piano teaching Q&A: Early Explorers

February 13, 2014 Jennifer Boster
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Hi Jenny, I’ve recently been searching the internet for ideas for preschool music classes. While I’ve enjoyed getting familiar with all the different methods out there, I have often thought about putting in the time/ effort to just create my own curriculum. And then I came across Early Explorers.

Holy Moly. This is fantastic! The thing I love most? I wouldn’t have to charge parents a materials fee (which I feel is a big factor!) I have a couple of questions for you about how you do your preschool classes.

1. Are they weekly? Bi-monthly? Monthly? Or do you just do preschool music camps as they fit into your schedule?

2. How many children have you found to be ideal in a group setting like this?

I feel like I have more questions, but don’t even know what to ask. I look forward to spending more time checking out your lesson plans before my own little one wakes from his nap! Thanks!

Thanks for the great questions! Early Explorers has turned into such a fun and wonderful way to bring that preschool-aged group of kids into my teaching schedule. The kids always have a blast and so do the teachers!

There are several ways you could format this class.

We have done several weekly Early Explorers classes during regular fall or spring semesters. We have also taught week-long 5-day “camps” during the summer or during spring break.

Both formats work great and have their advantages – some parents like the weekly format as it gives their preschoolers something fun to do each week. As they come each week they know what to expect as each class has a similar routine and schedule. Many parents like to go over the take-home materials with their children during the week, and so the kiddos retain more and learn better in this format. Other parents LOVE our week-long camps, as it is sometimes easier for scheduling – they only have to come for one week and not be available on the same day each week for the length of the class. The week-long camps are an awesome opportunity for the kids to jump in and get a great introduction to the joy of music! They are a TON of fun.

As far as number of children per class, it all depends! My friend and colleague Nichole (who wrote this curriculum with me) and I co-teach our Early Explorers classes, but you could easily do it on your own if you don’t have too many little ones to handle. We have had as few as 3 and up to 8 or 9 children in a class with both of us teaching and it has worked great in that range. We could probably handle at least a couple more with both of us teaching. If you do not have another teacher helping, I would probably recommend 5 or 6 at the most, but it entirely depends upon the kids in your class. Some at that age will be more mature and will sit and listen better, and some may be all over the place! Our lesson plans are designed to have a variety of short activities scheduled to keep little attention spans engaged.

Another idea is that you could have one of your more advanced teenage students help as a co-teacher for a larger class, or you could always invite parents to come and stay for the class. You should also consider the ages of the children signed up for your class. I would feel more confident in handling a larger group of 4-year-olds than a larger group of 3-year-olds! Use your judgement and think about the ages and maturity level of your students.

Each hour-long lesson focuses on a basic music concept (such as high/low, fast/slow, loud/soft, the musical alphabet, etc.). The lesson plans are not in any particular order, so you can “mix and match” them as you wish and put them in any order! Some of the concepts overlap from lesson to lesson to help reinforce what the children are learning.

One of the great things about this curriculum is that each plan comes with a printable take-home book to print out and staple together to send home with each child. These are also great for coloring if you have extra time! You will need a few materials for crafts, some studio supplies/equipment (like a piano of course, and some lesson plans use some rhythm instruments, etc.), and there will be a little prep work for some of the printable teaching aids and such, but once you teach the class once you will have all of those teaching aids ready for next time, and then it will just be a matter of printing out and assembling the books for each child!

We usually do charge a very minimal materials fee (which is also a deposit that secures the students’ spot in the class – we have found this is important because it helps to ensure against “no-shows”) at the beginning of the class to help cover the cost of the paper/printing, and sometimes we do make t-shirts for the kids to wear on the last day, so that is also included in that fee. But, you can set up the fees in any way you’d like! The great thing is that it’s all printable – once you buy the lesson plan, you can print as many copies as needed for your own studio.

There are several more plans that will be available to purchase in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

Come visit The Teaching Studio Store to learn more about and to purchase our fun preschool music class lesson plans! And don’t forget to also check out our “Mighty Musicians” curriculum, which is similar to “Early Explorers” but geared toward 5- and 6-year-olds.

Teaching Mama, Part 2

March 22, 2013 Jennifer Boster
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I am loving all of the wonderful comments on yesterday’s post about teaching when you have your own children. It seems to be a topic that is on many readers’ minds – and so many of you had such great input! I wanted to follow up with a summary of some of the excellent ideas YOU had, and address a couple of other questions/topics.

Here are some of the many great ideas/suggestions from readers:

my daughter & her friend LOVE the piano!

