Create your Own Website
Every business needs a website in order to survive these days and having your own music studio is just like any other business. Your site can have pictures of your studio, schedules, rates, etc. You may also want to list your educational background as a teacher and any awards that you have won, etc. A website will get you noticed and you can have customers contact you by email or by phone. It can also be a great idea to start a mailing list. Adding a feature such as this will increase the rate of customers by an incredibly high percentage and I will tell you why. Adding a mailing list will give you a way to keep in contact with potential clients. By simply sending out a newsletter weekly or monthly, you are always going to be in the heads of these people for when they decide to take the plunge into learning. A mailing list can also be a way that you let them know about special discounts, upcoming classes, and new features that you have added to your studio. A mailing list is a tool that when used properly, will give you some amazing results.

Advertising in the Church Bulletin or School Newsletter
Advertising with your church or any schools in the area are a great way to get the word out about your services. If your church has a weekly bulletin or newsletter (mine does) then it can be a way to get a lot of eyes on your ad. Often members of a church will like to read these bulletins from top to bottom so your ad will not go to waste.

School age children are the target audience that you will want to advertise to so advertising in a school newsletter is ideal. Parents often read these newsletters so you are sure to be noticed.

Music Stores in your Area
When someone has decided that they are going to buy an instrument what is the first thing that they think? More times than not they will be thinking to themselves, “How am I going to learn to play this thing?” Well, if you advertise at music stores then your services can be the first ones that these newcomers see. You can talk to music stores in the area about pinning up a flyer or a poster on there walls, or even leaving flyers at their cash registers. Offering discounts or introductory rates can get you a lot of interest and maybe even offering a free first lesson will help as well. When you want to advertise your music studio you will have to think of where your target audience will be.

The three ideas above are all great ways to get your services known and you should have a lot of potential customers showing interest. You need to think as if you are someone that is curious about learning an instrument and where you will be able to find them. If you are someone that has a passion for music and want to learn how to express yourself through it then online teaching schools could be a great option for you to learn.

This article was written by Sarah Lee Casey. She graduated Ohio State with a degree in Elementary Education. She loves teaching kids and watching them discover and learn new things. She works as a camp counselor each year at a local Christian camp and also advocates for online schooling.

By-line:
This guest post is contributed by Mark Davies, he writes on the topic of Masters Degree Online . He welcomes your comments at his email id: markdavies247gmailcom.

What does this have to do with private teaching?  Well, my sudden loss of employment gave me some time for reflection. I had been teaching privately and consistently since my late teens.  I love teaching, whether in a classroom or one-on-one.  I came to a conclusion and starting concocting a plan.  The conclusion:  Private teaching had always treated me well, and I wanted to make that my primary source of income.  The plan: Live simply and devote my energies to building my private teaching studio.

I will spare you the gory details of the next few years.  Suffice it to say that I became sidetracked from my plan by various job offers.  No matter what I was doing, though, I always felt a burning desire to focus on my private teaching.  Ultimately, in April 2010 (Yes, nearly two years later.), I devoted all of my energy and efforts to the cause of private teaching.  Six months later, I went from a few students each week to having a full schedule. This, in combination with a decent gigging schedule, is now how I support myself.

In April, when I finally hunkered down, I asked myself one question:  What has worked until now?  The answer was simple:  Having a strong reputation and a presence in the community has been the primary reason new students keep calling.  So, I needed to decide how to continue to make that aspect work for me.  While I did use various methods, such as local marketing and some cold calling, the primary tool to my success has been networking with other teachers.

How does such networking work?  After a few phone calls, I had successfully linked myself with two other private teachers in the community.  Now, we work in tandem rather than against one another.  We are able to offer lessons as a unit.  If someone calls for private lessons, we are able to offer them practically any time and date on the calendar and we are able to offer lessons on a wider variety of instruments because each of us has our own specialty.  Additionally, networking in this way has allowed us to stretch our availability into various localities since each of us is able and willing to travel different directions and distances.

