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Hey All!

Its been a little while, but I think we’re all settling into Fall. I made this video a little while back as the second part to answer a question on how to begin teaching piano lessons. As a reminder, the question she asked was:

I know it can be a little daunting to say the least when you begin! After 10+ years of teaching, I think some of my best tips can be found in this video. Kind of “I wish I had known then” list. Check it out, and more info below.

Don’t forget to sign up on the email list over there

To expand on the video a little:

Stick by the Method Books

Although not perfect, the Method Books do provide you with a good systematic framework for taking a student from point A to point B. I wish I had used Faber in my early years of teaching, but I stick by Piano Adventures now as my Method Book series of choice. I still use the normal Primer Level books expect for really young beginners (like 5-1/2 and under) just because I’m not as crazy about My First Piano Adventure (maybe I’m just getting used to them), although I find it does work better with the real young kids. So kids about 5-1/2 to maybe 10/11 I’d start them in the Primer Level if they’re beginners, and any older than that you can start in the Accelerated Piano Adventures Books. If they’re not beginners, use your judgement of how well they read notes and rhythm to decide what level to start them in.

Always Remember the Basics: Notes and Rhythm

Especially with younger students and beginners, much of our job is to ensure they have a solid foundation of music literacy. I ALWAYS check in with the basic stuff, note reading and rhythm. This is a great approach for students you’ve had for a while or when assessing a new student. Simply, can they identify notes from a book? Do they know notes quickly on the piano? Can they read rhythm at sight (level appropriate)? And can they taps rhythms while counting a beat?

(Caveat: this is general advise. I’ve found ages 7 and under to be a grey area where the status quo might be being able to follow along in the book by pointing, while slowly learning note reading. They may learn more by a combination of ear, memory and rote at this age, but you always want to help shift them towards real note reading as they mature and become ready. You may place emphasis on singing along and imitation. if you start a young student, and they can’t read notes at all, get them in the My First Piano Adventure books and follow the activities provided. This age group has done very well with the Note Squish note-reading game.)

Much of Your Effectiveness has Nothing to Do with Music

You’ll find after working with students for a while, the quality of your relationship can have a huge impact on their ability to learn from you. A student needs to feel safe, comfortable, appreciated, listened to and respected. This comes from being open to their emotions and suggestions. It comes from having a clean and warm studio environment. From keeping promises.

The first few moments I spend with a new student, I find are the most important at helping to create this atmosphere. I always introduce the piano as something fun, experimental and exciting – not something to afraid of if a “bad” sound comes out of it. When I first started teaching piano, I was still in college and was so wrapped up in the music part of it, its easy to forget the human side of teaching, and how effectively teaching music is also achieved through universal people skills as well.

- Still unsure of what to do? Ask me a piano teaching question here…

I hope this helps some people, and the NEXT question to look forward to is also about beginning to teach piano, but more about determining if you are qualified. Look for it soon!

Psssst…. don’t forget the email list…

I’ve been using a note reading game on my iPhone for several months, called “Note Squish” with some impressive results. In the video, I’ll explain a little bit about the game, and then you’ll get to see a student playing it. I’ve tried many different note reading games on my iPhone, but this one really is the best (unless I missed one). There are several things I like about it. First of all, it’s actually FUN! The sound effects and graphics are engaging. Second, you can easily scale up or down the level and challenge by choosing which notes to display, or adjusting the speed of the game (slow, medium and fast).

You can visit www.guitargames.net to find these games online, and you can get the game for your iPhone here.

As for other games, I was told by the creator of the game: “There are several apps that work for piano: Note squish, Note fish, Woody Says, The Melody Game, Super Scale Trainer, Music Theory Blocks, Ear Tester, and Key Hunt. All those either have a piano mode or teach more general concepts.” Very cool! I will definitely be trying some of the other ones out myself.

Its only $19.95 a YEAR for the online version, and this gives you access to ALL the games on guiargames.net. You can try all the games for FREE for one month. The iPhone app of note squish is only 99 cents. If you do sign up for an online version through this link, I would receive a small affiliate commission for sharing it with you. But since I do no advertising on this site, and put in many hours of extra time, if you REALLY like the game and don’t mind using my link, that would be great! If you choose not to, you can just go directly to www.guitargames.net without the link.

Hello! I recently received another question:

So I am extremely new to the teaching world. This is literally my first time teaching piano and I’m just going to be teaching a few kids, but I am a little unsure of exactly what to do. I’m 16 and have a high level of piano, theory, and music skill. I’m just unsure of where to start. I want to be able to get to know their skill levels and then go from there hitting theory, sight reading, and ear training first. I was just wondering if you could offer some tips? Maybe some suggestions on what I should focus on and what books are the best for beginners?

I’m going to tackle this question in two separate posts.

First, I’ll show my basic plan for a first piano lesson with a beginner.

It’s covered mainly in this video, but below I’ve outlined the main points and added a little more information below.

Don’t forget, you can ask me a piano teaching question anytime…

First Piano Lesson: Step by Step

This is the basic run-down of what’s on the board, details in the video!