1. Take a break from teaching while your children are young. As they enter school, gradually pick up students again. Excellent plan – I think this is a great way to do both jobs fully.

2. It is CRUCIAL to have the support of your spouse. I couldn’t agree more! If your teaching is a priority in your home, then you must work together on figuring out how to make it work.

3. Decide beforehand how many students you can commit to. Great comment – I have often turned down students because I simply couldn’t take the time away from my kids. But it is sometimes hard to turn down extra students/income! It’s good to figure out beforehand how much time you can really commit to.

4. Teach in the early mornings. I have not tried this (probably because I am not a morning person!) but what a wonderful idea! Another creative scheduling plan to allow for piano teaching and parenting.

5. Be upfront and professional about your children. I loved the comment from a reader who states in her policy that her child will always be watched by someone. The times when my children have not had someone watching them have been hard. Even though it can work (and as a parent you’ve got to plan to be flexible), your students are paying you for your professional services. Those are always the times that make me re-evaluate things and change my schedule.

6. Make a maternity leave plan for your students. I loved a reader’s comments about ideas for her students during her maternity leave – hold some type of competition for learning scales and pieces, have them attend a seminar by her piano tuner, etc. For more great ideas, read contributor Bonnie Jack’s great article about maternity leave for piano teachers.

7. Childcare in exchange for piano lessons. One reader talked about a situation where two families from her church watched her children, while she taught all of theirs – for $8 a lesson, because her kids were being watched at the same time. (Aside from the low tuition rate, not too bad of a set-up, although I wonder how quiet it is during the lesson with so many kiddos running around!) She also wondered if I charge less for “poor” people. This could be an entire post on its own, but I wanted to quickly address it and see what others think…

I charge all of my students the same amount. Sure, a discount should be in order if they watch your children during the lessons, but I think you do need to be careful that you are not undercharging too drastically. A couple of reasons:

1) The less you charge, the less professional you seem – and the less seriously the students/parents will take the lessons and the commitment required. People will take you more seriously if you charge a more professional rate.

2) Your time is so precious, especially as a mama! Make those times away from your kids worth it. Be a good, professional teacher, work hard, get paid what you’re worth, and then enjoy your free time with your kids.

If I gave discounts to everyone who asked for them, it would not be worth my time; I’d be seriously shortchanging myself and my abilities, and really doing a disservice to the profession and to the families I teach. (I think when you stay at your higher, professional rate, they expect more and will work harder. If you give more and truly are a great teacher, they will value it more and practice more.) I have given free months of lessons away at church auctions/charity events, but I don’t give discounts for people, even if I teach 2 or more of their children. I think that I would consider a scholarship program for a student if and only if they: are VERY motivated to practice, have VERY supportive parents who understand the importance of music lessons and consistent practice, who truly make great progress, and are truly financially are in need. Yes, I would give a small discount in exchange for them (a parent or sibling) watching my children during the lesson.

And some thoughts of my own –

ON PROFESSIONALISM
Yes, I have taught lessons when my children were home, and playing quietly in the other room or sometimes in the room. This is definitely not ideal – for me as a teacher, or me as a mother. In situations like this, I feel that I am doing both jobs – that of a piano teacher, and that of a mother – half-way, and something has got to change. Yes, my kiddos are my #1 priority. I always, always prefer and plan to have somebody watching them (or to teach while they are asleep). But, sometimes life happens, my husband has a big test to study for, or has to TA or has something come up, and my kiddos are home while I teach. In such cases, flexibility is important. But at the same time, I need to be as professional as possible in my piano teaching, and I know that my children can disrupt that. That is why, when you are a piano teacher AND a mother/father, you need to know where to draw the line. You need to know when to call and cancel a lesson, knowing that if that student came, it would not be a good/professional situation. I have, many times, been asked to watch somebody’s child, but had to turn it down because I had a piano student coming that afternoon – I can’t do both at once! It is SO not fair to the piano student. Your students pay you for your professional services and for your full attention. If you know you are going to be too distracted from the lesson, you need to fix it or reschedule the lesson on your own time.

CANCELLATION/MAKE-UP POLICY
As a parent and a piano teacher, you have GOT to have in place a good cancellation/make-up policy, taking into account that things will come up with your own children. I have had to cancel SO many more lessons as a mother than I ever, ever did before, simply because my kids tend to get sick! When sickness or other things in your family come up (watching a family members’ kids, school functions, etc.), you need to have a plan, in your policy, for what to do when YOU have to cancel a lesson. I’d say that it is much better to cancel a lesson than to have a student come when your house is crazy and your full attention is not on the student. I like to put into place in my semester’s calendar specific “make-up days” for times like this when I need to cancel. I normally don’t make-up lessons missed by students (except in extenuating circumstances, which I understand), but I ALWAYS make-up lessons that I cancel.

