If you’ve decided to take music lessons, the next step is to find the right music teacher for you.  Asking the right questions and meeting with the teacher ahead of time will make the difference between a successful relationship and a bumpy one.

First of all, you can speak with your prospective teacher on the phone.  Some of the questions you will want to ask are:

• What are your rates, how many lessons will I get a month and how long are the lessons?
• How long have you been teaching?
• What ages have you taught?
• What styles do you teach?
• What levels do you teach?

After an initial phone conversation, it is a good idea to set up an introductory meeting.  At this meeting you can find out more about the personality of the prospective teacher and see if you “click” with them.  A good teacher will be patient, creative and adaptable.

If the meeting goes well, set up a month of lessons as a trial.  After the first month, you should know if this is a good match for you.  If at any point, you don’t feel comfortable or you don’t think things are going well, don’t hesitate to request another instructor.

Here at Empire Music Studios, we have several teachers in-studio to meet your needs.  You can call today for a free introductory lesson and get started with your music endeavors.

Many people have the desire to learn to play an instrument at some point in their life. Some children start lessons at the encouragement of their parents and others decide to pursue lessons when they are adults.  There are great benefits from learning to play an instrument at any age. So, why should you learn to play?

Learning an instrument:

1. Teaches self-discipline. It takes a lot of perseverance to practice each day and learn new concepts.  Self-discipline is one of the hardest concepts to teach a child, but it is a skill that they will use for the rest of their life and will help them to be successful in life.
2. Improves self-esteem. As you learn more and more musical knowledge, you become more confident in your abilities. As you gain more confidence, performing in recitals can make you feel even better about yourself.  This self-confidence will shine into other areas of your life and help you to succeed.
3. Promotes relaxation. Playing is like any other hobby and should be enjoyable. You will find that escaping to play becomes a time of relaxation for you.  Beyond that, the melodic sounds are good for your soul as well as those around you.
4. Will give you a sense of accomplishment. Whether it’s taking the first steps to learning an instrument, learning your first song or graduating to the next level – there are many successes along the way.  And for a lot of people, learning to play an instrument is a life-long dream fulfilled.
5. Improves student performance. Not only do kids perform better in academics, but they also act better socially.  This is probably due to the new found self-discipline and self-esteem that allows them to shine.

There you have it. If you’ve been playing around with the idea of taking lessons, here are five more reasons to convince you to do so. So what’s the next step?  Find a music instructor that you are comfortable with and who can meet your musical needs.