This type of networking has accomplished so much and it has been very successful.  It has helped each of us continue to develop our community presence, and has made us the authority to turn to when it comes to private music lessons.  It has lightened our workload when it comes to recitals since we are able to share the weight in regard to planning.  Most importantly, we are able to provide quality education to aspiring musicians.  Instead of having to turn students away due to full schedules, we are able to pass potential students over to one another, leaving very few for the dreaded waiting list.  Overall, networking has been one of the best decisions I have made as a teacher.

About the Author
Jael Strong is active as a private music teacher and performer.  She performs as a violinist with The Howard Report, the Dana New Music Chamber Orchestra and various other music groups.  Jael is also a writer for The Write Bloggers, a professional writing service with builds clients’ authority status and overall net visibility.

1. The Legend of 1900
In this movie based originally on an Italian novel, Tim Roth plays an orphaned piano prodigy who is
born on a cruise ship, where he plays the piano for the ship’s guests. Known only as 1900, the pianist
struggles leaving the ship, being consumed for his love of music and fearful of the world beyond it.
Perhaps the most invigorating part of the movie is where he challenges Jelly Roll Morton to a piano
duel aboard the luxury ocean liner.

2. August Rush
Although not necessarily a critical success, this movie is a surefire heartwarming tear-jerker, and it’s
a great experience for younger kids especially. The movie tells the tale of an orphaned boy who goes
in search of his parents. As the movie progresses, young August discovers a latent musical talent. He
eventually enrolls at Julliard, where he thrives. At the end of the movie, the boy is reunited with his
parents who are also musicians.

3. Shine
Shine, a classic Academy Award winning film starring Geoffrey Rush, tells the true story of Australian
piano prodigy David Helfgott and his struggles with schizoaffective disorder. The movie documents
Helfgott’s stormy relationship with his father and continues through his acceptance into the Royal
College of Music, where he further refines his talents. Eventually, Helfgott has a mental breakdown,
spending much of his time in institutions. Finally, Helfgott makes a concert comeback, demonstrating
the persistence of his love of music to overcome all odds.

4. The Soloist
Another movie based on a true story, the Soloist details the relationship between an L.A. news
reporter, Steve Lopez, and a homeless musician, Nathaniel Ayers. Ayers is a former Julliard student,
where he studied the cello, before dropping out after struggling with mental illness. Living on the
streets, Ayers continues playing for the love of his music and eventually befriends Lopez who is
determined to tell his story and get him off the streets.

These are only a handful of inspiring movies featuring musicians. In their own way, they each serve
as a reminder of why we continue with our music in the first place, despite the struggles of practice
because it brings both the player and listener joy, because it enables us to access a world that exists
beyond our daily reality.

By-line:

This guest post is contributed by Alvina Lopez, who writes on the topics of accredited online
colleges . She welcomes your comments at her email Id: alvina.lopez @gmail.com.

Here’s how you can get the best out of them and turn their behaviors around!

ADHD or the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder……As music teachers it’s that catch phrase we tend to use for those hyperactive, poorly behaved, loud, fidgety, disorganized, disruptive and even stubborn children who just won’t do what you want them to do, when you want them to do it. And lets face it – we’ve all worked with them even if there’s not been a proper medical diagnosis!

It’s usually the lesson we dread or want to put off until another time and we usually say things to ourselves like “I don’t get paid enough for this” when we’re about to go into their lesson.

If we were really truthful to ourselves, we’d say that there’s a bit of ADHD in all of us and as we grow up, we tend to learn more positive ways of getting what we want and where we want to go. Just look at the average 3 year old child… Don’t they show the symptoms? Yet we don’t label them with this because they’re “too young” and we all tend to say things like “They’ll grow out of it “. Of course some learn to quicker than others. Infact it’s well noted that over 8 million American adults still suffer from it and through history some of the most famous names have had it!

