‘Adam is going on a school trip next week so please could we organise a make-up? ‘ ‘I’m sorry but it’s been sports day today and Emily is exhausted. Please could I cancel her piano lesson today and arrange a make-up another day.’ What do you say? I’m sure many of you have been faced […]
Like it or not, if you teach the piano you are running your own piano teaching business. In the last blog post I asked whether piano teachers are, like other arts based subjects, open to exploitation. Just because we have a passion for what we do. This week let’s put the passion to one side […]
Back in my 20s I found it hard to believe that someone would pay me to do something I had a real passion for. The fact that I was teaching the piano and earning money from it was frankly astonishing. Seeing and being around people who love their job is life affirming. We often feel […]
Have you had many new piano lesson enquiries recently? Do you ever find yourself caught ‘off-guard’ by phone calls? I know I certainly do! When this happens I can end up babbling on and feeling that I am not representing my work and worth to the best of my ability. The next three months are […]
Do you have a favourite question or activity that you start piano lessons with? One of our Curious Piano Teachers asked this question recently and between us we came up with 21 ideas. We’d love to hear about some of your favourite ways to start lessons so do share in the comments. GATHERING INFORMATION #1. […]
What are some of the weekly, termly, yearly struggles you face in piano lessons? We all have them whether large or small. It might be getting parents to pick up and pay up on time or just having someone else to chat through piano teaching problems with. Here at The Curious Piano Teachers we have […]
How do you feel when you hear that one of your students is going to stop having lessons? Disappointed and/or frustrated because you know that they could do really well if they only practised? Relieved because you were struggling to motivate them? Or do you feel guilty and feel like a failure as a piano […]
I love sitting down with a piece of music, digging deep and surfacing a few hours (or days!) later with fun teaching ideas and resources. Today I want to share with you my teaching ideas for ‘A Little Fable’ – a cute little piece from Kabalevsky’s collection 30 Children’s Pieces Op.27. According to the Oxford Dictionary a […]
This blog presents a series of teaching ideas for War Dance by Kabalevsky (from his collection 30 Children’s Pieces Op.27)… … and with a title like this there is plenty of scope for the imagination! So what springs to mind when you think of the title ‘War Dance’? Totem poles. Feather headbands. Open, dusty plains. Buffalo. […]
Do some of your students struggle to find their motivation? Can lesson after lesson go past without any worthwhile practice happening? In the worst case scenario, do some students stop having lessons completely? So often learning the piano starts so well; beaming and joyful students with heaps of motivation and so eager and willing to […]