1. Referrals is probably the best place to start!You may want to ask family and friends on recommendations for a teacher. (Many of the students we get at our school are from referrals form other clients.)

2. Interview instructors before starting lessons.If you have specific needs or goals in mind it's always a good idea to ask or touch base with the instructor you are thinking about having lessons with. For example some Instructors strictly teach from a structured book/theory background. Others are more geared towards learning by ear. Some will even do both. There are may different methods for teaching just about any instrument. To make it even more confusing is that There are many different styles available and some instructors are more geared to one or another . Instructors in this position may have concentrated their studies on classical ,blues ,jazz etc.. So the question is do you have a style or goal that you are aiming for? Or is it a well rounded program?

3. Talk to the Instructor on how they put together lessons. Whether it be out of a book. Book and CD . Paper assignments. quizzes. Goal of a exam or concert etc.. Every instructor has a different method to teaching. Ask them how they approach instruction

4. Here's an interesting point . I get a lot of people say I don't need a expensive teacher to learn the basics. The answer to that may be yes or no. How long has the teacher been teaching? What are the teachers qualifications? You see , Sometimes price makes a difference. Some teachers have an incredible background and qualifications that definitely make them worth the money. Sometimes even the best teachers have the least formal qualifications , they just have a way with teaching and conveying information to a student. The main point is that most of these "expensive" teachers (who will cost maybe 30 or 45 dollars more a year ) have an extremely low drop out rate and students come back to them year after year because they're good at what they do. Keep your ears open .Sometimes you can get a great combination of both Experience, Education and Personality. These teachers can sometimes cost a little more but they can offer more too. My experience: What we have found over the years is that personality and a solid delivery in instruction is everything. You want it to be worth your time and money. Some teachers will go above and beyond for their students. This will probably be apparent in preliminary interview.

5.There are so many stories of the piano teacher that used "the ruler slapped over the hand" discipline method. Thankfully it's not like that anymore...Or at least i hope not. Ask the Instructor if you can try a few lessons out or if they have an introductory offer to test the waters so to speak . Also ask if you can sit in on a few lessons to see how the teacher relates to the student.

6. You should ask about tuition fees, Policies etc.up front to make sure there are no surprises in the future. Ask whether or not the teacher will do make up's for missed lessons or terms they may have set for withdrawing permanently from lessons (withdrawal happens usually for sports,lack of practice, or financial reasons). Questions like this will clear the air for everyone involved to start and end on a good note.

7. Ask around as well if there are any perks or benefits to being enrolled in lessons with a prospective teacher or school. For example, our music school gives each student a discount on Books ,Sheet music and Retail merchandise in our parent store Wentworth Music. As another perk ,we also give each student (if they are ready) the opportunity to be in a band, solo acts or duet in a real life rock concert. Twice a year we get our students up on stage under smoke, lights and special effects , At sizable venues for them to perform in public. Kind of like the school of rock movie. You can see what i mean here..

To me the bottom line is finding a teacher who loves to teach, Is sensitive and flexible to a students wants or needs, and will go above and beyond for their students whenever they can to make music lessons one of the most enjoyable part of their week.

Best of luck.

Noel Wentworth
Noel is the owner of Wentworth Music Education center in Kelowna BC where they offer : Guitar lessons , Bass lessons , Drum lessons , Piano lessons ,Saxophone lessons, Songwriting lessons , Composition lessons , Singing / Voice lessons and more...