SCHEDULING FLEXIBILITY
In the past few years I have found a great way to keep all lessons a little more flexible, allowing for those times when my child needs my attention during a lesson. I schedule an extra 15 minutes of music theory practice/instruction on the studio computer at each lesson (paid for through a yearly “technology fee” per student). If my evening student arrives and my children are not quite tucked into bed, I have them do their computer time first, allowing for me to finish up my motherly duties and get my kiddos all settled. If a student arrives and my husband is watching my children, I do the lesson first, and then they do their computer time afterwards (at which time I can relieve my husband and grab my baby for a cuddle). This has worked so well in allowing a little bit of flexibility at every lesson.

FOLLOW YOUR HEART

As cheesy as that may sound, I think it is really important. I love teaching, I really do. But I knew it was time to drastically reduce the number of private students I taught when I started to dread those afternoons when I taught. When I found that I would rather be out there playing with my kids than in my studio teaching, I knew it was time for a change. And yes, it was very hard to give up that extra income, but it is definitely worth it. This is a season of my life to slow down on the piano teaching and focus on my kids. I know there will be many other seasons to come that I will have more time to devote to private teaching, and many ways now that I can continue my teaching – whether I am teaching a little preschool music class and singing little songs about train rides and rivers, or whether I am teaching my own children to love music, or teaching an occasional student here or there. I am a music teacher for life, but a mother forever.

 

Piano Teaching Q&A: Teaching Eighth Notes

April 12, 2012 Jennifer Boster
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I recently got this question from a good friend:

I have an adult beginner student who is having some difficulty with reading eighth notes and dotted quarters. If it’s a song she already knows, like hymns, of course she can play it, but if I give her an unfamiliar piece with those rhythms she has no idea.

She already got through Alfred for adults level 1 with her other teacher, but she is very frustrated because she can play those songs by memory but not because she can read the notes. I’ve been doing a lot of sight reading with her (very basic), which helps, but counting songs with eighth notes is frustrating. I’ve tried using colored papers of different shapes as a visual demonstration: squares for quarters, rectangles half as long for eighths, etc. Part of the problem is that she says math was always her worst subject…My counting method is one-and-two-and-three-and-four-and, but if you have a better method I’d love to know.

What ideas do you have for teaching how to count rhythms with eighth notes and dotted quarters so that she can sight read them?
I think this is a fabulous question! I have had the same problem with students, particularly when they are transfer students, and it can be tricky to figure out what to do. Here are a few quick suggestions (and I hope to hear lots of input in the comments section as well!)

Feeling the Beat

In a situation such as this, it may be wise to go back to the basics…as in, the very basics. I have sometimes been amazed to discover that a student who is struggling with rhythm and counting has an underlying problem understanding and feeling the beat. So while math can be a big huge part of counting, rhythm is also quite related to physical movement.

It is good to find out if your student is able to feel the underlying beat of a song. Can they tap their foot, clap their hands, march or otherwise move to the beat of a song? I was recently teaching a teenage student when I surprisingly realized she was struggling to feel the beat. I immediately asked her what kind of music she listens to, went to my computer and opened up iTunes. We spent the rest of the lesson listening to all sorts of songs (rock, country, whatever) and trying to feel and clap the main beats. It was surprisingly challenging for her, but after some practice it got much easier. 
It may be that a student may need to practice listening and moving to music for awhile before they really get good at finding the beat. I have no qualms assigning a student to listen to music and walk, jog, clap or march to the beat for their practicing. If they can’t feel the beat and are struggling to fit eighth notes into each beat, this is an essential step. 
Subdividing
Once they are able to feel the main beats, you can then venture back into the actual rhythms within the framework of even, steady beats. It may be helpful to have them walk or march or tap their foot to the main beat, and then practice subdividing into eighth notes by clapping their hands. Or have them play a steady beat in the left hand while counting out loud, subdividing into eighth notes (“one-and-two-and…”).

I also wonder if you could help teach this visually by using a highlighter or colored pencil to draw vertical lines through the notes, highlighting each main beat in the measure? That way the student can see exactly how the main, steady beat (which they are now PRO at feeling) fits underneath the rhythm of the measure.

