Posing proudly after a No-Worries Workshop

1. Lesson Time: Adults are able to schedule lessons during those hours when most K-12 school students cannot attend.

2. Income: Because adults can come during “off hours” weekly income is expanded.

3. Friendship: Every time a new student enters the door a new relationship is established and inevitably a friend as well.

4. Variety: Each adult student arrives with a unique and distinct musical background and agenda. While some desire to master Mozart, others want to learn note names, while others wish to play current pop hits. Because of time limitations, I have not initiated a Recreational Music Making (RMM) class but this could be a possible option for your studio. This program, that emphasizes recreational and not traditional lessons for adults, continues to grow in popularity. For more information check out the Recreational Music Making Handbook.

Don and Stuart--self-titled "The Octogenarian Duo"

5. Appreciation: While I thoroughly enjoy seeing kiddos eager to play their first song (and watching them discover how fast they can play their new piece!), adults seem to enjoy and appreciate every aspect of their progress. Each step of the piano path seems to be equally important as, or even more important than, a perfected performance.

6. Light-Bulb Moments: In many cases, soon after lessons begin there are the “Ah-Ha” moments. Example: some students have known that 1 sharp at the beginning of a piece means that the F needs to be sharped throughout. However, it is so exhilarating when the need for the F# in the key of G is discovered and understood. Many theory secrets are unlocked after being bound by years of “blind obedience” to the score.

7. Staying Hip: One of my “younger” adult students keeps me up to date with the latest YouTube pianists and digital print music. He can play by ear but wants to read the latest hits as well. Since he has no prior reading skills, we both continue to carve a way to master pitch, rhythm and chord symbol recognition from the grand staff in an unconventional, non-method-book manner.

8. Flexibility: Job obligations or vacation plans often get in the way of weekly piano lessons for most of my adult students. Although the income may not be as reliable, I don’t mind a weekly schedule that varies. Because lessons may not occur weekly, Music Teachers Helper is crucial to keeping things organized. Lesson Reminder emails prompt students of an upcoming lesson (that they may have forgotten about) and e-mailed Daily Summary reports remind me of the lesson as well. Students truly appreciate the lessons notes I write and these serve as a basis for the following lesson. The notes are especially helpful if there is a long gap between lessons.

9. Workshops and Wine: I have learned adult students prefer not to perform among young pianists so I offer informal “No-Worries Workshops”. Students are invited to perform and share some details of the composer, the composition or the challenges encountered while mastering a piece. I always learn something new from the information they share. This past December we all enjoyed a glass (or two) of wine after the December workshop to celebrate the season. That just doesn’t happen at my bi-annual K-12 church recitals

10. Wisdom: One of my students boasts 88 years with the daily schedule of an 18 year old, another is a renowned eye surgeon, one a general contractor, another, a bio-chemist engineer, another a psychiatric practitioner, one is a World War II vet and…Although most are “retired” they prefer to call this stage a new chapter in their lives. All of them generously share their wisdom and perspective with me on a regular basis. Many times, I feel I OWE THEM for what I learn from their life experiences  and professions.

Sarah (on the right and 88 years young) celebrating her performance with friends

Teaching adult students may be a great fit for you IF:

• your policies allow for flexibility in scheduling (my adult student policies are far different from those for K-12 students)
• you enjoy meeting new people and engaging in stimulating conversation
• you are willing to teach those who may suffer from arthritis, hearing loss, poor eyesight…
• you are willing to customize lessons to match students’ desires and goals
• you are interested in the concept of and the benefits of Recreational Music Making for adults
• you enjoy keeping great minds stimulated and on track in the later years.

Would love to hear from others who enjoy teaching adults!

Are you a social media expert?

with people you know and meet people you don’t.  In fact, social media is all the buzz in advertising in today’s market. It’s free, it’s fast, and you can hit a large market.  Big companies are even hiring social media experts whose full time job is to tweet you, text you, and message you about hot deals and cool stuff.  It’s the next big thing in marketing.  But should you use it for your private music teaching studio?  I do.

