completing our classes on each instrument, we were tested on every instrument by doing the following: playing a solo piece, the chromatic scale for the full range of the instrument, all scales up to 4 sharps and flats, doing sightreading, AND, we had to be able to answer any pedagogical question the professor of that instrument asked us. It was so intense. I remember practicing as many as 7 different instruments in a given day to prepare for the dreaded proficiency exams all the music education majors needed to take.
As a pianist, I was already extremely well versed in piano, but I know that all of the other music majors regardless of instrument had to take piano classes or lessons as a part of their major. While now I teach only piano students, I’ve taught most of the other instruments in the past, and was extremely comfortable doing so. I’m thankful that the stressful proficiency exams prepared me very well to teach the other instruments.
So after all of that background info, in my opinion, it is completely fine to take lessons from a teacher who specializes in another instrument. Between lessons they took growing up or in college, I can guarantee that your teacher is extremely well versed and comfortable teaching guitar even though he majored in trumpet in college. I would never match a teacher up to teach a student whose level of proficiency on an instrument was not extremely far above the student’s. Don’t worry, you are always in good hands!
As a caveat, if the student is extremely serious and driven from the beginning, it’s never a bad idea to go with a teacher who does specialize in that particular instrument. If the lessons are more for fun and to gain a love of music, having a teacher who does not specialize in that instrument is totally ok.
In addition, for certain instruments– in particular wind instruments or string instruments, it is quite helpful to have a teacher who specializes in that particular instrument– especially if the student is serious and plans to pursue lessons for a long time and possibly go into music as a career. In that case, the teacher who is the specialist, will better be able to teach the student the proper embouchure (how to position your lips on a wind instrument) and technique such as how to hold your bow (for string instruments).
Also, for anyone who takes lessons from someone who specializes in another instrument- ex: a violin specialist teaches cello, there will come a time where the teacher may feel that it’s time for the student to have a teacher that is a cello player. Usually that time doesn’t come until several years into study. When that happens, we are always happy to match the student up with a specialist in that instrument.
Now I want to hear from you! Are you a music teacher who teaches other instruments in addition to your so called primary instrument? How is that for you? Parents, how have your experiences been with a teacher who specializes in an instrument other than the instrument your child takes lessons on? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts. If you liked this article, share it with your friends. Subscribe to the newsletter and “like us” on Facebook.
Have a meaningful day!
Sincerely,
Cassie
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Great article that addresses a touchy subject for private teachers. I agree with you in that most teachers can teach instruments that are not the major performing instrument. However, when you get a student who has an embouchre problem (for example a trumpeter who either can’t produce a sound or has a very limited range), I strongly feel they need to be with a specialist. I’m not even saying another trumpeter, because some trumpet teachers can’t help with embouchre problems. This is where building a good network amongst other teachers and knowing who specializes in certain areas is important.
As a clarinetist primarly who plays piano to an early advanced level and regularly plays and performs difficult solo and chamber music on clarinet, and being an instructor at a small summer music camp where I live for the last 10 years, I would say it depends. For example, I feel EVERY serious teacher should be able to play the piano to at least a late intermediate or early advanced level, be able to play off lead sheets, and improvise on chord progressions, but there are some who take doubling way too far and don’t know the special tricks of each instrument, such as teachers who claim to teach all woodwinds, which I see several such teachers advertising. Even with a teacher who only teaches clarinet and sax, for a clarinet student, you must find out which one they studied first and play primarily, and in that case, you want clarinet for both answers (especially the first!), because almost nobody who learns sax first and then learns clarinet has a decent or correct sound for clarinet, usually it’s too spread out when they play clarinet, while sax players who started on clarinet usually have a focussed sound on both instruments. I know of only ONE good teacher who teaches both clarinet and sax well, and he started on clarinet as a kid and plays it primarily. He’s a university teacher for both instruments too. Brass and strings I can understand playing two or three of them (and know several brass teachers who play three or four well enough to be in an orchestra on any of them, while almost no multi woodwind player is really good enough to be in an orchestra an any one, and no sax/clarinet player who is primarily a sax player gets into an orchestra, you need a focussed sound to carry over a large orchestra, and sax players who add clarinet after sax (especially without getting to at least an late intermediate stage on the clarinet) tend to have a very spread out clarinet sound), brass instruments are all blown pretty much the same way and all except trombone have three or sometimes 4 valves (and horn valves work somewhat differently), and violin teachers who also teach viola well are often in demand (cello and double bass are played somewhat differently I think you add the thumb for fingering notes on the lower strings which you don’t with the higher ones), my area has a shortage of private viola teachers. But most teachers of other instruments, especially if they got the graduation performance degree from an exam system, usually are required to play piano to a late intermediate or early advanced level to receive their final certificate. (For piano, I wish they had an orchestral instrument co-requisite, so the keyboard/piano teachers don’t become piano centric or piano purists and avoid arrangements of music of the great masters choosing to teach original music by pedagogical composers that don’t inspire students.
Hi Donna! I agree with you. Having an amazing network of musicians and music teachers is priceless. 🙂
Voice was my first instrument for private lessons growing up, however I was a piano major in college. I currently teach both instruments because I can successfully perform both with ease. Just recently a teacher I knew began teaching “voice” and I was so unhappy because I knew she added it on for additional income and not to share knowledge about the instrument. She had no prior voice training as well as she was not a singer!!! And therefore the student wasn’t learning correct breathing techniques, vocal placement etc. So therefore I believe a teacher should teach additional instruments based on if they have received adequate training at least to the advance level of study and can also perform on the instrument with ease!!!