6 Reasons You Need a Teaching Philosophy

November 3, 2023 Jennifer Boster

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A teaching philosophy is a written-out statement of your purpose in teaching, your core beliefs and goals related to your teaching, and why you teach that way. Have you ever sat down and written out your teaching philosophy for your piano studio? It can be super helpful to sit down and do this every so often.

Here are 6 reasons YOU need a teaching philosophy:

It helps you reach your target audience of piano students
Lays out your overarching goals for your studio
Helps guide all of your lesson planning
Helps you be more intentional with each lesson and each student
Provides a framework for how you run your piano teaching business
It puts into words your “WHY” of teaching piano

I have done this several times throughout the years. Just as my studio policies and my curriculum change and evolve as I learn and grow and work to become a better teacher, my teaching philosophy evolves and becomes refined the more I teach.

Here is the most recent iteration of my teaching philosophy:

I believe that music can be a lifelong pursuit and a transformative force in one’s life. Whether my students choose to continue to advanced study or not, my commitment is to shape well-rounded pianists who possess the tools and knowledge to be competent musicians and enjoy playing the piano for life. I do this through prioritizing musical literacy and strong sight-reading skills, fostering creativity, promoting music appreciation, and instilling a sense of musical generosity. I aim to inspire my students to embrace music as an essential and beautiful part of their lives. With these foundational principles at their fingertips, my students will not only experience the joy of being able to open a piano book and play any piece they desire, but will also develop a profound ability to touch hearts and bless lives through their musical talents.

Do you have a teaching philosophy? I’d love to read it! Share it in the comments.

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Teaching the Individual, Part 2: Goals of the Student

October 20, 2010 Jennifer Boster

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This week we are discussing ways that we can maintain standards of excellence in our studios, while at the same time adapting our teaching styles to help each individual student succeed.

Discuss with each new student their goals related to piano lessons.

As new students enter your studio, sit down with them and have a candid discussion about why they are taking lessons. If they are transfer students, ask if they enjoy it. Find out exactly what they are hoping to get out of lessons. Some students may be very talented and motivated, and wish to prepare to study piano in college. Maybe they just want to learn how to read music, or work on their performance anxiety. Some may want to be able to play well for their own enjoyment. Some might want to learn how to sight read. You won’t know until you ask.

Sometimes students don’t know what they want to get out of music lessons. In this case, it is a great opportunity to talk with them and help them come up with some goals. Doing this puts a little more responsibility on the student, for when they have set their own goals they will have something specific to work toward that is for them.

I have my new students fill out an information sheet when they join my studio, and the most important line on that sheet says, “What do you hope to get out of piano lessons?” I think it is better to start out on the same page right from the beginning, than to deal with a lot of frustration along the way.

Teaching the Individual, Part 1: Teaching Philosophies

October 19, 2010 Jennifer Boster

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So, I want to be a good piano teacher.

I want my students to all be musically-literate, to sight-read fluently and play with a beautiful sound. I want them to have great technique and play with no mistakes, and wow audiences with their great performances. Who’s with me?

Don’t we all have certain ideals and standards that we have set for ourselves as teachers – standards for our music studios that we would love for each student to achieve? I have learned, which I am sure you have also learned because it becomes pretty apparent as you start teaching a lot, that not only do our students each have unique and individual strengths and weaknesses, but they also have their own goals related to piano and music. Believe it or not, not all of your students are striving to become piano performance majors in college (what??).

As music teachers, how do we maintain our standards of excellence that we have set for our studios while still adapting our teaching style to the individual student and allowing for each student to have their own set of goals? How do we join our expectations with our students’ expectations, and produce well-rounded students of all abilities, types and backgrounds? Over the next few days I want to discuss this important topic, and give a few specific ways I have found to accomplish this. Today we will focus on Teaching Philosophies.

Sit down and write out your teaching philosophy.

Your teaching philosophy is your vision for your studio, your goals and standards which you feel are most important to teach your students. This is a great exercise if you have never done it before, and really helps to focus your teaching and be more effective as a teacher.

What is most important to you as a teacher? What are some goals which can be achieved by students of all ages and levels? What standards would you like to set for your studio which will set you apart as a successful teacher?

Whatever your philosophy is, make sure your students know what you are going for and know what you expect of them.

Make your teaching philosophy applicable to students of all levels.

My teaching philosophy is two-fold; it includes some specific goals for me as the teacher, and three specific goals for each of my students. My goals for each of my students are that they

1) become musically-literate sight readers,

2) that they learn how to play with expression and beauty, and

3) that they become acquainted with the piano literature of the great composers.

Of course, there will be more goals which you come up with that are specific to each student, but these are three goals which I feel confident that any student can learn, no matter their individual strengths and weaknesses. I also feel that if they can accomplish these three things, even if they don’t become professional musicians or go on to study music in college, they will at least gain a love and appreciation of music, and be able to play and enjoy music for the rest of their life.

What is your teaching philosophy? What goals do you have for your music studio?

why sight reading is important

June 29, 2010 Jennifer Boster

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I believe that sight reading is one of the most important skills we can teach our students. Sight reading ability is a great indicator of the student’s overall understanding of music and music theory. If a student is a good sight reader, chances are they are pretty musically-literate overall!

In fact, sight reading is a big part of my own teaching philosophy. One of my three main objectives in my teaching is to help my students become musically-literate sight readers.

Being able to sight read well is of the utmost importance if one wants to be a proficient pianist. Students should learn all of the necessary concepts and skills to become good sight readers and well-rounded musicians.

So why is sight reading so important? Here is a list I came up with:

Good sight readers…

…are able to accompany somebody or make music in a group at the drop of a hat.

…are very good at recognizing and naming notes quickly.

…can probably learn new repertoire quickly.

…are good at looking ahead while playing.

…can become familiar with a lot more repertoire without necessarily needing to study it in depth.

…are well-rounded musicians!

It is one thing if our students can study a piece for weeks, months or years and then play it amazingly well (and this is definitely good!) But if they cannot sit down and play a new piece of music placed in front of them, are they truly good, well-rounded musicians?