Pedagogy Books: Practical Piano Pedagogy

Practical Piano Pedagogy by Dr. Martha Baker-Jordan is a wonderful resource for any piano teacher looking for some great ideas and printable resources for their studio. Yes, this book includes TONS of free printables (you can photocopy them from the book, or load them on your computer from the included CD!) – including all sorts of studio forms and other resources. (I mentioned this book before in a post about personality types and piano methods.)

The author has written a great chapter called “The Business of Piano Teaching,” which discusses good business procedures which help to make you more professional. This chapter includes many forms such as a Telephone Interview form, a Beginner Interview form, a Readiness Evaluation for Beginner form, a Studio Policy, Billing Form, Yearly Tuition Schedule, Letterhead Stationary, etc.

Other great chapters include: “Tuition: Being Paid What You Are Worth,” “Strategies for Acquiring Students,” “Now You Have Them – What Do You Do?,” and “The ‘Black Hole’ of Piano Teaching: Why Does it Exist?” (Can you guess what the “black hole” refers to? – Improvisation, Harmonization, Composition and Transposition!)

I have not yet finished reading this book, but so far have enjoyed it very much. I definitely will use it as a resource in the future!