Here are the updates and improvements we’ve made to Music Teacher’s Helper since December 10, 2007. These include bug fixes, new features, and usability enhancements.

• Added a Mileage Tracker so you can track how far you’ve traveled in your music business. This is great for tax purposes. You can access the Mileage Tracker from Billing -> Mileage Tracker.
• The cost of a lesson or event will now show in event details when hovering over events on the calendar (if the cost is greater than 0)
• Made lending library items become overdue the day AFTER they are due, rather than the same day. They will also be marked overdue at the appropriate time according to your time zone, now, rather than the server time. Lent items now also show in order with the longest overdue items first. (or the ones that will be due back the soonest)
• You can now delete auto invoicing schedules, rather than just deactivate them
• Added a new drop down calendar for the date picker, so it will work better with Internet Explorer 7
• Your email history now shows the content of the message you sent, not just the subject and who you sent to.

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Every teacher has a policy. We all can learn from the studio or teaching policies of others. Below is my policy which I give to the parents as well as post on my web site. Please share with everyone what policy you use for your students.

1. The lesson fee is $80 per month for four 30 minute lessons.
2. The monthly fee is due on or before the 1st of the month.
3. Fees paid after the 1st of the month will be subject to a $10 late charge.
4. A 24 hour notice of cancellation is needed to be eligible for a makeup lesson. Exceptions are at the discretion of the teacher.
5. A thirty day notice is needed to suspend or quit the lessons. Cancellation less than thirty days will be subject to a prorated charge of $20 per week.
6. Payment can be made by cash, check, or credit card online.

What does your policy say. I would be interested in seeing other teachers’ policies.

As a private music teacher just opening my studio, I found that finding private students via online lesson directories and flier mailings was slow going. However, with a few phone calls to local pubic high schools, I was able to get involved as a voice teacher in their after school music lesson programs. This was the perfect solution to my budding studio, connecting me to a large volume of interested and reliable students.

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of teaching in an after school program, and what steps should be taken to begin teaching private lessons in the public schools.
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Joe came to me, he explained, because his boss wanted to get rid of him, and Joe wasn’t about to let it happen.  In the midst of music lesson discussions about the instrument and learning techniques and tunes, I slowly came to learn the story of how Joe was taking his boss to the Labor commissioner for mistreating him, while enduring the mistreatment so as not to give in.

The violin was his refuge.  He started getting pretty good at it by the time the commissioner decided against him.  The next lesson was sad, all talking and no music, in fact, and in an unfortunate twist, he never paid me for that last lesson.  I always joke that I should have charged him triple my normal rates–the rates of a psychiatrist, not a music teacher!

A news article came out today highlighting a new recording studio in a cancer wing of a hospital, giving kids a chance to write songs and record them.  The idea is not merely to cure, but to heal.  Music has a holistic health effect that our pragmatic society has a hard time understanding.  It doesn’t match up with dollars and cents, but it makes common sense.

One more story:   More…

I have been toying around with the idea of having a contest between all of my students. I think it’s a fun idea to get all your students excited about whatever musical theme you choose to base it on. Holding a contest could serve as a way to get your students thinking more about a musical subject they normally might find boring. Here are some ideas for contests:

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Almost every studio teacher has a tuner that they use on a regular basis to help their students tune their instrument or play in tune. However, now there is a tuner that will show a student visually that their pitch is high or low. It is called Vocal Lab.

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The pentatonic scale is a five note scale, using intervals I, II, III, V and VI. There are several rumors on the origin of the scale. The one I am attached to is the scale was found several centuries ago in Asia from the black notes on the piano.

The scale is used by rock and blues musicians to play lead guitar. One famous lead guitarist that uses this scale is Eric Clapton. Other instruments, such as the Flute, also play the scale to an accompaniment.
What is unique about this scale is the notes in the scale can be played with the chords of the same major key or relative minor key. This inspires the student to be creative in choosing the notes in the scale to play with an accompanist. Students actually go into a trance playing the pentatonic scale while I am playing the chords in the same key.

I also found that the song, “Amazing Graze”, only uses the notes in pentatonic scale for the melody. Students that are familiar with the song are giving an assignment to figure what notes in the scale are used to play the melody. This is great ear training for the student.

Do you use the pentatonic scale, or know something of it’s history? Let me know your thoughts on this amazing scale.