My adult piano student Becky Flisher recently undertook the Cert PTC Piano Teachers’ Course and I asked her to write a little about her experience and how it might help shape her future piano teaching goals. Becky passed the course with a distinction.
Last June, I took a leap and enrolled in the Cert PTC, a specialist course for current and aspiring piano teachers run by Sally Cathcart at the Purcell School in Bushey (Just outside London). I had been considering it for a while. Having recently started teaching two pupils in the evenings alongside my day job, I was curious whether piano teaching could become part of an early retirement plan.
I hoped the course would act as a barometer for my current abilities, help me spot any gaps in my knowledge and give me the confidence that comes with a formal qualification. I’ve always loved learning, so I saw this as a chance to challenge myself and learn some new skills.
From Student to Teacher
My own piano journey began in childhood, although I stopped lessons in High School. Years later, I returned to the piano as an adult, eventually earning my Grade 8 certificate. That led to giving beginner lessons to the children of a friend — on the understanding that I was unqualified and simply exploring the idea. It was a flexible, informal arrangement that worked well for all of us.
The PTC Experience
The Cert PTC runs from September to June and includes:
4 online study days
2 in-person study days
3 residentials (of 2 to 4 days each)
It is split into two modules: pedagogy and professional development. The breadth of topics was extensive and included the history of piano teaching and the instrument; practical psychology; introductions to Kodály, Dalcroze and jazz; repertoire (by level, period and genre); improvisation; theory and applied musicianship; effective practising; running a professional studio and performance opportunities (including duets and trios).
Highlights and Surprises
One of the biggest pleasures of the course was the sense of community. Connecting with other passionate teachers, sharing challenges, and swapping ideas was incredibly enriching. Our participants WhatsApp group was constantly buzzing with questions, tips, resources and encouragement — this acted as real a lifeline throughout the course.
I also loved the duets and trios — fun to rehearse and a gentle way to ease into the performance aspects of the second term. The introduction to Kodály was another eye-opener. I knew my aural skills were poor, and this session sparked a desire to explore this methodology further.
With so much ground to cover, some topics were only touched on lightly. I was surprised that areas like term lesson planning, diagnosing student difficulties, connecting different musical concepts, and a deeper dive into suitable repertoire for various levels weren’t covered in more depth. The business side of running a studio (contracts, payments, invoicing) was also absent, though it came up often in participant discussions.
Personal Growth and Reflection
A standout feature for me was the one-to-one sessions with a Personal Tutor. I was lucky to work with Ilga Pitkevica, who was exceptional. She helped me uncover some of my default teaching habits — like not letting pauses sit, which often meant giving pupils the answers rather than allowing them to think through questions fully for themselves. One small but powerful shift I made was moving from closed to open questions, which revealed when students were guessing rather than truly understanding the subject matter.
The course also emphasized intentional self-reflection and self-evaluation, a practice I found tremendously insightful and continue to practice. It’s helped me become more aware of my teaching style and identified areas for improvement. It requires a conscious and intentional effort, but the payoff is real.
A Shift in Perspective
Before the course, my focus was very much on teaching the instrument. The PTC encouraged a broader, more holistic approach to music — one of the Key Principals is ‘placing meaningful music-making at the heart of every lesson’. Singing, dancing, musical games and improvisation are now a part of my teaching toolkit, and lessons feel more fun and alive because of it.
Suggestions for Potential Future Participants
If you’re considering the Cert PTC, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- It’s a fantastic way to assess your skills, build confidence, and connect with others.
- The volume of coursework is significant — if you work full-time, expect to work some evenings and weekends.
- There are multiple assignments on the go at any time, so you need to be organised and pace yourself to meet all the deadlines.
- The administrative aspects of the course can be a bit slow or short notice, so be prepared to be flexible and operate in ambiguity at times.
- The PTC is perhaps best suited to teachers who already have the foundations of a syllabus and lesson plan structure in place.
As someone new to teaching, I found it challenging to complete the PTC assignments without having all the foundations already in place. In terms of materials, I had never written a Term Lesson Plan and I didn’t have a teaching syllabus or framework in place (I was relying on method books). With only two pupils, I also had only limited opportunities to practice what I was learning about pedagogy. This all added pressure to the assignment workload.
Since I enrolled, the PTC have introduced a Foundation level course. This covers fewer topics in greater depth — including lesson planning. Had it been available earlier, I would have seriously considered it as a more suitable starting point for someone with my level of experience.
Looking Ahead
During the PTC I’ve acquired a huge number of resources and material which I am now in the process of carefully sifting through to extract every ounce of learning. I have just enrolled in a Kodály course to learn more about the method, and I will continue to expand my teaching toolkit with a range of other holistic methods and approaches. The PTC course was a real challenge at times, however I’m glad to have completed it. The certification has given me a feeling of achievement and boosted my confidence and the course content has helped provide a roadmap to improve my teaching and playing. The training course may have finished, but learning never ends!
Find out more by clicking here.
Top Image: Purcell School – The Piano Teachers’ Course UK Ltd
