The Teaching and Learning of Music
The music teacher literally gives the gift of love in every lesson. As the scales and notes on the page are reviewed and practiced, played over and over, what is really taught are the worlds of interpretation between each ink blot. In no other discipline can the same thing be given a new and different life every time it is played.
The music student is the expression of the teacher's love. As knowledge is passed and the student grows, becomes more able to make the magic in his mind real with his fingers or voice, the work of the teacher is validated. Finally, they come to the nirvana: Teacher teaches the notes one way; student plays those same notes a different way. Both ways are right and beautiful. The teacher has given the student the tools to fully express himself.
Finding the right teacher is essential to this experience. The right teacher is a guide more than a professor, a big brother or sister mentor who guides the student to asking the right questions. When looking for a music teacher, the student should definitely find the answers to his or her questions going in, but should also find him or herself with more and more questions coming out.
Contrary to the popular saying, "Those who cannot do, teach," the right music teacher is definitely a doer. There is no way to learn music except to play music, so any teacher who cannot sight-read or play expertly in front of an audience should not be considered. Good teachers also have their own vision. Their playing should be discernible from that of another expert, and more importantly, they should be able to explain WHY they play the way that they do.
However, an expert player with a vision is a virtuoso, not a teacher -- being a teacher requires one more step. That step is the patience not to try to control one's student with a vision, but to let the student achieve his or her own. This can prove difficult as students will sometimes look for the easy way out when frustrated -- an interpretation or a shortcut that is accepted by most people in order to keep from nurturing their own vision and skill set. Building a vision and skill set can be frustrating, because everything looks like a failure in the middle. It is the job of the teacher to keep the student motivated until the vision of the student comes manifest through the mastering of the proper skill.