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Several months ago I was visiting my parents at their house and my dad showed me a notebook that his dad, my grandpa, had put together years ago. It was a simple brown binder with no label or identifier on the cover, but upon opening it I found a certificate awarding a gold medal to my grandpa for its contents.

Before I go on, you have to know this about my grandpa: he was a collector. He collected books (hundreds? thousands?), rocks (and cut and polished them), iris (and belonged to a garden society), antique blue and white plates (which hung all over the kitchen walls), and stamps. He was most proud of his Queen Elizabeth stamps, but he collected all kinds. And he spent hours putting together his stamp collections into neat, orderly pages in binders.

It turns out that the brown binder that contained the gold medal certificate was another of these stamp collections! Inside was an exhibit of “Musical Themes from Great Composers” that he presented at the Second A.T.A. Topical Stamp Exhibition in 1953. Each page contains one or more stamps depicting a classical composer, a typed short bio of the composer, a brief description of the stamp’s origin, and a hand-written excerpt of a composition written by the composer.

It was this last bit that caught my dad’s attention. My grandpa was not a musician, and to our knowledge he had no formal musical training; yet the copied music is meticulously rendered in black ink with all the proper formatting and no mistakes. The attention to detail is astonishing.

I don’t know if there is any “use” for these pages any more, but as a part of my family history - and the fact that both my dad and myself became accomplished pianists - the binder is a wonderful treasure to us.

Here are a few of the pages: 

Do you have similar musical artifacts in your family’s history? I’d love to hear about them!

Change is in the air…literally. It seems like overnight we went from 70 degree afternoons to snow in the mountains, trees exploding in color, and 43 degree mornings. My car even gave me a warning today: “Ice possible.” I am not sure how exactly it calculated that one, but regardless, the season is definitely changing!

Around here, things are changing too! 

I am moving my newsletter and blog to Substack! 

I am excited to join a community of writers and readers in this new space. It will allow me to give you a chance to participate in dialogue around my writing by commenting on posts, as well as the opportunity to support my work with likes, shares, and recommendations. I am also excited to now offer paid subscribers bonus content, including access to my Practice Sessions and Mini Musikhaus recordings, and to the whole archive of posts.

What this means for you:

All of the current blog archives will stay intact here on my website. And I may post occasionally here, too. But for my latest posts and news, you will need to head over to Substack and “follow” or “subscribe” to At Home with Classical Piano.

I love being a musician and sharing what I have learned (and what I am continuing to learn) with others. You have been so supportive of my work up to this point, and my move to Substack means that I can offer more benefits to you, my current readers, as well as being able to share my work with more people. 

frequently asked questions

What will moving to Substack look like? Substack lets you access my posts just like you always have here, but it also automatically emails those posts to your inbox and allows for different levels of membership 

What if I don't want weekly e-mails in my inbox? Once you set up an account with Substack, you can click on “My Account,” then under “Email notifications,” you will see an option to opt out of the newsletter posts.

Is it free? Yes! You’ll get the same articles you’re used to getting here. But if you decide to become a paid subscriber, that means you’ll get content on top of that: access to Practice Sessions and Mini Musikhaus recordings, special subscriber discounts to my shop, and other bonuses!

How much does it cost to subscribe? $6 a month or $60 a year

How do I follow you on Substack? I'm glad you asked! Just click here and enter your email to subscribe.

I'm already a subscriber to your newsletter, but I want to try out the upgrade. How do I do that? You can do that here.

What if I'm reading on an RSS feed? If you follow me on feedly or another RSS feed, you will need to add this URL to your RSS reader: https://athomewithclassicalpiano.substack.com/feed

I am excited for this new season on Substack and hope that you find much encouragement and inspiration as I share the music and resources God has given me. 

Happy music-making,

Cori 

My formal training in piano stopped shortly after I completed my undergrad. I took a few graduate level courses at an international music school, but never ended up pursuing my master's degree. Yet, I have worked hard in the years since to maintain my skills and even to improve both technically and artistically. There were opportunities that presented themselves to me - like being offered the pianist position at my church and taking one-off lessons with a friend's teacher - and others that I intentionally pursued - like getting into the musical theater world and finding a community choir. But the thing that has grown me the most is something I never would have predicted: listening to myself play.

In 2018, my children were squarely in the grammar school phase and it occurred to me that I should try making a CD during the hours in which they were attending school. I'd recorded one before, with the help of friends who owned a small production studio, and we had recorded live tracks at a beautiful music center in the mountains. (Listen to that album here.) I'd also been a part of several live choral recording projects, so I was aware of the pressure to perform and the hyper-consciousness one enters when in such a situation. But I didn't want to record in a studio on someone else's instrument or even on a single day. My vision was to record on my own piano, in my own living room, over the course of weeks, taking a leisurely pace and listening to takes in between recording sessions.

