Piano Teacher School Now Enrolling
The next set of courses offered at the Piano Teachers School begin October 15th. The courses are taught by Kristin Yost who has written a number of posts for the Dollars and Sense part of the ComposeCreate blog. These courses are completed through online video, PDF handouts, and Skype consultations. This October, you can choose from:
Important Option I Failed to Mention
I can’t believe that in my previous post, To Give or Not to Give Makeup Lessons, I forgot to mention one of the ways I most often ”makeup” lessons for students! I just revised the article, so if you’d like to see the other option, please see #8 on that post.
Read MoreTo Give or Not To Give Makeup Lessons
Inevitably, every few months, the subject of giving or not giving makeup lessons comes up on all of the piano teaching forums. Every teacher certainly has the freedom to choose what is best for their studio and personal lives, but I find that there are a number of teachers that are currently unhappy with their makeup policy. I’ve seen countless teachers complete their semester of teaching only to have several more weeks worth of teaching because they are giving makeup lessons. I’ve heard of other teachers reluctantly scheduling makeup lessons during their personal or family time, making daily life difficult for their entire household.
So, what can a teacher do to be happy with their teaching schedule and minimize the number of extra days they teach? Here are some possible solutions:
1. No Makeups
A growing number of teachers make it their policy never to give makeup lessons unless they are the ones that cancel lessons. The reasoning behind this policy is that the teacher is scheduled to be present for the student’s lesson at a specific time. If the student cannot make it, then the teacher cannot schedule a new student for that one solitary lesson. The time is reserved for that specific student! If you feel badly about offering no makeups, you can spend that lesson time making lesson plans, worksheets, or other plans for that specific student so that you can tell the parent that time was still being used for the student. Many teachers who have a no makeup policy have swap lists or extra performance classes so that parents can help makeup those times if they feel the need.
In my policy, I have the following paragraph under “Missed Lessons:”
Because specific times are set aside for specific students, a student who does not attend a lesson will simply miss the benefit of that lesson. I will then use that time or other times to plan for the student’s progress, locate materials, etc.
If you have difficulty in seeing the need for no makeups, consider this: You have reserved a specific number of minutes for each of your students and you should not be required to offer 2x that number of minutes with a makeup simply because they cannot be there. If you schedule even a few makeups a week, you can easily lose hours of time that could be spent with your family, exercising, or relaxing, which is something piano teachers need to do more often!
2. Swap Lists
This can be used by a student to swap lesson times with another student. This is helpful in case of doctor’s appointments, being out of town, or even sickness. Of course, if you use a swap list, you will want to get parents permission to include their name and phone number on the swap list you will distribute (I do this on the yearly “agreement to terms” form). Also, you might want to be specific with your rules for securing a swap. Mine include the following:
- I must be informed prior to and after any swap is made. (This helps me make sure that a 45 minute lesson is being swaps for a lesson of equal time. This also helps me make sure that any back to back lessons that need to be preserved will indeed be preserved.)
- No make up lessons will be given should confusion from this arise.
- Should 2 people arrive at once, I will teach the one whose lesson is normally at that time.
3. Phone Lessons (during the student’s regular scheduled time)
I have been amazed at how effective phone lessons can be. I find myself asking a lot more questions about the music during phone lessons than I would normally ask. This helps the student get to know the piece even better than they might during the regular lesson. Of course, there are things that you can’t do in a lesson (like check fingering), but I often ask the student to evaluate these things since I cannot see them.
4. Skype Lessons (during the student’s regular scheduled time)
These are by far the most effective kinds of “makeup lessons.” I often give these lessons if a student is not feeling well, but is not too sick to be in bed. Skype is a free service which allows you to have both an audio and visual connection to the student. It requires that both
5. Performance Classes
You may want to offer all of your students the opportunity to attend a few free group or performance classes in the year. This can help parents feel like they are getting a makeup for a missed lesson since the class is free.
