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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]PP 10:09 here, answering 13:13's question: I'm a professionally trained musician (including having taken Suzuki teacher training). But I chose another primary career (one that's far more lucrative). I still perform professionally, play for fun, and teach/coach on the side, though.

By the way, [b]all serious musicians should learn to play the piano, even if it's not their primary instrument.[/b] In fact, at the college level, whether university or conservatory, music majors usually have to pass a basic piano proficiency exam (sometimes done in conjunction with the first year of music theory). [/quote]

This is true, but doing secondary piano does not qualify someone to become a piano teacher. I have been in the DMV area for almost two decades now and it is quite shocking to see so many young students taking piano lessons from woodwind or even percussion major non-pianists who claim they have a "minor" in piano performance. There is so much involved from the start, from posture, to the way the fingers should work independently, to the way the wrist and shoulders should work. It's much more than repertoire/scales/genre of music. The teacher has to address these things and correct them from the very beginning during the lesson.
My neighbors/friends sometimes tell me to sit at their kids' piano lesson and the lesson is no more than the bare minimum of correcting the text. Just last month, a star student of a teacher with over 40 private students suddenly quit playing because her hands and arms were hurting after less than 10 minutes of playing. When resting and steroid injections did not help, her  mom got in touch with me (I am not currently teaching piano) and wanted me to see what was going on. I could not believe when I saw her play. Everything has to be undone and if the only way for her to continue playing is to work on exercises only for at least 6 months.  I asked the parents why they had chosen and stuck with this specific teacher for over 6 years. The answer  was  that she had a PHD in musicology, was able to teach all the woodwinds in addition to the piano,  was very personable, looked and acted like a musician and rented expensive halls for the bi-annual student recitals ...

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