It’s also important to consider your personal professional development. Did you expand your musical knowledge last year? How many teaching or music-related books, blogs, articles or forums did you read? How many seminars, master classes and conferences did you attend? How many performances did you give? How many concerts did you attend? How many colleagues have you bounced ideas off?

One you have an accurate idea of what works and what doesn’t work in your teaching studio, start to think about things you would like to expand on or develop this year. The next step is crucial – don’t just think about your goals, take action. If you would like to go to two conferences this year, google them, note down the registration dates and block out the times in your calendar. If you aim to be more prepared for your lessons, block out time in your schedule each week to make this happen. If you want to read more music books check out your local library or order them online. Don’t just look them up and then fail to act. Finally, I schedule a reminder every week or fortnight to read over my assessment of last year and my goals for this year. This is the key to keeping on track for me. If you have any further tips or goals please feel free to share them in the comments section below.

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This list of recommended performances is included in my first newsletter of the year. I write a brief blurb about each concert, making reference to the style or genre and the performer, so that parents can decide if the performance is appropriate for their child. In the weeks leading up to a concert that I think is particularly of interest, I will often send out a reminder group email. This is very easy to do via the Music Teachers Helper email function. Using this function, I can also glance through my list of students and ‘tick the box’ of the students who I believe would most benefit from a particular performance. I also like to include YouTube links of the performer or repertoire in these emails.

As a follow up to these performances, I always discuss them with my students in the next lesson. If any students are interested, they are welcome to contribute a short review of the performance in my next newsletter. This helps students to think critically about the music they have heard and aids in developing a musical vocabulary to express their ideas.

If you have any further ideas on developing a concert attendance culture in your studio, please leave a comment below.

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When I was a child I would receive a gift voucher to the largest sheet music store in the city for every birthday and Christmas. I would look forward to gift more than any other, enthusiastically browsing through the sheet music and selecting books of the latest pop music, songs from musicals and Christmas carols. I was fortunate that my mother, who also played the piano, understood the excitement I found in selecting the music that I wanted to play. Many of my students don’t come from musical families, so buying extra sheet music in addition to the music that is required for lessons doesn’t cross their mind. That is why at this time of year I write to the parents of my students with a range of suggestions for music that might make a good Christmas present for their children. I add links to items in online music stores and write a short blurb about each book that explains what level the music is and what songs are included. I list a range of Christmas Carol collections, TV and Movie theme songs, and anthologies of the latest ‘top 40’ pop music. I also inform parents about the digital download options for single pieces that are very reasonably priced.

My letter not only contains the above recommendations, but also outlines the importance of this gift. The autonomy that students feel when they learn a piece independently gives a huge boost to their confidence. Students often learn music that extends their current skills. They are more likely to ‘stick with it’ even if they are finding it difficult, because they want to learn the song. There’s a great social aspect to learning the music that their friends listen to. I love watching my students proudly share their piano skills with their non-musical friends, who are in awe of their ability to play the latest pop songs. Another great benefit to students choosing their own repertoire is that here in Australia our long summer break happens at Christmas, so students who are not having lessons over the summer are still motivated to practice, learn new repertoire and improve their skills without the guidance of their teacher

I always encourage parents to contact me if they are uncertain what music is at an appropriate level for their child and I also organise bulk orders of music through a local retailer that willingly offers a discount for a certain quantity of books. I always look forward to the first lesson of the New Year when students race into their lessons, proudly demonstrating their new repertoire for me. The look on their faces is most definitely worth the little time it takes to write to parents with a list of suggestions!

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I downloaded the free version and found it to be very useful and not too limited, as many ‘lite’ versions can be. The lite version of the app covers Intervals, Major & Minor Triads, Cadences & Chord Progressions and Scale Recognition. The app contains information explaining each of the concepts that it covers, with links to websites more information if required. There is a section where students can track the statistics of their progress, which would be great for teachers to check in with how their students are doing as well. Exercises can also be slower down (a must for any ear training app I believe) and you can also limit the exercises to certain keys. A small keyboard can be activated for students to work on during the exercises also, although none of my students used this feature.