Facebook.  I love Facebook, mostly for its ability to quickly and easily connect with a ton of people, specifically my friends, family, high school classmates, and even my piano students. You can quickly and easily get messages to all or some of the people you know, advertise your studio, and share tips and tricks for practice times.   But Facebook is rife with privacy issues.  If you’re going to post personal items on Facebook, you must be vigilant about using discretion and privacy settings.  After all, some, if not all, of your posts may end up in Google searches.  You also need to watch that some distant relative doesn’t tag you in an unflattering photo from your third cousin’s wedding.  It might reflect poorly on the image you are hoping to portray to your private lesson students.  Avoid posting anything that you don’t want the entire world to know or see.  Don’t post rants about people or places, instead, keep your posts positive, fun, and inspiring.  Better yet, create a separate page based on your studio website.  You can invite all your students to visit, as well as post events, ads, or information that you want your students to see.  It’s a great place to offer an incentive for referrals.  You can also join Facebook groups such as your local high school band page or church page.  From there, you can meet new poeple and make new connections.  Don’t forget to ask people to ‘like’ your page so they can find you later or share you with their friends.

www.facebook.com

LinkedIn.  LinkedIn is a more professional venue, and a great way to network with other private teachers, businessman, and other professionals.  It’s a great way to get your resume and credentials out there, as well as advertise your studio website.  You’re not likely to find young students on LinkedIn, but you will be able to network with people who can lead you to new students (such as their professionally employed parents).  Be wary of attaching your Twitter and Facebook accounts to LinkedIn.  It’s much safer to keep this account strictly professional with no personal references.  Include a great looking head shot so people remember you as a person, not just a name on the computer screen.  You can also join various discussion groups through LinkedIn, so you can find job openings or people looking to find a private music teacher.  Don’t forget to link your profile to your free Music Teacher’s Helper website.

www.linkedin.com.

Twitter.    The key to Twitter is in being succinct.  You only have 140 characters to get your message out there, so the more concise you can be, the better.  You can invite your friends and family to follow you on Twitter, and you can gain followers by following people you like.  Whenever you tweet, you should add a hashtag that compliments your tweet.  So if you tweet about piano practice, you may want to end your tweet with #piano or #musicpractice.  A hashtag is like  a keyword.  Other Twitter users can search for keywords, and hopefully, your tweet will come up.  Again, make sure to link your account with your Music Teacher’s Website.  Be careful of privacy issues, and keep an eye on your followers.  It is polite and expected to follow back appropriate followers on Twitter.

www.twitter.com

Google+.  Google plus is like Facebook without all the fancy bells and whistles (and with less privacy problems, too).  It’s a great networking tool, and I’m sure it will be gaining popularity as time goes on.  Invite your friends and family to join, and create ‘circles’ to categorize them in.  You can then associate with people that are in their circles, and thereby expand your own.  Being so concise will inspire your creative writing, too. www.google.com.

There are a few tricks to good, social networking.  First, post often, but don’t spam.  I love hearing what local business men and women are doing, but I get annoyed by the people that post every half hour.  I just don’t have time for that!  If your are networking to advertise, post things that are relevant to your studio, such as practice tips, composer tidbits, and available lesson spots.  It’s also a great place to offer incentives or advertise specials, if you have them.   Routinely look for new people to connect with by checking your family and friend’s pages and searching for groups and individuals.  Avoid ranting and raving or gossipping in your posts.  Keep your comments positive and helpful.  If you are going to post about your students, make sure you have their parents permission.  People love to see photographs, but be very careful what you post and who you tag.  If you want to post photos of your students, you should probably get written permission first.  Lastly, always be aware of privacy concerns.  If you don’t want the entire world to know, play it safe and just don’t post it.  Link your accounts to your free Music Teacher’s Helper Website so people know where to find you.

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.

Image: nuchylee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1824

Based on a Novel Idea by Wendy Stevens.