6. Building in an Extra Teaching Week
You can also build in an extra teaching week to your schedule so that students who never miss a lesson will get an extra lesson and those who miss lessons will have one official makeup. However, you must account for this extra week of teaching…it’s a break that you are forfeiting.
7. Sickness
Some teachers may opt to only give makeup lessons for lessons missed due to illness. This seems like a reasonable policy, but you might want to make sure you have specific guidelines so that this policy is not abused. For example, “What is sickness?” “Does a headache count?” ”Do allergies count?” You might also make sure that you specify how many lessons can be made up for sickness or how much advance warning is required for the makeup.
8. Give Lesson Time to Siblings
This is the option that I find myself most often using. When a sick or absent student has a sibling that takes piano lessons with me, I will offer the lesson time to that sibling, often making their lesson twice the normal length! I use this time to do ear training, composing, playing games, and other activities that we don’t always have time to do. I offer this option because parents feel that their money is not being “wasted” if they are able to still take advantage of the lesson time.
These are just a few of the many things that you can do in your studio to help minimize the number of extra weeks that you teach. Remember that no one controls your schedule but you! Be bold and confident when you make decisions about protecting your family time, your free time, and your life in general!
Do you have any other suggestions? Please feel free to share them in the comments.
Read MoreHow to “Do” Music Full Time
Guess post by Bradley Sowash- composer, jazz pianist, educator, and author
I tell all my students that there are two ways to do music full time:
1. Specialist – Be among the best in the world at some aspect of music. This is the rarest professional path.
2. Generalist – Have a wide range of skills. Good readers should know how to improvise, performers need to also understand teaching, composers be able to create arrangements, soloists learn to play in ensembles, and everyone needs to bust out of their stylistic niche which means learning about unfamiliar genres (rock, Broadway, classical, jazz…) in addition to further developing your preferred style.
I’ve been a full time, freelance musician since 1983 and though it hasn’t been without its struggles, I still enjoy and look forward to most work days. When I tell people who ask what I do for a living, they often raise their eyebrows and restate the question: “So… what do you really do?”
Some are looking for confirmation to the myth that musicians sit around all day while they have to work. (I tried that after college and ran out of food in about a week.) Others are wondering why I don’t resemble the media’s image of an arts professional (wear black and sit around coffee houses all day discussing deep issues). Still others are checking to see if I have a “real” job. (It’s true that I don’t work in a corporate cubicle but music is certainly “real” work.) So, whatever your motivation, if you find yourself seeking insight into the daily life of the full time, freelance music professional, I offer this list as one example.
Things I Do and What I Wear When I’m Doing Them:
1. At the Composer’s Desk wearing old ski T-shirts and sweatpants:
Writing and editing new sheet music books
Writing commissioned works
2. At the Piano in a tuxedo, suit, jeans, pajamas depending on the setting:
Performing sacred jazz concerts
Performing public (secular) concerts
Playing worship services
Accompanying dance classes
Conducting and band leading duties
Practicing
3. In the Educational Realm with an upright bass hiding most of me or with a djembe around my neck:
Directing a weekly Jazz Workshop for high school students
Coaching student classical chamber musicians
Teaching 24 private students
Leading music education seminars for teachers
4. Da Business with a fedora on my noggin except on dress-down
Fridays when I wear my cowboy hat:
Running a business – website updates, phone calls, scheduling….
Attending music conferences
Marketing all of the above
It’s a life. I can’t imagine trading it for a “real” job!
Bradley Sowash http://bradleysowash.com
Bradley is the author of the That’s Jazz Piano Method
Good to Great…What is your Hedgehog concept?
I am a woman of many interests. Most of these interests have to do with creating things, but in the past I have had a hard time prioritizing these interests. The main reason was because I was just having too much fun creating new things! A lot of the resources from Wendy’s Piano Studio (flashcards, games, theory worksheets, etc.) are testament to my need to “create” and my difficulty in prioritizing.