The Interval training is set up so that students choose between two intervals, which I think would be fantastic for beginner students, where you might only introduce one or two intervals at a time. There are options to play melodic intervals both ascending and descending, as well as playing them as harmonic intervals. The same options are given for major and minor triads.

I like the versatility of this app, the ability for it to be used by students of all levels, and of course, the price (free!). I think it will definitely be recommended to my students who haven’t already discovered it and exploring the full-priced version also. If you have a favorite ear training app I’d love to hear about it in the comments section below.

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There are many reasons to memorise music. Firstly, when music is known from memory students are usually able to perform with more freedom and fluency. Secondly, memorising the music is good performance practice (and traditionally, tradition is as good a justification as any!). Thirdly, it presents a good image for your audience. I personally think it is a gracious gesture to the composer and audience to show that you have put enough time and effort into a piece that you are able to present it from memory. And lastly, it’s a great workout for my students’ brains!

So how do I go about teaching memorisation? I integrate memory work in my studio from the early lessons, so that students never question why they need to do it, and they don’t doubt that they can do it. If you start early on, when students are learning short pieces that usually contain a lot of repetition, it isn’t as daunting for as being asked to memorise for the first time ever later in your musical career (I speak from experience here). I also make sure that students memorise as they learn, rather than leaving it all until the end of the piece. So they may memorise the first phrase or section of the music weeks before they have even started to learn the rest of the piece.

Before the memorisation process begins, I make sure that students can play the section of the music complete with every detail, consistently. As well as knowing the notes & rhythms, this also includes knowing correct fingering, phrasing, style, articulation and dynamics. This seems obvious to a teacher, but many students seem to think of these details as secondary. I always explain to my students that incorrect dynamics, phrasing, articulation or style sound as ‘wrong’ to me as incorrect pitches sound to them.

The next step in the memorization process is to spend time with the score, away from the instrument. Analysis is vital. Students need to have a thorough understanding of the form of the piece. Look for repetition, sequences and other patterns. A good understand of harmony will help your fingers head to the correct chord shapes. Listening to recordings is also useful, as it teaches you ear what to expect next. Once your ear knows the music, the fingers will follow.

When it comes to physically sitting down and playing from memory, the result is influenced by solid preparation and student confidence. For students who struggle to believe that they can play a piece from memory, I usually just take the book away from them while they are playing and see how far they continue playing before they realise and stop. This is a great way to prove to students that they know more than they realise. Some students find it helpful to try to imagine the way the music looks on the page as they play. The need for this mental image diminishes as their confidence grows.

Before every attempt at playing from memory, spend a few minutes familiarizing yourself with the score. Not playing, just looking. Do this prior to performing from memory also. Think of it like looking at a map before you set out on a trip. You’re reminding yourself of the overall geography and general direction you need to head, the order of the towns along the way, rather than specific roads and details.

It would be remiss of me not to mention that you also need to prepare for the worst, because memory slips happen. All of my students choose ‘landmarks’ in pieces that they can begin from if a memory slip happens. So in a lesson if a student’s memory fails, I ask them to pick it up from the next landmark in the piece. This encourages them to think ahead in the music (rather than retreating to the previous landmark) and more often than not in the process of thinking ahead they remember where they were up to and can continue on without jumping to the next landmark.

My final tip is the one that I find the most fascinating. Once a piece is thoroughly learnt from memory, I ask students to write certain parts out for me. So I might ask them to write out the first and second subjects from a sonata they have memorized, or to write the final few bars. This seems to be particularly challenging at first for students, but it increases their confidence greatly if they can do it!

What are your best tips for helping students memorize music? Please leave them in the comments box below.