In her recent website newsletter, Wendy Stevens described a holiday project she designed. She asked her piano students to learn the theme of the “Jingle Bell” chorus and create a variation. Each arranger was filmed debuting his/her arrangement and made into a lovely video.

Fortunately, Wendy shares her marvelous teaching ideas and inspirations on her unique website www.composecreate.com. Subscribing to her free newsletter provides me with numerous ideas and resources. I must give full credit to her for the subject of this blog and am so thankful to find her as a continual resource of inspiration.

The Plot

When preparing for the upcoming holiday recital, lesson time can be zapped by ironing out wrinkles in performance pieces or drilling the performance etiquette routine. Little time is left for covering new concepts or new pieces. This calls for an assignment that captures the students’ attention, challenges their creativity and that can be accomplished in a short amount of time.

 The Production

The following steps were taken to prepare students:

1) A lead sheet featuring the melody and chord symbols was reviewed. Early level students were provided with a simple LH version.

2)  For inspiration, students were asked to listen to Mozart’s Twelve Variations on “Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman” and follow along with the score. Next they watched the youtube video of Wendy’s students. (As I offer 30-minute lessons with a 30-minute lab time, this was assigned during the lab time and did not take away from lesson time.)

3) A checklist of composition devices was given to charge up the creative juices. About 5 minutes of lesson time was taken to prod students’ idea bank. We looked over a list of various moods that sparked the imagination engines. Most were inspired to borrow ideas from their current pieces which boosted their confidence as they were not starting with a blank slate. Additional ideas included varying the melody with neighbor tones, repeated notes, rhythmic changes and using standard LH patterns they encounter on a regular basis. Students were encouraged to keep it simple. However, they know I am a huge fan of intros and outros (codas), so most added them to please the teacher

4) Pianists (arrangers) were asked to return to the next lesson with a completed variation.

Action!

The following week was like Christmas as each student “unwrapped” his/her variation for me. Some were perfected and camera-ready, some even had more than one variation, while others needed last-minute tweaking to work out rhythm or harmony issues.

Recording each student usually took more than one “take” but they did seem relieved to know that only their hands would be filmed. They were all reminded to use their best hand position but  some were quite surprised with what they saw while watching their own video. (Note to self: pull out this camera more often–a picture can say so much more than words!)

Cut!

After accumulating the clips, they all headed to the editing table (iMovie). Every student who participated was included in the final cut, however there were so many that a ‘sequel’ was needed.

The Editor’s cut features the top twelve variations (yes, it was hard to choose!). It was just added to my Music Teachers Helper website, a great way to showcase the latest studio activities.

This is the first of MANY similar projects. It offered an opportunity to cover theory topics like the theme and variation form, primary chords, secondary chords, modality, composition techniques…the list goes on. The students enjoyed the creativity and seeing their names and hands “up in lights”–watch out Hollywood!

It’s fun to dream, isn’t it?

Five months into reality, I am having a wonderful time teaching. I am enjoying the different personalities of my students and discovering what makes each of them tick. And I’m eating a few of my words, for as it turns out, despite my careful outlining of expectations and interviewing, I have ended up with a student pool with a wide variety of abilities.

Some of my students are well-prepared every week, consistently doing more than I ask and enjoying the quick trajectory of our goals. Some of my students are practicing the required minimum most days of the week, doing most of what I ask, and making decent progress. And a couple of my students can’t consistently remember where middle C, treble G, and bass F are, even after months of drilling, flashcards, computer games, and away from the keyboard games.

The best thing about it? I love them all.

For a few months, I worried about how to manage those students who weren’t my “fairy-tale” students. Was it a waste of their parent’s money and my time to continue teaching them? And what about those students playing at an intermediate level who are reading at a beginner’s level and who balk at spending any amount of time practicing reading, since it’s not “fun”? Should I stop taking transfer students altogether so I could train all my students the way I dreamed?

Then, as I thought about this third habit, put first things first, my teaching path became clear.

My first thought was, “Well, of course, I will spend more time on the fundamentals. We go backward until each student demonstrates consistent understanding and capability, and then we move forward.”