1. “Copy Cat” – black note game
2. Musical Alphabet – say/write (no piano) – More about the musical alphabet here.
3. White Notes – putting the musical alphabet onto the piano
4. Find all C’s, D’s etc. – isolating specific white notes
5. Finger Numbers
6. C Position – More about beginning hand position.

That’s the normal progression of what I usually cover in the first lesson. I do most of this without a book.

But then I DO try to get to the first 3-4 songs in the Primer Lesson Book (either in the beginning of the book, or in the middle – I start in different places depending on age and how well they do with the other stuff.)

Here’s the biggest takeaway off all though, which I didn’t mention in the video:

A lot of what I do in the first lesson is NOT about the material. It’s about my first moments with the student, laying the groundwork for a positive relationship, getting a feel for the students emotional, intellectual, and psychological demeanor.

I keep it loose, and don’t ever strictly follow this plan by rote, allowing room for creativity, fun and experimentation. But just like playing a jazz standard, Its good to have a framework to work from, and deviate from it if necessary.

So remember: I’ll be answering more of this question, in a second post, to come shortly, so stay tuned! Sign up on the email list or RSS feed if you haven’t already. Thanks!

Hey Everyone! So sorry for the long hiatus in blog posts! I’m going to be getting to a few questions that have come in VERY soon.

But the first thing I promised was that I would share the NEW location of Evolving Music in Holden, MA. Last month (the same month as our recital, I must be insane), we moved lessons OUT of our house and into a commercial location at 800 Main St in Holden.

Check out the video. And as I mentioned, I’ve got some questions of yours to answer and some cool piano teaching tips to share with you in the next few weeks, so sign up on the email list or RSS feed to be notified of more great teaching tips coming soon.

The Old Evolving Music Location - Small!!

For about the last 8 months I’ve been casually searching for a commercial location for the lessons at Evolving Music. And a few weeks ago my wife and I found a spot that’s perfect for piano lessons and I can’t wait to show it to you. But first, I’ve learned a lot along the way, so I’d like to share this knowledge, so you can benefit from my research if you ever decide to open a music lesson studio.

Just some quick history, I have been teaching piano lessons from our small house for almost 3 years. I went from just a few students to now about 40! Yes, its time to have our house back.

Benefits

Aside from reclaiming your living space, there are other benefits to starting a private lesson studio at a location away from home. I’ll list a few;

- Higher Quality of Lessons. This is the foremost reason. Generally, if you can get a bigger space and use it to its full potential, you can offer more services (group lessons or computer stations) and a higher quality of education. Plus the convenience for students, if you can be in a downtown, easily accessible area of town is a bonus.

– Visibility. If you can get into a location in a downtown or high traffic area, your studio will basically advertise its self. Especially if there are other businesses with a similar clientele.

- Separation of work and play. I have to say that I’ve really enjoyed having people come into our home for the past few years. Its quite personal and everyone loves seeing our cats and the smells of my wife’s great cooking. Although once we passed 30 students it hit that boiling point! Less than 30 students is like a side business. Forty is more like a legitimate, bordering on full-time business.

- Hiring Potential. Depending on the space you find, this gives you the potential to hire another teacher on your off days, or if there are multiple rooms, you can have a few lessons going on at once.

What to Look For

I’m pretty OCD and list-crazy when it comes to a big decision like this. Here are all the bits of information I wanted to know when looking for a place to rent;

- Location. Like anything in real estate and business, location location location!! Is it in an easily accessible part of town? Would a parent be comfortable bringing their child there?

- Square Feet. I was looking for something in the 400-500 range. Big enough for an upright piano, small drum set, a few amps and a desk. Anything bigger would have been too expensive.

- Cost. What can your budget afford? What kinds of things could you do to supplement the extra expense? Raise prices? Hire another teacher? Offer a few group lessons?

- Utilities. Are you responsible for heat and electricity? Internet?

- Lease. Are you guaranteed at least a year in the space, and what are the renewal terms?

- 24/7 Access. Are you allowed access to your space anytime you want?

- Parking. I was looking for something with at least 5-6 spaces. Enough for me, two students at a time or a small group lesson.

Our neighborhood on a snowy morning... not fun shoveling right before lessons!

- Plowing. Yes, unfortunately us New Englanders have that stuff called snow. Will the landlord provide plowing and what will it cost? This is one HUGE reason I am excited to move lessons away from home – the snow was so bad this winter, there was nowhere to park!

- Noise. BIG factor. Unfortunately we’re not accountants. We teach music and we make noise. You have to find a location where you will not be imposing on other business! How to test this? Bring a drum or loud radio with you when you look at places and have someone make a bunch of noise, and walk around everywhere to see how loud it is.

- Lesson Rooms. If you want a few lessons going on at once, is there the space for this?

- Bathroom. Goes without saying.

- Waiting Area. Is there a comfortable place for parents and siblings to wait?

- Storage. Do you have access to any storage, even just a closet?

What’s The Place I Chose?

That's the actual building.... I'll reveal it once the lease is signed!

