Piano Teacher Certificate Program

The Professional Piano Teacher: A Program Specially Crafted for Piano Teachers

Program Basics

Designed for pianists with sufficient background to pursue a professional career as a private teacher
Required audition before the Schoolcraft teaching staff
A minimum of 4 semesters of study; additional length depends upon skill level
40 credit hours of instruction
Status as a credit student at Schoolcraft, with regular tuition rates
Part-time study an acceptable option

Program Components

Classes in basic music skills – theory, music history, sight singing, ear training – unless competency demonstrated through pretesting
Keyboard skills classes
Weekly private piano lessons and master classes

Program components also incorporate work with the Piano Academy students:

2 years of supervised teaching, with lessons videotaped and critiqued
Observation of children’s group lessons
Supervising faculty with at least a master’s degree in piano performance or pedagogy

Program Outcomes

Certificate indicating proficiency through Level Ten of the Michigan Music Teachers Association – Student Achievement Testing
Expanded knowledge of teaching repertoire, its suitability and sequencing
Improved keyboard skills such as transposition, scales, sight reading
Enhanced performance skills
Advanced teaching skills such as how to pace a lesson, how to motivate students, how to deal with problems, the physicality of piano playing

Program Director

Donald Morelock

Donald Morelock is an extraordinary teacher and pianist, whose students have gone on to win international competitions, enroll in major music schools, and enjoy rich careers as musicians and conductors. Throughout his career, Morelock has been involved with teacher training at the grass roots and national levels. He was a member of the National Pedagogy Conference on Certificate Programs Committee for many years, and is a frequent panelist at national conferences on the topic of piano teacher development. He has received five national awards for excellence in piano teaching. Morelock is director of the Ann Arbor Bach Association, and a co-director of the American-Russian Piano Institute at the St. Petersburg Conservatory.

Contact Information:

Contact the Schoolcraft Music Department today for an interview or audition, and enroll in the Piano Teacher Certificate Program.

Music Office: (734) 462-4403
Email: pminnick@schoolcraft.edu