To teach is to touch a life, and music educators do just that on a daily basis. However, like any other profession, there are certain skills and traits that all success educators have in common. When pondering a career path as a music educator, it’s important to take note of some of these essential characteristics and personal attributes needed to be a great music teacher.

According to Nancy Shankman of NYU, great music teachers must be passionate, well organized, and always well prepared. They must love children and be sensitive to the needs and learning styles of the different students in their classroom.

David Elliott from NYU believes one has to charismatic, committed to young people, and has to love the interaction of teaching in order to be a great teacher. He discourages musicians that want to use education as a fall back to a performance career.

Beyond personal characteristics there are practical attributes associated with great music teachers. Cathy Benedict from NYU talks about what it means to be a thoughtful teacher and to facilitate positive learning environments for students.

According to music education luminary, Sandy Feldstein, great teachers are good listeners. The technical aspect of teaching students to play an instrument is just one small part of the job. Establishing a relationship of trust with students to allow for constructive criticism, motivation, mentoring and growth is very important.

Danny Rocks, former VP of Sales and Education at Alfred Publishing, believes a great teacher is one that inspires a student to grow beyond where they feel capable.

To learn more about what it takes to be a great music teacher, be sure to check out the Teaching category within the Education section of ArtistsHouseMusic.org. There you’ll find more video interviews, articles and blog posts about teaching music.

Good luck with your own teaching pursuits!

Debbie Cavalier
Debbie Cavalier is the dean of continuing education for Berklee College of Music’s online extension school, Berkleemusic.com.