This has been successful. But some of the joy started seeping out of the lessons with a couple of students. Their initial excitement to make music was being eroded by being forced to do the hard things over and over without enough time spent on the parts of music they love the most.

I went back to the drawing board and considered my first, primary goal. Is it basic musical competence? Music-making at a high level? Winning competitions or receiving superiors at festivals? I threw out all kinds of ideas until I realized I was missing the point: my first, primary goal is to honor the individual gifts of each student who enters my studio and to help each of them reach his or her own best potential.

After this decision was made, the worry about which students were meeting my expectations died away. For one student, I decided that we’d still pound sight-reading over and over, but that I needed to spend more lesson time helping her learn how to notate her many compositions and to polish the music she’d learned mostly by ear. I realized that while another can’t recognize more than a couple of notes on the staff, she has a great aural memory and I could spend more time in her lesson building that skill (while still trying everything possible to build up her weaknesses.) My dreams for the studio as a whole remain the same, but with much more flexibility on the individual level. First things first.

(And along the way I’ve decided I think next year I’d love to move to teaching a private lesson and a group lesson each week. Teaching theory, improv and composition work so much better in a group environment for my students. Any experience in implementing this schedule? How many of you have found that parents and students are amenable to it? And how do you make it cost effective for the parents and still worth your time?)

Google is practically my BFF. Anytime I want to know something, go somewhere, or learn about someone I hit up Google. It’s fast and it’s easy. Better yet, I can Google at my leisure, whether its first thing in the morning or in the middle of the night. And, I gravitate towards businesses with a web presence because I can learn all about them before I ever set foot on their doorstep. So when I really decided to take my piano teaching studio seriously, I figured out that I needed my own studio website.

Lucky for me, Music Teacher’s Helper makes it super easy and fast to set up your web presence. You don’t have to use up a ton of precious teaching hours to do it. No fumbling with html, web servers, or domain hosts. Music Teacher’s Helper provides templates, backgrounds, and even web addresses. All you do is fill in the content. So what content should be on your studio website?

Home page. This is the first thing people see when they find your website. Your web address will probably be www.whateveryoumakeit.musicteachershelper.com. Of course, if that doesn’t suit you, you can easily go to a domain name provider, such as www.godaddy.com, and register for a domain of your choosing. Then you just have Go Daddy point that domain directly to your Music Teacher’s Helper address. It’s pretty simple.

About the Studio. This page is the most important page of your entire web site. This is where everyone finds out what sets your studio apart from the one around the corner. Show off whatever makes you and your studio special. It’s a great place for your studio’s theme or mission statement, teacher bios, work experience, etc. I think it’s important to show that you’re a real person, too. Let your personality show through because it will help prospective students know what you are like. It is essential to include your location and contact information.

Pictures. I think it’s nice to have some pictures from your teaching studio. Of course, if you’re going to be including pictures of your students, you need to make sure you get the proper permissions. Students usually enjoy seeing pictures of themselves making music and prospective students need to see that your students are having fun. Use real photos, not purchased pictures of someone else making music. You want web visitors to feel like they’re getting to know the real you. Include a picture of the front entrance to your studio, so new students know what to look for when they arrive for their first lesson.

Fun Stuff. Everyone needs to have fun with music, so be sure to include something fun on this page. Maybe a music game, a silly story, or even congratulations for students who have hit new milestones in their music lessons. I have a couple of down loadable songs for the students that visit my Fun Stuff page. YouTube has a plethora of inspirational videos you could use for your students. Make sure you watch the video before posting it on your site. If you want a You Tube video to play automatically when the site is opened, you can use code from YouTube to insert it into your website space.

Theory and technique. There are tons of theory and technique websites floating around on the World Wide Web. Not all of them are good. On this page, you can post links to favorite theory and technique sites, or post down loadable worksheets for your students. You can even post your own weekly lessons if you like.

Links. A simple links page with links to your fav music sites. Don’t post too many or your students will get overwhelmed. Or they’ll spend all their practice time surfing instead of working on their assignments.