Doesn't that sound fantastic? The reality was so much different (read more about that here). Between the piano developing weird clicks, airplanes roaring overhead, and the neighbors mowing their lawns, it was quite the experience! I learned a lot about self-recording and producing. But I learned a whole lot about myself as a pianist, too.

Listening to recordings of yourself is eye-opening and not for the faint of heart! The process of recording and my desire to share my music turned the heat up even more, and so for several months I scrutinized my playing ruthlessly. Everything was subjected to criticism, and I found myself asking, “What makes my playing different? What is my signature sound? How might I convey my personality and feelings about this music solely through sound? Who am I as an artist? What differentiates my sound from the thousands of existing recordings?”

The exercise was immensely stretching and so good for my playing. I became more concerned about accuracy, but also more intent on producing a beautiful tone. I wanted listeners to hear the shimmery top of my piano and feel like they were in my living room listening to one of my intimate house concerts.

In the end, the recording was far from perfect, and there are definitely things I would do differently a second time around. But it was mine. And I had emerged a better musician and pianist because of it. (Listen to the recording here.)

Why do I share all of this with you? Because too often we sit down and play the piano for the thrill of playing and we forget to listen to what we're producing. The physicality of playing is so absorbing that we forget to make music. Either we are facing technical challenges, or fingering difficulties, or odd leaps, or we're taking pride in how fast our fingers can fly and what kind of physical gymnastics we're capable of at the keyboard. It is so easy to forget about the sound. Even worse, when we are faced with a new piece of music, especially in a collaborative situation where we are playing for a choir, we get so hyper focused on playing the correct notes that we forget to breathe and sing the lines.

We have the incredible privilege of being musicians. Our goal is to make music. And the way we get there is to start listening.

In your playing this week, whether on your own or with a choir, I encourage you to listen intently to the sound you are making. Challenge yourself to be musical every time you sit down, even during a first reading. You will find that it makes the process so much more enjoyable, and your playing will be better because of it!

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"Tell me about what you just played. Did you include the dynamics?"

"I don't know."

Have you had a similar exchange in your studio? This is all too common with my students. They play for me; I make some comments, praising them for what they did well and addressing one or two things that need work; and then they try again. Then they look to me for my approval. 

But I don't want them to always look to me; I want them to notice if they have accomplished what they set out to do. I want them to listen.

My goal in piano teaching is to create independent learners. I want my students to play well technically and express themselves musically, but I also want them to eventually be able to learn music on their own. In order to do this, I will need to spend a number of years with them building up their technical, musical, and reading skills. I also need to teach them to listen.

How is this accomplished?

When students first come to us, their movements are often crude and unrefined, and they are so intent on pushing the keys that they forget to listen. But that doesn't mean they can't be taught! This is why we begin teaching them how to count, drawing their attention to when notes move higher or lower - aurally and visually and kinesthetically. It is why we teach dynamics and the difference between staccato and legato playing. As they grow, we talk about phrasing and making the music sound like a conversation, or a story. We introduce concepts like rubato.

We  need to teach students to pay attention to what they are doing at the piano.

One thing we can do to help our students begin listening to themselves is to have them play through a piece once, working out movements and fingerings, and then ask them to play it a second time with dynamics (or articulation, or whatever it is you want them to attend to). The physical won't always be isolated in practice, but it is often this way when we approach a new piece.

We can't toss out body mechanics. Students still need to move their fingers, control the force of their arm weight, and so on. And so much of their work in learning to play the piano is focused on controlling their movements. But as they work out technical difficulties, they ought also attend to the sound.

I remember learning in this fashion for many years - practicing to master playing the instrument with each new piece I was given - and then my teacher would start asking me to "add expression."

As pianists, our goal should always be to play musically. The movements our bodies make are just a means to an end. If we, or our students, can play all of the correct notes but lack any shaping of the phrase, articulation, dynamics, or rubato, what are we doing?

I like to tell my students that the piano is a musical instrument, not a computer! 

Pressing the right keys doesn't make music. Shaping the sound with the way we move, breathing between phrases, listening to how notes rise and fall, and making adjustments to the tempo and dynamics does!

Here are some things we can do to train our students to listen so that they can become musicians at the keyboard, not merely piano "players":

1. Demonstrate what we want them to do. Have the student sit in your "teacher chair" while you play. Talk about what you are doing. Then, have the student try to imitate your playing. Praise their efforts. Discuss how they can manipulate their movements to achieve a certain sound.

2. Record the student and play it back to them. Tell them what to listen for. When students are physically removed from making the sound, they can listen more intently.

3. Play recordings of other pianists, either audio or video, for your students and encourage them to listen for a specific thing each time.

