piano teacher

March 23, 2015

6 great ways to get more music pupils!

About two and a half years ago I left behind my career as a primary school teacher and set out to carve a new business teaching piano and keyboard. Now I have over 40 regular weekly pupils. With teaching, lesson preparation, blog & video posts and the development of an online business (more soon!) I am once again in ‘full-time’ work – and more!

A few years ago my son was in a similar position, starting out as a music teacher. A wealthy businessman friend of ours gave him this advice: “Early to bed, early to rise, practice like hell and ADVERTISE!” Perhaps you’re teaching music privately like me, or perhaps you’re just thinking about it? I’m certainly no business expert or guru, but I’m pleased with my progress so far, so I’m sharing my advertising methods in case they can help you on your way…

March 16, 2015

You want to learn to play…what? (YouTube to the rescue!)

ALL, Learning the Piano, Music Teaching 0

On occasions I ask people, “What song or piece would you like to be able to play on the piano?” Whether it’s a pupil I have been teaching for a while, a brand new starter or even someone who has never had a music lesson in their life, they almost always have an answer. Most people have apparently thought about it before! But when it comes to helping them reach their goal, their answers can be quite challenging…

March 10, 2015

“Sorry, I can’t make it – again!” (People who cancel their music lessons)

ALL, Learning the Piano, Music Teaching 0

About 10-20% of my regular lessons in a week end up being cancelled or rearranged for one reason or another. Often my pupils give me plenty of notice, but there are always those who wait until the eleventh hour…

October 3, 2014

Printable Piano Key Guides

ALL, Learning the Piano, Music Teaching, Other Music Stuff! 7

If you’re still learning the names of the notes on your piano, here are some printable Piano Key Guides I made for you. Many thanks to my good friend Sandie B who gave me the idea. The note names are clear and you also have the treble clef and bass clef notes to help you…

October 2, 2014

Piano: Teach Yourself Or Get A Teacher? 6 Key Questions To Help You Decide…

ALL, Learning the Piano, Music Teaching 0

If you ask several piano players how they learnt to play, you’re likely to get some quite different answers. Some will have received very formal (probably classical) tuition from a ‘proper’ piano teacher. Others will have been taught by a parent, relative or friend. Still others will have used a book or an online resource to teach themselves from scratch. You will also find many who (like me) have used a combination of these methods. So, how do you decide which is best for you?

Here are 6 key questions to ask yourself and some ideas to get you thinking:

September 2, 2014

5 reasons NOT to learn the piano!

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“I’d love to be able to play the piano”
“I wish I’d learnt to play when I was younger”
“It must be great just to be able to sit down and play”
“I never got round to learning the piano, but I should have”

Do any of these sound familiar to you?

August 28, 2014

Do you tip your music teacher?

ALL, Learning the Piano, Music Teaching 1

On a recent coach holiday, I was surprised to find the passengers collecting to ‘tip’ the driver. I have been driven and entertained by some excellent drivers, but this chap certainly wasn’t one of them. It got me thinking: why do we tip some people and not others?