Policies. If you’re anything like me, you dread talking about music studio policies. If you want people to know exactly what to expect when they take lessons from you, put it here. How many times may students cancel during a semester? What is your feeling on tardiness? What kinds of payments do you accept? These are all questions to answer on this page. Make your policies fair to you and fair to your students, and stand by them. If you’re more comfortable with the idea, you can post the information for students to see after they’ve registered and been approved by you.

Music Store. Amazon Affiliates allows you to create your own virtual store which you can then post to your website. I love this idea, because I can pick out products that I feel are best for my students and share them by directing my students right to my website: “Oh, Suzy, you need a metronome? Great – I posted a few of my favorites on my website. You can easily order right from there.” It also works if a student requests a specific book. “Jack, you want to study the works of Prokofiev? I’ll post a few ideas that will work for you and you can pick the one you like best.” I can select items such as supplemental music books, metronomes, music toys, and gift ideas and post them all in once place. Bonus: I get a small commission when anyone purchases through my Amazon account. It’s really a win-win.

Registration /Log-in. Make sure you include a registration page and a log-in area. Once someone registers, you’ll get their info, so you can contact them directly.

Your website doesn’t have to be full of widgets and gizmos, nor does it have to be fancy and frilly. Keep it simple, clean, and professional. Choose the content that lets your personality shine!

Last month, I began by discussing Habit Number One: Be Proactive. Paying attention to how I perceived my studio helped me focus on the positive aspects of my teaching and kept me looking for solutions to my teaching problems instead of giving in to complaining and being resigned to the status quo.

The second habit of highly effective music teachers may well be the very most important. It has led me to a partial transformation of my studio. This habit is: Begin with the End in Mind.

Here’s a story, demonstrating what happens when I did anything but begin with the end in mind. I was in my first weeks of my first pedagogy class, and a family member asked if I’d teach her three children. I was beyond excited. It didn’t matter that the family had only a small keyboard without 88 keys, (and those keys weren’t even full-size), touch sensitivity, or a pedal. And I didn’t need method books…I was an experienced musician. Why did I need ANOTHER teacher’s ideas? So I went to a music store, grabbed a lot of music in varied levels, and started my teaching career.

Sadly (and not unexpectedly), those lessons fizzled within a few months.

Why?

One of the answers is found in the following quote from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland:

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where–” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
“–so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”

When we don’t much care where we want to get to, it won’t matter much what we do with our students, but if we begin with the end in mind, we set ourselves in motion on a path to somewhere specific.

In order to decide what you really want for your students, spend some time brainstorming different types of ends: long-term (the end of high school for our pre-college students and what we want them to have achieved and learned and experienced), short-term (the end of a festival or adjudication and what we want our students to have earned or experienced), and even very short-term (the end of a lesson.)

When you think long-term, and you decide that your graduation seniors should be musically literate, you need to decide what YOU consider to be musically literate. As a piano teacher, I might consider whether a student should be able to sightread Bach chorales, Mozart sonatas, and Adele sheet music, play their scales in parallel motion in 3rds, 6ths, and 10ths at mm=152, read a chord chart, perform a concerto with an orchestra, memorize complex music and perform it with musicality, arrange a folk tune or hymn, accompany vocalists and instrumentalists, improvise for their own pleasure, or play for a wedding. I might also ask how I can help them be happy in their music-making along the way.

Once you have a vision, you can create a roadmap. You can meet with each student and create shared goals (which increases the power of your vision.) You can give them yearly, monthly, and lesson-by-lesson goals to meet their long-term goals. You’re guided in determining what kinds of activities you choose in their future. You know what kind of practice hours they’ll need in order to meet their goals.

Shorter term, you can look at your year and determine what motivates you and your students to meet the longer-term goals. Can you add practice contests? Composition festivals? Should you have a summer camp for accompanying? What needs aren’t being met in your studio? What are you focusing on that isn’t as important for you or your students?

