Tips for Selecting a Teacher

Every teacher is unique. Here's how you can choose the best music teacher for you.

Music teaching is an unregulated industry. There is no required training to set oneself up as a music teacher in Australia.

This directory is different to other music teacher directories in Australia, in that all the teachers listed on this website are Teaching or Accredited Teaching members of the West Australian Music Teachers’ Association (WAMTA).

Full membership of WAMTA requires at least AMEB Grade 7 level of performance and at least AMEB Grade 4 theory. (Teachers may have qualifications through other examining bodies than the Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB); the different grading levels may not exactly align.) If a teacher does not hold a music teaching qualification, we require evidence of successful teaching by way of submission of exam and eisteddfod reports.

All Teachers in this Directory have been vetted as being suitably qualified.

WAMTA is not responsible for the quality of music lessons provided by its members, nor the conduct of its members in home studios.

Questions to ask of a Teacher

Once you have chosen a Teacher that is in the locality you are looking for, you may like to ask them some of the questions below to determine the compatibility of Teacher and Student.

Not all of the following points will be applicable to your situation. Choose just the questions most important to you so as not to overwhelm yourself or the Teacher.

Their Background

  • What qualifications does the Teacher have? Are the qualifications they have for the instrument that they are teaching?
  • What is the Teacher’s educational and musical background?
  • How long have they been teaching?

Safety Checks

This is extremely important as Teachers work in close proximity to Students, often in one-to-one situations. While a police clearance is not a requirement, a current Working With Children check is.

  • Does the Teacher have a current Working With Children Check card?
  • Do they have a Police Clearance?

Styles & Genres

  • Does the Teacher prefer to teach only one or two styles of music? If so, which styles?
  • Or does the Teacher a broad spectrum of musical styles?

Teaching Syllabus

  • What books does the Teacher use and why?
  • What Grade Levels are their current Students studying?
  • Does the Teacher offer Theory lessons separately or as a component of the Practical Lesson?
  • Is the Teacher in favour of Students sitting Exams?

Lesson Fees

  • What are the fees and how are they to be paid?

(See the teaching fees that WAMTA recommends for our different levels of teachers. Accompaniment fees and group lessons at the discretion of the teacher.)