Parents with children who suffer from ADHD or show some of the symptoms love sending their children to studio music lessons and we can all see why. There’s less distraction from other children, there’s more focus on the individual child, they can progress at they’re own rate and ability level and they make loads of noise without it distracting too many others… apart from us teachers that is!

So the question is How do we positively guide them through the process of learning music without it stressing us out and giving up on them!

Here are some tips that may be useful to you and may be able to get you started:

Tip #1 : Use Short Segments

If you break your lessons up into shorter segments, then you’ll have more chance of keeping hyperactive students on task and focussed. You can divide lessons into just a few minutes at a time if needed and you can divide it up into playing segments, musical game segments, music writing on a whiteboard, singing segments and  rhythm playing segments- the trick is to make it all interconnect with relevant short activities.

Tip #2 : Make small achievable goals

With music, we can easily overload our students with so much information at a time. There’s the notes they need to read, the fingers they have to use, not to mention the technique they’ve got to remember – it can all be just too much in one hit! Try finding small achievable tasks to overcome at a time, it may be using a particular playing technique in one section, using the correct fingering in a piece or section or knowing how to read notes. Simply find fun ways to break the learning process down into achievable steps.

Tip # 3: Repetition

Find ways to repeat the information your students need to know in different ways. For example if they need to learn some new notes, they can play them, they can write them, they can play a game with them,they can practice them on a paper template,  they can play them on a different instrument, they can sing them.. the combinations are endless and use what works best for you and your own students.

Tip# 4 : Make it Fun!

If music is fun then students will not only participate more, but they will also retain more too! Use music games and make everything you do in your classes into a game. You can make learning notes into a note race game, you can track playing progress onto a chart game, you can track singing into a game, you can play flashcard games, card games and  board games. To check out the games which I’ve used for many years and helped develop you can check out at http://www.printablemusicgames.com

Of course, I would love your feedback on this issue so please feel free to leave your’re success stories and feedback in the comment box below as I’m sure we all have strategies and techniques that we can share on this topic.

This is a guest post from Janice Tuck, Music Teacher and “Chief Musical Fun Officer” of the Fun Music Company. You can read related articles on Janice’s Blog at

http://www.musicteachersblog.com

The ability to turn a bone into a flute is not an easy task, and involves exact knowledge of the resulting fixture. It additionally remains to be seen as to how many instruments were created at this time, as those made out of the most easily manipulated material (bone, wood, and canvas) do not preserve well. However, the use of stone tools brings up the question as to whether or not their tools may have been played as instruments because of their lasting quality. Most stone tools have lasted the 50,000 years since the early Homo Sapien culture, indicating a durable superiority, especially when compared to vulture bones, which have been found to be the only remnants of a musical culture. Archaeologists from the University of Cambridge put this theory to the test and create various stone tools in order to determine their musical qualities. Depending on the size and shape, each piece of flint created a different tone, much like the keys of a piano, although they also contained tones of different quality like the notes on a violin.

The fact that these stone tools could be fashioned to become musical instruments has been concluded to be a fact of prehistoric life. It is unlikely that the fashioners of tools did not notice the different sounds each tool produced, and we can thereby jump to the conclusion that these tools double as both a working utensil and a musical instrument. Additionally, many of these researchers have contended that musical attributes helped our early ancestors evolve, thereby preserving the culture. Any types of musical instruments have not been discovered in Neanderthal sites which have begun to cause researchers to theorize that music has helped cement our culture in growth. Furthermore, these indications that music helped to prevent our ancestors from dying out additionally may help to prove that music came before language, as today it serves as nearly a universal language. You do not need to know Russian or Chinese in order to appreciate the music that comes from that culture. Such was the case thousands of years ago. There is still much research that needs to be conducted in order to determine the early musical qualities of our ancestors, but it has become clear that they were aware of music and this more than likely helped to shape our modern culture.

This post was contributed by Tara Miller, who writes about the online teaching degree. She welcomes your feedback at TaraMillerr00 at yahoo.com

Not wanting to steal John Stossel’s thunder “Give me a break!” this teacher has thirty seven students that are performing in the recital and she is focused on the few that can’t make it or are not doing well.