Well…. I’m not going to announce it just yet. I am literally going over there right now to make the final arrangements. But I plan on taking some initial pictures, and sharing the process of our move.

I hope the list was helpful, and stay tuned!

Hi!  Anyone out there want to ask me a question about teaching piano?  Anything at all!  Honestly, I want to be as helpful as possible for anyone starting out or wanting to improve their teaching skills.  Leave a comment, email me or send me a tweet.

Don’t be shy!  I’ve drafted about 5 posts in the past month (but haven’t posted a single one). I really just want to know what would be helpful to you.

Does anyone have any students they have a question about?  Maybe you’re having a hard time teaching them notes, or rhythm? Do they need reminding to practice? Hand position? Maybe you need to know how to get more students? How to bill parents? Write a contract? How to correct poor technique? Maybe you’re searching for an answer you can’t find, or need a good recommendation for a book? Maybe you want to record your students but don’t know the best way how?

Here, I’ll ask you by VIDEO

A Quick History on Dan

A little background on me, and this blog. My wife and I married and moved to Holden, MA about 4 years ago. I left behind about 35 students in New Hampshire, as well as most of my performing. We were starting a life together, and because of this location change, I was starting over in terms of teaching and earning a living.

Fast forward a few years… now there’s almost 40 students coming to our (small) house a week. Parallel to this, I’ve spent the last 4 years working for my father (he owns two sculpture businesses) and learning all sorts of things; web-design and programming, search engine optimization, photography, marketing. It’s been quite the journey!

Point is, I want to put together all these skills to create something really helpful for piano teachers, and aspiring piano teachers!

The Future Purpose of this Blog

I started this blog for fun in 2010 as an outlet to share my teaching tips with you.

But in this time, the blog has been a little “fly by the seat of your pants” and haphazard in the 10 months since starting it – but I can sense its higher purpose.  And that is to serve as a documentation of the process by which I develop some really valuable and helpful teaching resources.  You can be a part of it, as in order for me to help teachers, it demands your questions, interaction and feedback.

The Evolving Music Blog will serve as your backstage pass to the inner workings of me putting together these resources. You can participate, and follow me step by step as I create resources to help piano teachers.

You’ll also see an entirely new design soon…

Checklist – Next Steps

1. I’m going to answer your questions.

2. I’m going to finally nail down a template/design I’m happy with for this blog.

3. Together, we’re going to start creating these teaching resources. I can’t be too specific about them now.  But these resources will be in various mediums – video, audio and new websites. Think big and think innovative and think exciting and fun. Your questions will help give me direction.

In most of the past 10 years I have taught on average 30-40 students a week. Every day my students and I are coming up with new note reading games, teaching methods, tricks and tips.

So in the coming months and years, I will be producing some really valuable teaching resources and documenting that process here on this blog. But it has to start with your interaction!!

I know together we can create some useful and valuable teaching information, that brings you great results.

Leave a Question!!

I want to seriously hear from you, and what you would like to know about teaching piano. So leave a comment, email me or send me a tweet. I will answer EVERY SINGLE question in a blog post. I will not mention your name if you would like to be anonymous!

EDIT: I am currently hand-moderating all posts, so there may be a delay in seeing your comment. I hope when I switch templates the spam filters will be better, thanks!!

If you are a piano teacher and have your own website,  you’ll want to be sure you’re including these top keywords and phrases – for best ranking on search engines like Google.  This is good SEO (search engine optimization).  It helps provide relevant content to your customers while making you more visible on the web!

Include the following in your

• general text
• page title
• meta description tag
• <a> (anchor link) tags.

Piano teaching keywords.

Piano teacher, Piano teachers, Private piano teacher, Piano lessons, Private piano lessons, (Jazz or classical) piano teacher, Music lesson(s), Music studio, Music school, Piano music lessons, (Suzuki or other method) music lessons, Children music lessons, Kids music lessons, Music tutor

Or any mixing/combination of the above words.

Geographic keywords - target your town and the towns in a 10-15 mile radius.  For me it is;

Holden, MA, Worcester, MA, Rutland, MA, Princeton, MA, West Bolyston, MA, Bolyston, MA, Paxton, MA

Don’t forget general geographic terms!

Central Massachusetts, Central MA, Massachusetts

For further research - try Google’s Keyword Tool

This workout is guaranteed to build those musical alphabet muscles!

Have your student/child close their eyes.

Have them say the musical alphabet.

FORWARDS: “a-b-c-d-e-f-g-a”

Now have them say it backwards.
BACKWARDS: “a-g-f-e-d-c-b-a”

Then ask them to do the same thing, but start on D.

FORWARDS FROM D: “d-e-f-g-a-b-c-d”
BACKWARDS FROM D: “d-c-b-a-g-f-e-d”

• Try this starting on others letters
• Try having them say the musical alphabet and play it on the piano at the same time.
• Ask them to quiz you!

***BONUS ROUND***
Have them try saying it in skips –

EXAMPLE IN SKIPS:  “a-c-e-g-b-d-f-a” and backwards…

The possibilities are endless!  Don’t forget to breath