On many occasions I have had students/parents want to stop their reoccurring payment with PayPal. Two years ago I even had a student with a reoccurring payment quit lessons, but did not stop the reoccurring payment. I had to refund the fee for this student for two years, until I was finally able to make contact with her this month and send her directions to stop the PayPal payment. Incidentally, each month when I rejected the payment, the credit card fee charged to me was also refunded.

Below are the steps to cancel a reoccurring payment sent to me from PayPal’s customer support. Copy and paste it to a file in case you need to send it to a student.

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A newsletter is a great marketing tool. You basically give free information and show your client your expertise all at the same time. The other bonus to writing a newsletter is that people take your business a little more seriously when you go out of your way to share information outside of the lesson time. Everyone’s newsletter is different. You could write articles similar to the ones found on this blog, or you could have a regular feature like a “Song of the Month” as well as a “From the Teacher’s Desk” article.

As far as format goes, you can go hard copy or online. I’ve done both. Online is far easier. It’s cheaper, more professional looking, and you can get it out to more readers. I recommend a website called Mynewsletterbuilder.com. You can include images, mp3s, and videos. I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from my students and their parents. Whenever I feature a student, their parents usually forward the newsletter on to their friends, thus creating a networking opportunity for me.

Anyone else publish a newsletter? I’d love to hear about any other experiences or tips.

Nervousness in performance isn’t a bad thing; it’s a way of collecting your energy, like a loaded spring. But anxiety, especially to the point of what some call stagefright, is clearly detrimental.

Below are some of the key suggestions of experts who deal with stagefright anxiety. How do you think teachers can encourage the enjoyment of performing, so that this terrible anxiety doesn’t have a chance to develop? I’ve made my own comments on the experts’ suggestions; please add your comments, too!

1. Practice, be prepared. Feeling prepared is clearly an important way to feel comfortable, and to direct energy into producing good music rather than into fearing mistakes or criticism. And yet there are many angles to practicing. If someone practices so as to play a piece perfectly every time, what happens if there’s a distraction in the performance or an unexpected mistake? Many experts recommend not only practicing the music, but practicing performing, to get a chance to adjust to one’s own thoughts and build confidence while playing for various people. We can give students opportunities to perform in enjoyable surroundings, as discussed in my earlier post. We can also give students confidence that they are prepared even if in small sections at a time. We can help them start small and successfully, with easier pieces done well (though this has to be balanced with giving them music that inspires and challenges them).

2. Relax. Some experts recommend meditation, stretching, breathing. I remember a teacher of mine listening to me play a difficult passage and (more…)

Are you looking for a little extra cash, a free Music Teacher’s Helper subscription for your own studio, and the opportunity to be part of the Music Teacher’s Helper team, helping other teachers make the most of their experience with Music Teacher’s Helper?

Music Teacher’s Helper has been around for about five years, and is growing quickly as more and more teachers learn about how powerful of a studio management tool it is.

Therefore, we are looking to expand our customer service team to provide more timely and efficient answers to the emailed questions that come in from teachers who use Music Teacher’s Helper.

However, this is different from your typical customer service “job”. (more…)

It’s spring, and what better way to connect with the budding weather than to sing about it! Here is a listing of easy, intermediate and advanced art songs for soprano, mezzo, tenor and bass/ baritone all about spring.
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Encouraging the enjoyment of performance gives students of every level a lifetime of rewarding musical experiences, not only in their own playing, but also in a better appreciation of performances by others.  This may seem obvious, but it’s sometimes hard to keep in mind when the realities of learning music intervene.

For example, if learning music becomes too much about whether the student can avoid mistakes, or if it becomes a test of whether the student can follow through on a commitment, or is built around whether they can win a competition or succeed at an audition, performance isn’t so enjoyable even if the student succeeds in all these tests.

In this post, I’ll take a look at the benefits of mixing performance with participation.  (more…)