Piano lessons to meet your needs, since 2009
Piano lessons to meet your needs, since 2009
Choosing a piano teacher in Toronto is an important decision. Like choosing a doctor or tax accountant, finding a piano teacher in Toronto who is highly trained and qualified to teach piano lessons will ensure that you are receiving a thorough and well-rounded piano education. This will save you from potential frustration later on by avoiding any gaps in your knowledge, and from potential physical problems by ensuring a proper piano hand technique right from the beginning. Fortunately there are a few ways to reliably determine whether your prospective piano teacher in Toronto has up-to-date training and qualifications recognized by Canadian and Toronto standards of piano education.
Here are some qualifications the best Toronto piano teachers tend to have earned during courses of intensive piano studies in Toronto. These qualifications generally act as proof of the highest levels of training for piano teachers in Toronto.
Many piano teachers in Toronto - especially classical piano teachers - have achieved qualifications from the Royal Conservatory of Music. An ARCT (Associate Diploma) in piano performance or pedagogy or an LRCM (Licentiate Diploma) indicate that Toronto piano teachers are performing and teaching to the RCM's highest standards.
Conservatory Canada is a similar/parallel institution to the RCM. Piano teachers in Toronto who have attained the ACCM (Associate) and/or LCCM (Licentiate) are considered to have an equivalent level of qualification as the ARCT and LRCM respectively.
Bachelor and Masters degree programs are considered a step above the RCM and CC diplomas, as they incorporate a larger degree of both practical academic training, many degree programs require an ARCT as a prerequisite for entry. The University of Toronto and York University have excellent degree programs in both classical piano and jazz piano, and piano teachers in Toronto who graduate from these schools are the cream of the crop. Humber College is equally prestigious for jazz and pop/rock piano styles, and offers both degree and diploma programs. Many top Toronto pianists and Toronto piano teachers are on the faculty of one or more of these fine institutions.
The RCM's Glenn Gould School trains top Toronto pianists and piano teachers at a parallel level to the Bachelor and Masters degree programs. The Performance Diploma is at the level of a Bachelor degree, while the Artist Diploma trains pianists at a Masters degree level - the difference being that these programs are focused more on practical performance and less on academic study. Nevertheless, with highly-competitive entry into these programs, piano teachers in Toronto with Glenn Gould School certification should be considered formidable pianists and highly-skilled and trained piano teachers.
When considering taking piano lessons with any piano teachers in Toronto, don't be afraid to ask prospective piano teachers about their qualifications, and where they have earned them. If any of the above Toronto institutions are listed, you can be sure that they are among the best of Toronto's piano teachers. If not, perhaps they have earned a Bachelor or Masters degree at an equally great university program elsewhere. If they don't have a recognizable piano teaching qualification, it is possible they might have the equivalent in experience or private training, but you will want to proceed with caution when considering piano lessons with piano teachers in Toronto who are not highly-qualified. After all - there are so many well-qualified piano teachers in Toronto, why not learn from the best?