Hear – See – Do

I grabbed my copy of Practical Piano Pedagogy off of the shelf to see if Dr. Martha Baker-Jordan had any tips on this subject. Just a couple of brief ideas – she mentions the “Hear – See – Do” idea. In order to learn a concept, students should hear it (so you could play and count the rhythms aloud for them), see it (see how the rhythm fits within the steady beats – maybe by highlighting the main beats), and do it (play it and count aloud by themselves).

Dotted Quarters & Eighths

Baker-Jordan likes to count aloud on a dotted quarter-eighth rhythm and she says the count on the dot VERY loud. So if the rhythm is dotted quarter, eighth, dotted quarter, she would count: “one-and-TWO-and-three-and-FOUR-and.” This helps the student hold out the dotted quarter for its e n t i r e length (since it is often shortchanged) and I imagine it would really help the student to feel the beat well.

Count Out LOUD!

I have to also add the counting loudly with CONFIDENCE is an excellent idea! Too many people count very quietly and timidly, and it is very easy to fudge on the steady beat if you are talking very, very softly. Speak up and say the counting as steady and as confidently as possible!

I hope this helps anyone who may be experiencing this speed bump in your student’s progress. I would love to hear YOUR excellent ideas as well!

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Piano Teaching Q&A: Group Classes

January 20, 2011 Jennifer Boster
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I have a small studio and would like to start doing group classes for my students. How many of these classes are good in a given ‘semester’? One or two? Also, I would love to see some discussion or input on what good activities for group classes would be for beginning, intermediate, and advanced students. Thanks!

Thanks for the question! I thought since we have just spent a lot of time on group teaching this would be a perfect topic to discuss!

I think that having periodic group classes in your studio can be so invaluable to your students. There are so many things you can accomplish in a group class that you cannot in a private lesson. Having said this, I actually have personally never had regular studio classes in my own studio, but definitely plan on it as I am finally going to be staying put in one location for more than a year (hehe) and will have time to build up my studio more 🙂 So please, readers, I’d love your comments and thoughts as well!

A few things that would be absolutely perfect to teach in a group setting:

  • Music Theory – every teacher knows that it is practically impossible to take as much time as you really need/want to during private lessons to really cover all of the necessary music theory concepts. Music theory is also perfect for teaching (or reviewing and reinforcing) in a group setting, as you can use so many fun games and activities to learn the concepts (hint hint readers….*discuss game ideas* ready go!)
  • Performance – this is the hugely important one for me that I really would like to have a group class devoted to. Performance is so important and cannot be learned unless the student has real opportunities to perform (go figure). Performing is so so different than practicing, or even just playing for your teacher. Having the opportunity to perform in front of your peers on a regular basis will work wonders for your students’ performance skills and confidence. I loved going to studio class as a teenager and being able to perform for my peers. As we listened to each performance, my teacher had us each write “love notes” (yes that is what she called them – love it!) to each other, telling some things that we liked about their piece and maybe a suggestion or two. I think that really helped me learn how to listen to a performance and critique it, and in turn to be able to critique my own playing better. 
  • Music History & Music Appreciation – what a great opportunity to teach your studio about a specific composer and have them listen to some great music.
  • Duets! – group class is a perfect time to learn about and practice ensemble playing, accompanying, etc.
As far as how many classes to hold during a semester, I think it depends on your goals and the needs of your studio. I know some teachers who hold class monthly and some who hold class once or twice during the whole semester. As a teenager I went to group class about once or twice a semester, usually in the month or two before a recital. The main goal of that class was to practice performing our recital pieces. If your goal is to supplement the private lessons with a theory class, perhaps once a month might be better.
Something else not so important (but worth mentioning) is that treats are always appreciated at such events 🙂 There was never a studio class that went by in my teenage years without receipt of a Creamie at the end.
So readers, now it is your turn! I’d love your input about specific game/activity ideas for group classes, and any other suggestions on this topic.
If you have a question about piano teaching that you’d like to ask us, please leave it in a comment or submit it here! Thanks!

Piano Teaching Q&A: Maternity Leave

January 11, 2011 Jennifer Boster
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I am due with my 3rd child in about a month and currently have 8 piano students ages 7-11. They are all in the Primer Bastien book, except 2, who are in level 1. As important as my piano students and their success is to me, my family comes first, so I have been thinking of taking a break for about a month to adjust to the new baby. I’m due January 26th, so I was going to just teach through January until the baby comes and then start up again in March. I would love to get your input and advice on how to make this break time not hinder the progress of my students and what kinds of things to give my students to work on while I’m out. I welcome any suggestions and thank you in advance for your help.
Sincerely,
Haley Castillo

Hi, I just had my second baby a few months ago, so this is fresh on my mind. I’m exhausted! Good luck with your third! I hope I can answer this in a way that will apply to other teachers as well. There are a couple of different ways to handle a maternity leave. One is to find a substitute teacher to teach your students while you are gone, and the other is to just give your students a break for a while.