Good to Great helped me define what I really wanted “to do” and “to be.” In the chapter entitled the Hedgehog Concept, Jim Collins explains that Hedgehogs do only 1 thing, but they do it well.*
The fox is a cunning creature, able to devise a myriad of complex strategies for sneak attacks upon the hedgehog. Day in and day out, the fox circles around the hedgehog’s den, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce. Fast, sleek, beautiful, fleet of foot, and crafty—the fox looks like the sure winner. The hedgehog, on the other hand, is a dowdier creature, looking like a genetic mix-up between a porcupine and a small armadillo. He waddles along, going about his simple day, searching for lunch and taking care of his home.
The fox waits in cunning silence at the juncture in the trail. The hedgehog, minding his own business, wanders right into the path of the fox. “Aha, I’ve got you now!” thinks the fox. He leaps out, bounding across the ground, lightning fast. The little hedgehog, sensing danger, looks up and thinks, “Here we go again. Will he ever learn?” Rolling up into a perfect little ball, the hedgehog becomes a sphere of sharp spikes, pointing outward in all directions. The fox, bounding toward his prey, sees the hedgehog defense and calls off the attack. Retreating back to the forest, the fox begins to calculate a new line of attack. Each day, some version of this battle between the hedgehog and the fox takes place, and despite the greater cunning of the fox, the hedgehog always wins.
The hedgehog always wins because he is doing what he was born to do and what he is best at doing. Collins encourages individuals and companies create a Hedgehog concept, a simple, crystalline concept that flows from deep understanding about the intersection of the following three circles:
1. What you can be the best in the world at (and, equally important, what you cannot be the best in the world at). This discerning standard goes far beyond core competence. Just because you possess a core competence doesn’t necessarily mean you can be the best in the world at it. Conversely, what you can be the best at might not even be something in which you are currently engaged.
2. What drives your economic engine. All the good-to-great companies attained piercing insight into how to most effectively generate sustained and robust cash flow and profitability. In particular, they discovered the single denominator—profit per x—that had the greatest impact on their economics. (It would be cash flow per x in the social sector.)
3. What you are deeply passionate about. The good-to-great companies focused on those activities that ignited their passion. The idea here is not to stimulate passion but to discover what makes you passionate.
Once you define these parameters in your life, you will find more clear direction in what to prioritize. My Hedgehog concept is now about composing (loosely defined). This doesn’t mean I don’t take a few minutes now and again to create a cute little flashcard, but since I’ve turned my attention to composing, I’ve found my efforts are much more satisfying and I am able to sharpen my composing skills faster since this is where my attention is.
What is your Hedgehog Concept?
*The original “hedgehog concept” came from an essay by Isaiah Berlin in which he talks about Leo Tolstoy’s theory of history. The original quote, ”The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing” is from the ancient Greek poet Archilochus.
Read MoreThe Creative Habit
Few books have influenced my creativity and productivity more than Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit. There is so much to glean from this book that you may weary of me referencing it. However, I have accomplished more than I thought possible in the last year after implementing many of her suggestions.
The second chapter talks about Rituals of Preparation. Twyla talks about her ritual of getting up at 5:30 a.m. every morning, getting dressed, and taking a taxi to her gym. She talks about the point of commitment after which having hit it, she cannot turn back. For her, its the taxi. For me, its the shower. But whatever it is, just getting yourself there in the morning means that you are committed and you are at least going to have a chance at being successful and productive!
Getting up early, I can get 1-2 hours of uninterrupted work done. That may not seem like much, but adding 1-2 hours/5 days a week/52 weeks a year really makes a huge difference in productivity!
It reminds me of something Walter Mays, my wonderful composition teacher suggested to me. He said every day every composer should do [at least] one thing that furthers their career. It may be composing just a few measures, calling someone to tell them about your piece, scheduling a performance of your piece, editing a manuscript, reviewing a contract, etc. But, commit to doing at least 1 thing every day to further your career and you will go further than you may have thought possible.
Do just one thing, and do just one thing consistently for amazing results.
And get the book…you won’t regret it!
Read More
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