People sometimes ask me what makes a good piano teacher. It's a fair question, and I've thought about it from both sides — as a teacher, and as a student who had both good and bad ones. Here's what I've found actually matters, based on what I try to do in my own studio in Hamburg.

1. Adjusting to the Student, Not the Curriculum

There are published piano methods that lay out a progression: this piece in week three, that scale in month two. These methods exist for good reasons — they've been tested with thousands of students and they work on average. But "on average" is not the same as "for you." A nine-year-old who already has strong ear training from choir moves differently through early material than a nine-year-old who's completely new to music. An adult who practices 20 minutes a day consistently makes faster progress than one who practices two hours on Sundays. I use method books as a reference, not a script. The lesson changes based on what the student brought into the room — what they practiced, what they found hard, what excited them that week.

2. Teaching How to Practice, Not Just What to Practice

The lesson is 45 minutes. The week is 10,080 minutes. What students do with the other 10,035 minutes is what determines how fast they improve. Most people are never taught how to practice efficiently. They sit at the piano and play through the piece from the beginning — which means they practice the easy parts a lot and the hard parts once. The improvement is slow and frustrating. I spend time in every lesson on practice strategy: identify the one measure that isn't working, slow it down until it's correct, gradually bring it back to tempo. It sounds simple. It produces dramatic results, usually within two weeks, in students who apply it. Every student leaves with a written practice plan — not just "practice pages 4–6" but specific instructions: which hands separately, at what speed, for how many repetitions. That specificity matters.

3. Honest Feedback Without Discouragement

I've seen teachers who praise everything, and teachers who never praise anything. Both approaches fail. Students who are praised for everything don't develop the self-awareness to identify problems. Students who are never encouraged lose motivation. Finding what's actually working and being honest about what isn't — that's the balance that produces steady improvement. I try to be specific in both directions: "That phrase sounded connected and musical" and "Your left hand is rushing in bars 5–8, let's work on those specifically." Vague feedback teaches nothing.

4. Matching Repertoire to the Student's Taste

A student who loves what they're playing practices more. More practice means faster progress. Faster progress sustains motivation. This is not complicated, but it's easy to ignore. I don't force students to stick with the method book if there's something else they desperately want to learn. If an adult student wants to work on a specific Chopin nocturne that's slightly above their current level, we work toward it. If a teenager wants to learn a contemporary piece, we find an arrangement that fits their technique. The method book is a tool. The goal is a student who loves playing piano.

5. Attention to Physical Technique Early

Most adult learners don't think much about how they sit at the piano or how their hands and wrists move. Most children haven't thought about it either. Physical habits established in the first year of piano study are very difficult to change later. Tension in the wrists, shallow positioning, collapsing finger joints — these lead to slower development and, in serious cases, repetitive strain injuries. I pay attention to posture, hand position, and wrist movement from the very first lesson. Not in a rigid "you must sit exactly like this" way, but in a "here's why a relaxed wrist produces a better sound" way. Students understand the reason, which means they apply it.

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What This Looks Like in Practice

My studio is in Hamburg. I teach children from age 6, teenagers at various levels, and adults — including many who haven't touched a piano in decades and want to start again. Lessons are 45 or 60 minutes. The first lesson is a 25-minute trial session — we meet, I hear you play, we talk about what you want, and you can decide afterward whether you'd like to continue. If what you read here sounds like what you're looking for, book a trial lesson and we can take it from there.