Substitute

If at all possible, I recommend finding a substitute teacher to take your students while you are recovering and adjusting to life with a new baby. Brainstorm possibilities for someone who might be able to do this: do you have a younger sibling who would like to learn to teach? Do you have any nearby relatives or friends with teaching experience or a good piano background? What about piano teachers in your neighborhood? Maybe an older person who used to teach and might enjoy a short-term return to the trade? Consider that someone who is less experienced than you will appreciate the opportunity and training, but may not push your students as hard as you would. On the other hand, someone with more experience than you should be able to keep your students challenged, but might be more expensive, and honestly, you could lose some students who may decide to transfer to the substitute’s studio permanently. There are bound to be drawbacks with anyone you choose, but it will usually still be better than losing the momentum by giving your students a month or two off of lessons entirely.

Once you have a list of a few possibilities, contact each one of them to gauge their interest and availability. Let them know how many weeks you are planning to take off, what your current teaching schedule is, and what tuition your students are currently paying. Ideally, it would be great to find someone who can maintain the same schedule and tuition your students are used to, but minor adjustments may have to be made.

Once you have arranged with someone to be your substitute, contact each of your students to let them know what you have set up. Tell them when and where their lessons will be, who they should make payment to (if you already have a good payment system in place, it might work best for them to continue to pay you, and you can just write one check to the substitute), and any other details you have worked out with the substitute. The smoother you can make this transition for your students, the less likely you are to lose any of them in the process.

Write some notes about each student for the substitute teacher. Let them know how long the student has been playing, what pieces they are working on, what skills they need to focus on, what your practice expectations are, what your reward systems are, etc. If your students will be ready to start any new literature during your absence, select that literature ahead of time and let the substitute know when to assign it. The more info you can give the substitute about your students and your systems, the smoother the transition will be for everyone involved. But keep in mind that every teacher does things differently, and the substitute will probably do some things with your students that you wouldn’t have done. And that’s okay; you might even learn something!


No substitute

If you can’t find anyone that you feel good about teaching your students while you are gone, then it can work to give your students a break for a while. You run the risk of losing some who might decide not to come back once they get out of the habit of lessons, and you will absolutely have to do a little backtracking to re-teach lost skills, but there are a few things you can do to minimize the negative impact of this time off.

  • Let parents know exactly when lessons will start up again. If you give them a date to put on their calendars, they are more likely to view this as a break instead of a stopping point with an optional restart.
  • Give students weekly assignments to complete while you are gone. Maybe they can pass off a song to a parent each week, master a new technique exercise, or complete a theory game or coloring page during their regular lesson time.
  • Don’t treat your time off like a break for the students. If they get out of the habit of practicing while you are on leave, they might not get back in. It’s likely they won’t practice as well as usual, but expect them to, and they might. Especially if they have weekly goals they know they need to complete.
  • It might help to make a calendar showing the weeks you will be gone, and to write assignments and goals directly on the calendar. Maybe younger students would enjoy crossing off the days on the calendar, or putting a sticker on each day that they practice.
  • Enlist the parents’ help in keeping the practicing consistent and in meeting weekly goals.
  • See if you can think of a fun and different assignment for the students to do while you are gone—maybe have them write a composition, do a research project about a composer, or write a story about two music notes named Fred and Harry (yeah…I’m sure you can come up with something better than that…)
  • Depending on what you think you are up for, you might consider making a phone call to each family once or twice during your time off, just to check in and see how practicing and other assignments are going. This can help parents and students recommit if they have slacked a bit.
  • Send a birth announcement to each family so they will be thinking about you! (I’m mostly kidding about this one…who has time to send birth announcements after their 3rd child?)

I hope this helps a little. Obviously there are lots of details that could be handled differently, and you will need to think carefully about each of your students and what will be best for them. I hope other teachers will add their ideas in the comments!

If you have a question you’d like to ask us, submit it here!

