National Certification

Since September I've been taking steps to become a nationally certified piano teacher with Music Teacher's National Association, or MTNA. I've considered going through this process several times, so when Dr. Marianne Fleming Bryan, my teacher, offered to mentor a group of teachers through the process, I jumped at the chance. Here's the scoop, from the MTNA website:
"Certification is a process that validates an individual's qualifications for a specific field of professional practice. It demonstrates to employers, clients, and peers that which the individual knows and is able to do. It signifies commitment to continued excellence in professional practice. In addition, it increases visibility, builds credibility, provides a goal for personal professional achievement and validates expertise for the individual and to those outside the field.
The MTNA Professional Certification program exists for teachers who teach music to students of any age level in private or group settings. The program is based upon a set of five standards defining what a competent music teacher should know and be able to do:
• Standard I: Professional Preparation
• Standard II: Professional Teaching Practices
• Standard III: Professional Business Management
• Standard IV: Professionalism and Partnerships
• Standard V: Professional and Personal Renewal
Upon fulfillment of these standards, applicants are granted the MTNA Professional Certification credential with the designation, Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM). The credential and designation are granted without bias, discrimination, or favoritism between MTNA members and/or non-members or any other arbitrary differentiation. In order to maintain the MTNA Professional Certification credential and designation, NCTM must continue fulfilling the program's standards through the renewal process."
For me, so far the process has involved an application, an evaluation of my college transcript, a professional proficiency test in Music History from the Renaissance to the present day, and I will take the Piano Pedagogy test on Tuesday, June 5, at our MMTA Convention. I must say I really enjoyed reviewing Music History, even though it took many hours of study. I've always been a firm believer that teachers should subject themselves to life-long study and be willing to do what they're asking their students to do. That's why I've taken this path - to become a better musician and teacher for my students' benefit.

Key Facts . . .

FACT: There are 18 million nonprofessional pianists in this country. 79% are female; 21% are male. The average age is 28.
FACT: One out of 20 people play piano in this country.
FACT: A quarter million NEW pianos are bought every year in the U.S. and nearly one million OLD pianos are sold.
FACT: There are 30 million pianos in the U.S. (maybe more!).
FACT: Pianos are considered the wave of the future for composition and performance.
FACT: The piano is the most universal instrument.
FACT: The piano dominates the music world.
FACT: An entire symphony orchestra can be represented on the piano's 88 keys.
FACT: Most music is composed at the keyboard and then transferred to other instruments.
FACT: The range of the piano extends lower than the bottom 16 foot pedal note of an organ and higher than the top note of a piccolo.
FACT: The piano is totally complete and needs no assistance from any other instruments, but almost all instruments in solo need the piano for accompaniment including singers.
FACT: Choirs practice with the piano and so do dancers.
FACT: Pianos are used for listening music, concert music, background music, and sing-a-long music.
FACT: The piano is education, fun, therapy. It is a hobby, an avocation, or a full-time business.
FACT: A piano can be suited to the largest concert hall or the smallest home.
FACT: Pianos can bring rewards to the earliest beginners and yet meet the musical demands of skilled artists.
FACT: The piano can be a means of human expression, yielding thunderous sounds or soft, gentle music.
FACT: There is a resurgence of the piano in recent years, not just numbers seriously studying the instrument, but is used in marketing, advertising, store windows, and department stores and fine restaurants for dining pleasure. Piano paraphernalia such as piano pads, keyboard scarves, and T-shirts have also hit an all time high.
FACT: A few years ago, the highest price ever paid for a piano was $390,000 for a Steinway grand built in 1884. Its name is the Alma-Tadema Piano" for a painter who supervised the decoration of it. Recently, a new record was set by the same piano. The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, recently paid $1.2 million for this Victorian piano. The auction house, Christie's in London, said it was the highest price ever paid for a piano.
FACT: The biggest or grandest piano ever built weighed 1-1/3 tons. It was 11 feet 8 inches long and made in 1935 by Challen in England. A picture of this instrument can be seen in Pierce's Piano Atlas (the handy little book available from piano supply house that contains the year of construction of every piano ever made according to its serial number). (Info courtesy of Lyn Bronson.)
FACT: One of Cristofori's original pianos is still in existence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
FACT: the Schubert Club located in Landmark Center, St. Paul, MN, has a fine collection of pianos and other early instruments. Pianos used by Brahms, Schubert, and Liszt are on display.