Selection as a candidate for certification in the Lister-Sink Method is made at the discretion of Barbara Lister-Sink or a Master Instructor. Such selection is based on a number of criteria including suitability to teach joyfully and creatively such a rigorous, disciplined technical approach; appropriate personality traits including personal and professional integrity, a sense of humor, and a positive, caring attitude; empathy and the ability to work successfully with appropriate ages and levels; the ability to use Professional Tactile Guidance (PTG) as an essential teaching tool; and convincing musicality in demonstration and performance. With rare exception, candidates must have had significant experience and proven success as professional piano teachers already.

Trainees in the Lister-Sink Method will be evaluated regularly throughout the entire training period for their suitability to become a Certified Lister-Sink Method Instructor. Continuous feedback is necessary to insure that trainees be made aware of areas requiring further attention.

Official certification is not required to teach the Lister-Sink Method. However, official certification is a gold standard for selecting a Lister-Sink Method instructor. It is also a critical means of better insuring that the principles underlying the Lister-Sink Method be fully learned, applied in the teacher’s playing and effectively communicated to the student.

Levels of Certification

Level I	Certification in Training or Retraining Beginning to Intermediate Students (Adults & Children)
Level II	Certification in Retraining Advanced or Professional Keyboardists
Level III	Certification in Retraining Injured Keyboardists (any age or level)
Master Instructor	Certification in Training All Levels of Keyboardists (from Beginning to Advanced Students and Professional Keyboardists), Injured or Non-injured

Because of the wide spread demand for effective technical training—from beginning children or adults to injured professional players and teachers, several levels of training and certification are necessary. Even though all keyboardists instructed in the Lister-Sink Method begin at the foundational level, this system helps insure that a Lister-Sink Method instructor be trained sufficiently at the appropriate technical and musical levels required by the students or professionals he/she is teaching.

Additionally, because of the excessively high number of playing related injuries among keyboardists of many ages and levels of repertory, trainees may elect to acquire more knowledge about specific injury, options for rehabilitation and detailed requirements for training the injured or pre-injured keyboardist (Level 3).

A trainee who fulfills all requirements for Levels 1-3 and additionally demonstrates the ability to teach and demonstrate the entire range of repertory, as well as the ability to retrain injured keyboardists successfully is granted the honorary level of Master Instructor in the Lister-Sink Method.

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