Piano Teaching Q&A: Stopping Lessons

November 1, 2010 Jennifer Boster
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Each week we will be featuring questions asked by our readers, and will do our best to answer them and to give some ideas 🙂

A few weeks ago, we received an email from a fellow piano teacher which stated the following:

How does everyone else deal w/ students who drop? I just came home yesterday to a voice mail from a mom of 2 of my students. Out of the blue, after 4 years of lessons, they’ve decided to go with a different teacher. For whatever their reasons, my feelings are hurt that after all this time invested, I just get a message. I’ve also been dropped by email. I know that no one likes confrontation, but geez!. Thanks!

In response, firstly I’d like to offer my condolences for such insensitive and impersonal behavior! Like you said, I think sometimes we want to avoid confrontation by any means possible, but don’t realize that by trying not to “come off as mean” we end up coming off even MORE mean than before!

I haven’t been teaching for as long as many of you, and we’ve moved around so much that I always ended up being the one who left my students, before they even had a chance to leave me! However, I’d like to offer some thoughts and suggestions on the matter. My current studio is comprised entirely of transfer students, and I can share with you some suggestions I gave those parents who were about to leave their current teacher in order to have their children study with me.

Of course it hurts that after 4 (or however many) years of invested time, emotion, and talent, a student chooses to leave our studio. I think the important thing to remember is that there is a wide array of reasons why a family may choose to study with someone else – we don’t know everything about their circumstances. It could be that their financial situation has suddenly changed and they can no longer afford piano lessons. It could be that the student has a conflicting schedule and has chosen the other activity (sports, ballet, etc) over piano. Those are just 2 of the many possible reasons for leaving. If this were happening to me, I would convince myself that it was definitely one of those two things – but that’s just how I am! 🙂

Now, to tackle the more uncomfortable possibilities… It might be that their learning style was not matching up as optimally with your teaching style – and that is okay. One might immediately say “Yeah, but then why did they study with me for FOUR YEARS? Wouldn’t this have come up sooner?!” Possibly, possibly not. Students change – we all know how much personalities change as students get older! The last (and most uncomfortable) possibility is that the mother found a teacher that was a better fit for her children. However, the important thing to remember about that sentence is the last part – FOR HER CHILDREN. It doesn’t mean that you are a bad teacher or a “lesser teacher” than someone else. And this is assuming she’s even leaving you FOR SOMEONE ELSE – it might be that she just chose to remove her children from lessons altogether!

I am totally the “Every Cloud has Silver Lining” sort of person, and so what I would do is this:

1. Call the mom and ask why. I know it might sound gutsy – because it is – but you have a right to know, at least as it concerns you. Why? Because you want to know how you can improve yourself. I wouldn’t call her and demand “Why did your children drop out of my studio?! TEL ME NOW!” Nothing like that! But call her and kindly ask if there was anything in the way you ran your studio that prompted her to remove her children from your studio. Explain to her (and this, I think, would be the most important part) that you aren’t trying to be nosy, but as a professional teacher, you want to know how you can improve your services to your students. This phone call will be very revealing, and if you’re a sensitive person, brace yourself, because you don’t know what the response will be. However, whatever the reason is, know that it will help you be a better piano teacher.

If the mom doesn’t respond to your phone call or email (I’d do both), then perhaps try contacting her via both mediums one week later, and then leave it at that. If you choose to not contact the mother, or if you never hear back from her, then I would do some self-evaluation. Do a Studio Evaluation, as I like to call it – scrutinize every aspect of your studio, think of a master teacher (such as Leon Fleisher, Nelita True, etc) and ask yourself “Would his/her studio handle it this way?” and model your studio after that. This way, you are ensuring that you have the most professional studio possible.

These are just my thoughts and theories – I would absolutely love to hear feedback. If you completely disagree, please let me know – we can all improve!

Piano Teaching Q&A: Teaching New Pieces

July 19, 2010 Jennifer Boster
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Occasionally we will be featuring questions from readers, and will do our best to answer them and to give some ideas 🙂 We’d love lots of comments to see what you think as well!
I am very interested in this topic. Can we discuss a “syllabus” lesson, maybe where we set everything up for the semester for goals? What about metronome markings for goals?