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Do you have an instrument repairer who you could call on at the last minute if something goes wrong just before a performance? Do you now teachers who you would be willing to pass students onto if your studio is full? Do you have teachers who refer students to you?  Do you have a physiotherapist who understands the nature of your instrument?I’ve made a list of people in my local music community who are vital to the smooth running of my teaching studio and my life as a musician. On many occasions I have found that the personal relationship I have built over time with the people on the list below has helped me immeasurably. So next time you go into your local music store, take the time to introduce yourself to the staff and tell them a little about what you do. Each subsequent time you visit take a few minutes to have a chat with the staff rather than merely grabbing the resources you need and racing out the door. The small investment of time now will pay off in the long run.

1. Instrument repairer
2. Music Retailer
3. Physiotherapist
4. Accompanist
5. Piano Tuner
6. Other Teachers (both those who will refer students to me, and those who will accept referrals from me).
7. Music librarians (the excellent ones who will drop everything to find an obscure edition for you at a moment’s notice!)
8. Accountant
9. Local composers
10. Sound Engineers
11. Recording Studios
12. Venue operators

If you are not teaching over the summer break, this could be a good time to strengthen existing connections or to make new ones in your local music community. If you have any other people who are vital to your teaching practice, please feel free to make suggestions in the comment box below.

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1. Even if students begin at the same level, they will not always progress at the same pace. Don’t be reluctant to change your students into different groups once you begin to see how they are progressing.
2. Some students thrive on competition and others don’t. Know when to encourage friendly competition between students in a group, and when to discourage comparisons.
3. Don’t expect students who learn in groups to progress at the same pace as students who have individual lessons. This seems obvious, however when I first started teaching groups I realised I need to adjust my expectations slightly.
4. Have each student bring a notebook and at the end of the lesson take a minute to ask them to write in their own notebook 3 things that they need to work on for the next lesson.
5. Get students to give feedback on others in the group (respectfully, of course!). This teaches students the elements of performance that they should be listening out for in their own playing.
6. Developing a routine within the lessons helps students to know your expectations and will allow the lessons to run smoothly.
7. Have plenty of individual extension tasks ready – theory sheets, sight reading exercises, composition tasks.
8. When working with individual students within the group, give them one thing to improve and then move on to the next student. That way you will get around to each of the students quickly, and no one is left unattended for longer than a few minutes.
9. Take advantage of activities that can only be done in groups (duets, ensemble pieces, etc)
10. Know when to recommend students move to individual lessons and don’t be afraid to suggest it.
11. Finally, if you are teaching groups, the amount of administration and organization that must be done in your studio multiplies. Ensure you have a well thought out and clearly communicated studio policy and invoicing system.

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A drop down screen allows you to choose from a variety of meters and subdivisions of the beat (crotchets, quavers, semiquavers and triplets). It is also possible to switch between divisions of the beat while the metronome is in use. One of my students was experiencing difficulty switching between quavers and triplet quavers in a piece. Using the app, she was able to hear the relationship between the two different subdivisions of the beat.

You can also choose to have accents sounding on any beat of the bar, and it is also possible to place accents on multiple beats of the bar. There are a variety of sounds to choose from and one of the best features of this app is that the sounds are loud enough to be heard while playing. This has been a downfall of many other metronome apps that I have used.

For beginner students, the features of Metronome Plus are more than sufficient. For teachers and more advanced students, there are a few features that I believe would enhance this product greatly. Firstly, I always find a ‘tap tempo’ feature useful when teaching. It is a helpful way to determine the speed at which a student is playing, without interrupting them with a beeping metronome. Also, I would like a metronome that caters for asymmetrical time signatures (for example, 7/8). Within these time signatures I would also appreciate the ability to select accents on quaver beats in the bar (presently you can only place accents in crotchet beats in simple time and dotted crotchet beats in compound time).

Like any good app, Metronome Plus is intuitive and requires no instructions before use. I asked my students ranging in age from 7 – 16 years to use the app in their lesson, and they all agreed that the functionality is excellent. Overall, I think that Metronome Plus is a great choice for beginner students and I would hope that as the creators gather feedback, we would see new features being added to future versions.