The same can hold true for each individual lesson. If I want my students to be strong sightreaders, but I don’t offer opportunities to learn sightreading skills or if I don’t purchase lots of sightreading music to send home with them, I’ll be disappointed (but I shouldn’t be surprised) when they struggle with new pieces. If a student is struggling with counting, I can spend an entire lesson reinforcing rhythm with different rhythm activities and games rather than just go through their assignment list beginning to end, not really making sure the concepts are rock solid.

As I’ve considered my new 6 year old beginners this fall, smiling shyly, holding their binders, I’m trying to picture who they will be when they leave my studio. Will they be literate, experienced musicians? Will they have found the joy music has to offer them?

It’s much more work to stay on a determined path, but it’s so much more rewarding…for both my students and myself.

In July, I posted some unique features of my studio after a parent mentioned that my lesson notes “set my studio apart.” Below is a continuation of the list of features which concludes with (as this parent indicated) perhaps the most important element–Accountability.

VersatilitY

Personalities and learning styles vary and so must each lesson. Spontaneity seems to be key. Activities within lessons are chosen to suit individual needs.

By holding daytime Exploring Music Classes for 4-5 year olds and seeking adult students, not only do teaching hours and student numbers increase but my capacity to meet the needs of a variety of ages and levels expands as well.

Providing quarterly group lessons and workshops offers a break from the routine of weekly private lessons and time for performance opportunities.

By summer time, lesson options like Piano Olympics, Invention Camp, Composition lessons, Improvisation lessons provide everyone (me included) a fresh venue for learning. These options have attracted ‘drop-ins’ which provide extra income in the summer and expand my wait list.

FlexibilitY

As a parent, I appreciate flexibility so I have carved that into my policies. Two excused absences are offered between August and May. With one week’s notice, students may cancel a lesson and will receive credit towards the next tuition invoice.

ProductivitY

With a hefty price tag, parents and students expect results. So I find a good portion of the lesson is devoted to how to practice for success between lessons. Good practice habits will lead to quality performances.

Performance opportunities provide motivation and dividends on investments. One of the students’ favorite venues to “practice” performing is the local Whole Foods down the street from my home. This casual “coffee-house” environment helps students practice performing and instills the confidence needed for more formal recital settings.

Performing on a weekly basis at my church position keeps my skills and practice strategies strong. Personal performance deadlines enable me to effectively coach and motivate others towards their performance goals. As making music is a lifetime passion for me, I find this appreciation bubbles over to my students–usually for a lifetime.

AccountabilitY

Thanks to www.MusicTeachersHelper.com, all scheduled events must be reconciled which provides an opportunity to email lesson notes to parents and students. These notes offer an avenue of accountability for me as the teacher to communicate what happens at the lesson and assignments for the week. Parents are held accountable for reading the notes and passing them  along to their child. Students have access to assignments on the assignment sheet and online (and on smart phones) and therefore have no excuses for not knowing what to practice!

FYI…

All lesson notes are written in TextEdit or Notepad. A file folder on my desktop holds a file for each day of  the week. Within each day’s file, I have designed a simple template that is used for each student scheduled that day. Notes from the week before are kept so that it is easy to copy, paste, add and subtract assignments. This prompts my failing memory as notes are usually written hours after the lesson occurred. The notes are then copied and pasted when reconciling lessons at www.musicteachershelper.com.

Students know there will always be 5 items to practice and these must be practiced at least 5x between lessons. Here’s a sample lesson note…

Hello Pianist,

_____________________________________________________

SESSION THEME: Make it EASY, THEN practice HARD

_____________________________________________________

WEEKLY ADVICE: Practice Smart–Bring your Brain

_____________________________________________________

PROGRESS SCORE: 3–will be a 4 next time if you count aloud each time you practice. Great work on moving to section B on your own!