I have thought a lot lately about practicing and how I can make goals each week with my students on what to hear the following week. When I have a student learn a piece with FERN, do they do it just 5 times hands alone per day for a week? When do they start putting hands together? I have run into problems with how much each student can handle and sometimes when I write the metronome marking I would like to hear a section at the following week, they can’t get it. Do I just rely on them to make their own tempo marking?
Many of these questions depend greatly not only on the level of the student, but the particular piece being learned and the student learning it. I would like to share some thoughts on some of these questions, though!
Goals for metronome markings:
I think that the key is to start your student out on a slow enough tempo. If you give them a tempo that is too fast, they will just get frustrated! It’s better to start out too slow and to have your student perfect the piece or the section very slowly than to start out too fast and result in a discouraged student. Once the student can play it perfectly at that slow tempo, you can increase the tempo a little at a time. I also think it’s helpful to have them practice hands alone with the metronome.
Weekly goals for students:
I usually break any piece into smaller sections, and challenge the student to learn a certain section (either hands alone or hands together – depending on the difficulty of the piece) by the next lesson. 
Practicing: a certain number of repetitions per day?
I think this depends on the personality of the student. Some students do well with this type of practicing, while others do better simply with the assignment to learn a certain section by a certain day. Some students practice better when recording all of their practice hours, and others not so much. I think it is best to get to know the strengths and personality traits of each individual student, and then decide which way would work best.
When to put hands together?
I usually have a student learn a short section of a piece hands alone, and then put it hands together before moving onto a new section. Although it really depends on the piece! In general though, I think that a lot of students don’t do enough hands alone practice! Even after it is learned hands together, it is still very beneficial to continue to practice hands alone.
I found this great quote from Gina Bachauer about the benefits of practicing hands alone – 
“To me, the essence of study is to acquire at a young age the habit of slow practice. Not nearly enough emphasis is placed on this important point. Practicing slowly enables one to control everything one does on the keyboard. The simplest scale, practiced slowly and with concentration, puts one in the position of having to control each finger, and of testing if the resulting sound is right, if one is articulating enough, if the two hands are exactly together. I also advocate practicing with the metronome; this, too, helps toward perfecting that high degree of control which is the goal of all practice…”

“From the very beginning the aspiring student should learn to play each hand separately. In my view, one does not really know a composition, long or short, until one can play it through without the score, taking each hand separately from start to finish. Among the students to whose playing I have listened, all too few can do this and almost none make a special point of it…The two hands cannot gain complete independence until they grow accustomed to working separately, the right hand bringing out the melody, without the support of the harmony, and the left hand asserting its values without the help of the melody. Working through the day’s tasks in this way brings great gains in balance.”
-Gina Bachauer, from “The Education of a Pianist”
If you have a question you’d like to ask, leave it in a comment or submit it here!

Piano Teaching Q&A: Pop Music

June 11, 2010 Jennifer Boster
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A couple of weeks ago there was a great post on Music Matters Blog about students wanting to learn pop music. One thing that was discussed there was about rhythms – when your students want to learn pop music, are you a stickler on playing the rhythm exactly as written? Or do you let them bend the rhythm a bit so it sounds just like the original recording sounds?

I think this is a very intriguing and actually an important topic. To the question already mentioned, I would also like to add this: What do you actually think about letting your students play pop music? This is something I am sure we all face. Students want to play pieces that are “fun!” Unfortunately, “fun” for many students translates as “not classical.” Hopefully we can change that in our studios – but how do we handle the pop music issue?

Here is my own personal response, and I really want to hear what you think of this as well!

I think it doesn’t hurt to let students play some pop music. As a classically-trained pianist, obviously I put a lot of emphasis on the classical music in my teaching. But I do think that students need a little motivation at times. And to be quite honest, I think that playing some pop music really helps piano students to become well-rounded musicians. What the student gets out of playing some pop music actually depends a lot on the difficulty level –

Simplified, elementary-level pop music: Sometimes a simplified version of “Star Wars” can work wonders for a seven-year-old boy who is becoming bored with lessons. We all must admit that those simplified Disney songs can really be quite fun for students. I don’t mind my students playing some pop music every once in awhile. On a side note, I do think it is important to not call their pop piece their “fun” piece (that breaks their music into two categories – “classical” and “fun” – not a good message to send our students!).

As far as rhythm-bending goes, the simplified popular songs often have simplified rhythms, therefore they do not actually sound as they are supposed to, and kids notice this. I usually let them play the rhythms more syncopated or swung to match the real sound of the song, as long as the student realizes how it is written, and that they are, in fact, playing it differently than it is written.

Non-simplified pop music: Ok, so this stuff can be really fun (I enjoy sitting down and playing these sometimes!), and it can actually be very challenging. I think it is a great thing for a student to be able to play a fun pop song with a very tricky rhythm. I tell my students that they can learn these types of pieces every once in awhile for lessons, but they must play the rhythm correctly. I am a real stickler on this. Otherwise they are just being lazy and are not being good musicians. Because seriously – those rhythms can be really tricky. You don’t find those types of rhythms much at all in classical music, and I think it is a really good skill to have to be able to really feel the beat and play the rhythm well.