For more information about Metronome Plus visit:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/metronome-plus/id434136233?mt=8&ls=1

1. Warm Up

2. Practise often

Small, frequent practice sessions are more effective than one or two longer sessions each week.

3. Have a plan

Have immediate, short and long-term goals.

4. Develop a practise routine that works for you

5. Practise at you instrument and away from it

Next time you’re on a bus, plane or train, try practising without your instrument. Study the score, analyse the harmony, think through the phrasing. You will be amazed at how easy it is to become familiar with a piece when you don’t have your technique distracting you.

6. Listen

Enough said.

7. Make notes

Keep a pencil with your instrument and scribble as often as you need to in a practice journal or on your music. As you become more familiar with a piece you can start to remove unnecessary practise markings from the score.

8. Make noise

Don’t be afraid to sing, clap or count aloud.

9. Listen to different recordings of repertoire you are learning

Analyse aspects of technique, expression, style and interpretation.

10. Identify the problem

Don’t bash through a piece aimlessly, wondering why it hasn’t improved. Identify the problem and get to work on that particular passage.

11. Repetition is key

If you play a particular passage incorrectly 5 times in a row, then finally get it right on the sixth try, don’t move onto something else. In doing so, you have effectively practised the wrong thing 5 times and the correct passage only once. The number of times you play a passage correctly needs to far outweigh the number of times you played it incorrectly.

12. Decide on fingering and be consistent with it

Make decisions early in the process and stick with them.

13. Play as many details on your first read as possible

Dynamics, articulation, phrasing, etc are as much a part of the music as the pitches and rhythms.

14. Practise slowly

15. Refer constantly to lesson notes

Prior to each practice session, read over the lesson notes from your teacher.

16. Record yourself

This can sometimes help with Practise Tip #7.

17. Understand the difference between practice and play..

And make sure you do both!

18. Don’t practise when you are tired

You won’t achieve anything if you aren’t focused and concentrating when you practise. This only leads to frustration.

19. Be aware of your entire body, not merely your fingers

20. Be inspired

Feed yourself a steady diet of live performances, books on music, YouTube clips and audio recordings of your favourite performers.

1. Write a Studio Policy (and don’t be afraid to enforce it!)

Every teacher needs a document explaining how his or her studio operates. Make sure that you outline clearly and concisely your expectations for students and parents in your studio. Include your rules for missed lessons, illness and payment.

2. Treat Your Students as Individuals

Identify and teach to the needs of each individual student, not your own goals. When I first started teaching I was worried that Child A wasn’t progressing as fast as Child B. As soon as you learn that each child has individual learning styles, goals and motivations your job becomes a lot more relaxed! Also keep in mind that not every student will grow up to become a performer. Be content with the fact that a large part of your job is educating the next generation of music enthusiasts, audience members and amateur musicians.

3. Educate Parents as well as Students

I remember in the early days being frustrated by a particular student who wasn’t living up to her musical potential. She practised regularly and always knew the notes and rhythms, but would give no attention to details of dynamics, articulation, tone, pedalling and phrasing. I found out in a casual conversation months later that the student was still practising on a 5-octave keyboard with no dynamic contrast or pedal. I had taken this student on from another teacher and had assumed that she would have a decent piano at home. Once I explained the limitations of the keyboard to her parents they were more than happy to upgrade to a piano. It was simply that they did not know because no one had ever told them.

4. Be Honest

Be honest with both yourself and your clients about what your skills are. In the early days when you are trying to build your studio try to remember that it is okay to say no to students. If your strengths and skill set lie with teaching beginner students and establishing strong foundations then don’t be afraid to say no to higher-level students. You will do more damage to your studio reputation by not being able to effectively deliver what a client requires.

5. Sign up for Music Teacher’s Helper

Signing up for Music Teacher’s Helper was the turning point in my studio. The larger my teaching practice grew, the more stressed and run down and disorganised I was becoming. Once I started using Music Teacher’s Helper I could increase my teaching load, because I was no longer spending hours on administrative tasks.

If you have any of your own tips to add to the discussion, please leave them in the comments box below.