Rating Scale

5 = WOW = exceeded MY highest expectations, all goals were met and then some

4 = EXCELLENT = all goals were met and progress made by consistent practice

3 = NICE = most goals were met but some were not, due to lack of time, goals stated unclearly, goals set were too difficult to meet…

2 = OK = some goals were met, but practice between lessons was not sufficient for much progress

1 = HO HUM = looks like last weeks goals will be repeated as little or no practice occurred and little progress made

*What is this? It is clear to me when a student has practiced appropriately because the five goals or lesson assignments are met or exceeded. This weekly progress score will help YOU, the parents, and YOU the pianist, understand expectations and provide feedback for all of us on how successful practice efforts are between each lesson.

___________________________________________________

YOUR FIVE ASSIGNMENTS:

1) Technique Tune-Up: Complete Exercise #1 (in all keys listed) in levels using metronome at 100 .

2) Solo: Master sections A and B. Use the LH easy rhythm to help learn the rhythm of the RH. Practice in small chunks, HT, to gain confidence.

3) Lesson Book: p 13 Play the E minor scale and I and V7 chords at least 3x each day. Watch for perfect hand position.

4) Lesson Book: p 14 –play HA counting aloud each day, then HT using the easy post-it strategy.

5) Duet: play each line HA 3x, then HT in small chunks 3x. Aim for no errors by the 3rd time.

_____________________________________________________

LAB TIME

Drills to increase grand staff reading accuracy and speed were assigned.

_____________________________________________________

METRONOME

This is a required tool for your pianist. If you are in need of one, here are some options:

1) Check out this inexpensive one from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Korg-MA-30-Compact-Digital-Metronome/dp/B0002E2O2Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313441656&sr=8-1

2) App: Steinway has a free app–as do many other companies for your iPhone, iPad, iPod…

3) Music n Arts and The Music Box stores sell them as well.

__________________________________________

See you next week!

SummarY

I have thoroughly enjoyed mixing experience, personality, priorities, technology, accountability and resources like  www.MusicTeachersHelper.com to create a unique ”brand” of teaching. How do you set your studio apart? How do you use lesson notes to enhance your teaching?

PS–How do you encourage your families to visit your website?

Here are a few things I’ve learned as a voice teacher using Skype with some of my clients that I hope will be helpful to any of you who are currently using this new technology or contemplating it…

I do have to say that nothing can replace being in the room with the client. You get a clear read on their sound, energy, and where they are mentally and emotionally. All of these factors help us as teachers to clue in to what the client needs the most.

For me, though, the Skype/online chat lesson offers a lot of advantages by virtue of its limitations.

It makes you really listen. Because of the time delay that’s inevitable on video chat, it makes you take an extra second or two to listen to the client and also to think about the adjustment you give. I also talk more slowly in online sessions for some reason, so it makes me say less…often this means I give more concise, helpful instruction….good teaching is often about what you don’t say.

It builds the client’s ear. Because of the delay, I can’t accompany the client during vocalises. I demonstrate the exercise, then I simply play the chords and tonics in half step progressions as the client sings them acapella.  This forces the client to really trust his/her ear and hear and build their confidence in their knowledge of the scales.

It helps you slow down. Like I mentioned earlier, there is a delay with online chat, so it does cause the pace of the actual lesson to slow down. I have found that this is actually a benefit because it often reveals details or nuances that are missed in the room one-on-one. I think it’s because in an online session, I’m relying on my ears almost completely as the video is not always reliable or in sync.

It opens up a huge amount of possibilities for you as a teacher. I have a client in Chennai, India who is a classically trained Carnatic singer and Bharatanatyam dancer who wants to learn belcanto technique and how to combine dancing with singing in her performances….She found me online, and as a result, I’m learning tons about her culture, tradition, and training. Really fascinating.

Some practical tips:

• Use headphones…makes it a lot easier to hear the client. (You can use them on one ear so you can also hear yourself well without pushing vocally.)
• Allow a fifteen minute cushion of time around the lesson time to allow for any technical difficulties/dropped calls.
• Close other applications on your computer and ask the client to close their unnecessary apps.
• The client can use accompaniment tracks on their end to sing along with if you get to that in lessons (because of the delay). Though I find online lessons a good opportunity for slow detailed work.

Happy teaching everyone….hit me with comments or questions if there’s anything more you want to know about teaching online.

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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