A couple of things – when students do want to play pop music, I think it is good to encourage them to play songs that were actually written for and recorded with a PIANO. Not only are these songs a lot of fun (because they sound much more authentic), the piano part is usually written better than when it is a transcription of a song for a rock group. So some examples of pop songs with a predominant piano part – Walking in Memphis, A Thousand Miles (Vanessa Carlton), songs by Jon McLaughlin – many of you could name a ton more. My eighteen-year-old brother is an amazing pianist (he just performed Rhapsody in Blue with his school orchestra and did a wonderful job), and not only is he great at classical music but he loves to sit down and play pop songs and sing. (He’s also possibly reading this – love ya, Dude!) I honestly think that he has become a better musician in part because of the fact that he plays this kind of stuff all the time.

So I would say to be open for these types of songs at least every once in awhile. Try to find good teaching moments in popular songs. Make sure the student is becoming a better musician because of it.

Walking in Memphis (Piano Vocal, Sheet music.)A Thousand Miles (Piano Vocal, Sheet music.)

What do you think?

Piano Teaching Q&A: Fun Summer Programs

May 18, 2010 Jennifer Boster
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Each week we will be featuring questions about music teaching, and will do our best to answer them and to give some ideas 🙂 We would also love lots of comments to see what you think!



What are some fun camps, programs, and incentives that you do in your studio during the summer months?

One thing that I would love to incorporate in my own studio during the summer is some sort of piano camp. Now I have never done this before, so these are just ideas (and I would love to hear from people who have actually done summer camps!) – but I would love to incorporate things into a camp such as fun theory games, music history, and fun duets (and other fun ensemble pieces, like quartets). Field trips and concerts would also be awesome! A summer camp would be an excellent way to supplement the students’ music education, because you would be able to cover (in a fun way) so many concepts that there is just not enough time for in regular lessons. Summer camps also are a great way to build up your studio and find new students. What kind of things do you do for summer camps?

Incentive programs are also a great idea – one that I have done before is a practicing contest. Because each of my students have different practice goals (more on that next week), students received points in the contest if they reached their individual practice goals for the week. A competition is sometimes just what students need for a little extra motivation!

Sometimes summertime is an excellent time for a fun recital! You can pick a theme and a venue, and make it special and different than your usual studio recitals. In the past I have loved doing duet recitals – students team up and learn some great duets together (which can be a fun way to motivate students and help them get to know each other). Janina and I once did a duet recital with both of our studios combined, and we held it at a local rest home and performed for the great people who lived there.

Summer is a wonderful time to be creative and have a lot of fun with your teaching. What are some ways you have spiced up your studio during the summer months? Also, take a minute and take our poll!


If you have a question you’d like to ask us, leave it in a comment or submit it here.

Piano Teaching Q&A: Theory Technology

April 21, 2010 Jennifer Boster
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Hello, again! We’ve finally moved into our new home in Idaho and I’ve already gotten a few student referals (yes!). I went to a workshop for piano teachers this past Friday entitled “Incorporating Technology into your Studio”, and it turns out that technology is a BIG deal here in Idaho (which I love!) Even the elderly teachers who have been teaching for 50 years use MIDIsaurus and other computer-based theory exercises. I love it and I’m going to buy MIDIsaurus and a couple other computer theory programs in the next couple of weeks. But here’s my question:

How should I handle computer lab fees? I originally thought I would charge a $5 computer lab fee per month (keeping in mind the cost of living in Idaho). However, when I went to the workshop on Friday and asked the same question, a lot of the teachers said they tried doing a monthly fee, but a lot of the parents would try to save money and say “Well, what if I just had my son take piano lessons without the computer instruction, so I don’t have to pay the monthly computer lab fee?”

I obviously want to avoid that, because theory and ear-training are such an integral part of piano lessons! So some of the teachers suggested doing a yearly Materials Fee, which covers computer lab costs. I originally had my materials fee set for $25, BEFORE I added my computer lab. I thought maybe it should be $50 for the yearly materials fee, but it sounds like that might be too high for Idaho (I already had to drop my monthly lesson rates by $15, and it’s STILL on the high side!) So what would you do? I’m having some students come for auditions next week, so I need to have this ironed out by the end of this weekend! Thanks!

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Piano Teaching Q&A: Pop Music

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Piano Teaching Q&A: Theory Technology

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