What is a Musician?
As promised, I wanted to link to Stephen Hough’s own answer to his question, “Can you be a musician and not write music?” He clearly thinks you can indeed be a musician and not write music, but I love that he continues the questioning by adding, “Do you have to play or sing in order to call yourself a musician?” and “What is a musician? Is it only those that can play or read?” His questions are definitely ones that need to be processed especially in our culture with all the people who don’t necessarily play or read, but participate in consuming music in a real way. Read his short article here.
What do you think? Do his thoughts change how you teach or approach your students?
I’m definitely enjoy Hough’s posts!
Read MoreOn Creative Work by Ira Glass
Here’s some good advice and things to remember from Ira Glass, the host of This American Life.
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Student Critiques
Over the years, I’ve had my students critique each other a number of times. Mostly its been for their performances of pieces in our group Performance Classes. We’ve used a variety of materials to do this from the Performance Class Worksheet (there are 4 of them on this page) to a simple piece of paper on which students write 1 thing they liked and 1 thing they think could be improved. I think I am like most teachers when I say that sometimes this process makes me a little nervous.
by Oude School
Perhaps this nervousness is why I’ve been more reluctant to use peer critiques of composition and creative projects. But, I know that my use of student critique in regular piano performance is not as extensive as it could be. This quote from the Vermont MIDI Project is making me rethink my cursory use of student critiques:
Students should view and listen to each other’s work frequently. They learn new ideas from each other and use them in their own pieces. As they develop more musical vocabulary, they discuss the music itself, not individuals, and this helps to depersonalize the critique. It takes time to teach critique, and it may seem that the investment is not worthwhile at the beginning, but as the class builds skills in this area, their comments are more insightful, the process runs more smoothly, and the impact on their future work is significant.
“The impact on their future work is significant…” I think that sentence is enough to make any of us rethink how often and how deeply we use student critiques in the studio. I wholeheartedly agree that this sentence is true, but the fact that “it takes time to teach critique, and it may seem that the investment is not worthwhile at the beginning” keeps me from committing wholeheartedly to making this an integral year round part of my studio routine. Students are extremely influenced by their peers, so why not tap into this in our teaching?
I’d love to know your thoughts on the usefulness of critiques. How have you used them in your studio? Have they been beneficial?
Read MoreWhen Should I Raise My Rates? [Dollars and Sense Q&A]
As promised, I am adding a feature to the Dollars and Sense category of the blog called Dollars and Sense Q&A! Kristin Yost has give a brief answer to this week’s question:
I know that I need to raise my rates. What is the best time to do this? Answered by Kristin Yost
Ah yes, the raising of the rates! First and foremost, I would make it clear in your studio policy that your rates are raised annually based on the national average, (last year is was 2-3%) and the new tuition takes effect June or July 1 of each year or when your studio calendar year begins.
I like to send out a personal note of accomplishments of myself as the teacher as well as what my students have achieved in the last year. This helps parents to understand the value of your service that you offer. You may also want to send your students a copy of the “Where Does My Tuition Go?” brochure that Wendy has provided so parents can be reminded of all the wonderful things their tuition covers.
If you have a business question you’d like to ask, email me (Wendy) and we’ll get your question answered in an upcoming post.
Read MoreA Better Image Can Translate to Better Money
Our “Dollars and Sense” feature is back! Kristin Yost will be sharing some fantastic articles containing useful business advice for piano teachers. She and I will also be sharing answers to your questions on business matters. Simply email me (Wendy) with your questions and we will try to answer you in a future post. Here is this week’s business advice for the piano teacher:
A Better Image Can Translate to Better Money
by Kristin Yost (PianoTeacherSchool.com and CentreforMusicalMinds.org)
You know as well as I do that the prettier the package in the window, the more sales the company will have. When I say “better image,” I’m not talking about the ten pounds we could all probably shed, or those bad hair days that you wish you could avoid. I’m talking about your online and print image to the public. If you are struggling with enrollment and you are asking yourself “What online and print image?”, well, you may already have your answer to why your enrollment is struggling. It’s time to ask yourself an important question that can truly make or break your enrollment numbers: Is your print image consistent with your personal image?
Let’s take a look at the ways your “image” is portrayed to the public, both in print and “real life.” As someone who is educating children through adults, your personal image needs to be one that is desirable to a large and wide variety of people – your print and online image should also match this. I love hot pink, but that doesn’t mean it should appear on my website. As an example, my company website appeals primarily to women who are in their 30’s and 40’s – this is on purpose. The vast majority of people going to our website happen to be in this age group, and they are also mostly female.
As a musician, we have so many options of what we are going to teach, how we are going to teach and what kinds of activities we offer.
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