Lang Lang: 'The best piano teacher in the world might not be the best for you'

Lang Lang has said students should look for a "soul mate" when searching for the right music teacher.

The superstar pianist, who is credited with encouraging more than 40 million children in China to learn to play the piano, revealed that this chemistry was lacking between him and one of his own first piano teachers - who he refers to as Professor Angry. The situation ultimately made him question whether he had any talent.

The young pianist's relationship with his teacher - who was supposedly the best in China - "wasn't terribly good", he told Classic FM's Charlotte Green on last Sunday's edition of the Culture Club.

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Even if a teacher has a good reputation, he said, "they may not fit you and you may not fit them, even though they're the best".

"Everybody is an individual human being... whatever profession you are and you cannot, especially in music, deal with every teacher and every student in the same way because we are not producing machines, we are producing human being musicians."

The pianist said that there has to be a connection between teacher and student, "somehow from the technical point, from the musical point or as a soul mate".

What memories do you have of your music teachers? Did they make or break your musical aspirations?