Students are like clay – they need to be molded and shaped. It is true the parents can be the biggest influence, but to pass the buck solely to the parents, and have a pity party for one teacher is just not reasonable.

My son’s music teacher is far more inspiring than I have ever been and he garners so much respect from the children he teaches that it is actually the children leading the charge to practice. 

As far as parents at lessons talking on cell phones, this probably has little or nothing to do with the student practicing, and at this point, is just an accelerant to the already present frustration.

Teachers should make it their resolve to bring the lessons to life, be inspiring and most of all be inspired. Remember what made music your first love. I doubt that any of us are playing instruments because our parents nagged us so enthusiastically that we just couldn’t wait to play again. My brother and I are still grounded in two sates as a result of refusing to practice. He plays three instruments and composes music and I play both the radio and the piano.

There is a saying in football “Any given Sunday, any team can win!” This is true on every day for every student. On any given day any student can become inspired.

To all of the frustrated teachers who feel that the parents are not pitching in, the students aren’t practicing and they are just plain discouraged, I say “Carpe Diem!”

Make today the day that you handle your student’s challenges with grace and view them as opportunities not obstacles!

There are several ways to promote your expertise as a teacher and your student’s achievements.

1. Late in summer as school is ready to resume is a fabulous time for a recital

2. Ask parents to sign a waiver allowing you to make a video of your best students in each category from beginner to advanced. You can use this video to show potential students, speak at community groups during the summer or post on your website

3. Offer an incentive plan for referring students. For example, if a student refers a new student and the new student completes a month of paid lessons, the referring student should receive one lesson free or a gift certificate to a music store

4. Offer a family introductory special if one member signs up at full price the second family member will be half price for the first month

The above steps are very proactive ways to reach new students, but the most effective way to increase your teaching base is to ask for referrals.

Many professionals use a note in red ink on invoices or correspondence to thank existing clients for their business and ask for referrals.

Another very handy phrase to use at the end of a lesson is: “Do you know anyone that is interested in taking lessons?”

By asking on a regular -but not annoying- basis, you are certain to spread the word and increase your teaching base. Persistence breaks down resistance, always has always will. So by focusing on increasing your teaching base and using your current resources to expand you will realize your goal.

When something happens and we perceive the outcome to be negative, our ability to decide how we want to respond to that outcome is vitally important. A negative reaction will increase the negativity that surrounds us, whereas a positive reaction will increase the positive energy that we seek to create. This is very true in teaching as well. It is not what situations we encounter but the grace we handle the situations with that determines the outcome.

It is sometimes difficult to respond positively to a negative situation, but a simple adjustment in perception and therefore attitude can change the situation from an issue to an opportunity.

For instance, it can be extremely frustrating if a student continually refuses to practice. Based on our new definition of “Responsibility” we have an immediate responsibility and can create a positive outcome or stir up negative energy. Choosing to be angered by the ill prepared student, will only attract more negative energy and to add insult to injury the student will probably not want to practice at all now. In short they have conditioned themselves to the fact that the consequence for not practicing is enduring a brief lecture.

Choosing to take a deep breath and realize that people do not do things to us but for themselves will take the personal sting out of the situation and alleviate the need to waste any time being upset. This is true because we will not be focused on ourselves and the idea that someone “did this to me” when the reality is the student that didn’t practice was in a hurry to do something else and or was not enjoying the music and we never even crossed their mind.

Changing our perspective will stop us from engaging in creating, storing or sharing negative energy. Be mindful that in order to make effective decisions and respond with a positive attitude you must be in a state of logic. High Emotion is equal to Low Intelligence.

Sometimes what we need is to change our response, perception or attitude. If we are continuing to encounter “negative” situations or results, we may “need” to listen to the responses and interactions we receive as they can redirect our thinking in order to receive a positive outcome. So next time a student doesn’t practice, don’t get mad, ask quesions, stay calm and change your perspective. It might just change the whole dynamic.