Dear Mr. Chappell:

I’m looking for a piano teacher for my teen-age son. How do I find someone?

— Shopper

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Dear Shopper:

That depends on what the goal of the student is. One goal might be to acquire keyboard skills at a level that would allow for composing, understanding music theory, supplementing the study of another instrument, or basic accompanying duties. In that case, a knowledge of chords and scales, as well as rudimentary maneuvering around the keyboard, is what is called for. Another might be to develop the abilities associated with playing compositions written specifically for the piano. In that case, control of tone and dynamics, and the array of touches to produce it — including all the variations of speed, direction, and amount of weight of the fingers, hands, and arms — is what is called for. In the first case, you can learn on an electronic instrument. In the second case, a real piano is absolutely necessary.

In any case, there are certain things that all keyboardists/pianists must be able to do. Unlike many other instruments, on the piano you may sound more than one note at a time. Therefore, the basic skill required is to do more than one thing at a time. That means simultaneous different loudnesses, speeds, and articulations between the two hands or even in one hand at a time. This is inescapable, and in fact it is the glory of keyboard playing.

Then there is the question of what kind of music the student intends to play. If the goal is to be an improviser, composer, or arranger, then you will need a teacher who can handle those topics. If the goal is to play music from a printed page, in other words, to be an interpreter, then you will need a teacher who can handle that. Most teaching is done in this latter category, since most teachers teach classical music and classical music is written, not improvised.

Then there is the question of what style of music the student wants to play. Most classical music teachers don’t teach much jazz or pop music. They could, however, if they would teach written transcriptions or arrangements of jazz or pop music. The student comes to no harm by it. When a student plays from a printed page, they still must be able to render the score accurately. Whether it’s Beethoven or John Williams, the same problems of reading pitches and rhythms, and adhering to indications of tempo, dynamics, and pedaling, must be solved. The style of music doesn’t change those elements of notation.

If the goal is to become expert in jazz improvisation, it will be best to find a teacher who is a professional in that field. It is unusual to find one teacher who can cover both classical music and jazz, in which case perhaps two teachers, one for classical and one for jazz, might be the best solution.

There are methods of teaching that do not heavily rely on the printed page. In this case, the teacher demonstrates the music by playing it for the student, and the student imitates the teacher. If I reach over to the keyboard and play a note with my index finger, then ask you to do the same, it would take a couple of seconds for us to complete that transaction. If I tell you that there are seven letters of the alphabet that correspond to musical tones, and that they are written on these five lines, and that I indicate one of those seven letters by fixing it to one of the lines, and that from there you can deduce which lines and spaces belong to the other six letters, and that your fingers are numbered from one to five starting with the thumb as number one, and then if I ask you to put finger number two on the note that is written on the page, and then if you decipher which note it is and play it with your index finger, it would take much longer than a couple of seconds. The former method is an example of the Suzuki method, named for an influential Japanese teacher, and the latter method is an example of the “traditional” European method. I personally favor a mix of the two methods with my young students.

Finally, if the student knows exactly what kind of music they want to play, for example the works of a certain composer or stylistic period, then you might want to find a teacher who will help with that project. If the student doesn’t know what kind of music they like, then you might want to find a teacher who will provide a survey of the keyboard literature. My experience has been that adult students usually fall into the first category and younger students usually fall into the second. Your teen-age son should probably spend time exploring many musical options in order to draw informed conclusions about his direction.

— J.C.