As students mature and become more self-aware (and better listeners), they will develop the ability to play more musically. Their desire to make music will grow, and they will begin self-correcting their mistakes and adjusting their movements to create the kind of sound they want to hear. 

As you welcome students to lessons this week, consider how you can encourage them to be better listeners as they play!

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I was teaching out of one of the Faber Piano Adventure books the other day and came across “Whirling Leaves,” which I have taught many times before. Something about seeing it again reminded me of my first time trying to teach it to a student, and the ensuing struggles to master the rhythm. 

The piece is not that difficult: a left-hand accompaniment pattern that repeats, beginning by itself and then gradually bringing in a simple right-hand melody over the top. But inevitably kids get the counting wrong the first time they read it, and by doing so they establish a [bad] habit of playing the incorrect rhythm every single time. 

An experienced teacher knows this about this particular piece and will “frontload” the student with information to make the first reading a success: Play the piece for the student so he can learn how it is supposed to sound; count and clap the rhythm together; have the student write in the beats; practice playing just the left hand and counting aloud until the rhythm is mastered. But a beginning teacher does not always anticipate what challenges a particular curriculum/piece of music might present, especially to a student who lacks the background knowledge needed to be successful. Further, a beginning teacher often has limited strategies for addressing challenges as they come up.

Are you aware of the different stages of teaching we go through, the normal path of growth and development for a teacher? When I went through my teacher training to become a certified public-school teacher, I learned that there are three stages every new teacher goes through (whether new to the profession or new to a particular grade level or curriculum):

1. Teaching with a focus on me – How do I get through the day? What am I supposed to be doing? What are others thinking about me?
2. Teaching with a focus on the curriculum – What am I teaching? How can I adequately explain what needs to be taught?
3. Teaching with a focus on the child – What does the child need? Is my instruction reaching him? What does she understand, and where is she still struggling? How can I adapt to meet his learning needs?

Each stage can take a year or so to move through, through no fault of the teacher. It is just how things tend to work! 

Which of the above stages do you most identify with currently? 

If you’re at #1: Be encouraged, knowing that all of us start at this stage! Rather than feeling self-conscious about your teaching, be assured that you have something to offer. Be willing to learn from your mistakes. As you approach each lesson, review what the student already knows and build on that foundation. If things aren’t working, don’t be afraid to stay with a piece for a few weeks, or even to review old pieces to solidify concepts. Try different things. Reach out to a colleague if you’re not sure what to try. Know that as time goes on, you will refine your teaching and hone your skillset.

If you’re at #2: You’re starting to think more strategically about content. Lean into this time! Research best practices in teaching. Take a pedagogy class, listen to podcasts, follow a blogger. Choose a method and stick with it; learn its strengths and weaknesses and supplement where you need to. Although not strictly related to pedagogy, you might find some helpful resources in my article on Professional Development for Pianists.

If you are at #3: You’re comfortable with your teaching materials (method, anthologies, technique) and ready to really consider how to address specific needs of students. Be intentional about finding music that both highlights their strengths and challenges them to grow. At least once a year, reflect on where each student has been and where you would like them to go. Check in with parents to give and receive feedback on lessons and practice. Experiment with different ways of explaining the same concept. Join a good piano teacher group on Facebook and participate in the discussions, use the search function within the group to explore specific topics, and be open to learning new ways to teach effectively. Some well-moderated groups include Professional Piano Teachers, The Art of Piano Pedagogy, and Piano Teacher Central.

Wherever you are at in your teaching journey, I hope you are enjoying the process of discovery and growth – both in your students and in yourself! I don’t think any of us ever “arrive,” but we can definitely refine our skillset and become better communicators and educators if we are willing to commit to a lifetime of learning!

I am offering a mini-course this fall on When the Method Book is Not Enough, all about evaluating the curriculum you're using and how it fits your particular students' needs. We will discuss ways to supplement your current method books or transition out of them altogether. My goal is to give you a better understanding of what method books can and cannot accomplish as well as an assortment of tools and resources to curate the best books for motivating and engaging your students. If this topic interests you, click here!

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How many times have you set your piano lesson schedule and explained how missed lessons work, only to have a parent come to you asking for something other than what you offer? For example, perhaps you teach from 3-7pm Monday-Thursday, but a parent asks if you can teach at 7:30pm…or if you can teach their child on Fridays? 

Does this give you pause? Do you hesitate in a scenario like this and end up giving in because you could use the money or you want others to see you as gracious and flexible? I have been there! But it is not a good place to be. Going outside of the parameters you have set for your piano studio can cause regret and end up causing resentment. There’s a better way!

Having a good studio policy in place can prevent many such discussions - and more - but you must be clear about what you offer and then stick to your policy. 

What is a studio policy?

Simply, a studio policy is a document that states what taking piano lessons with you looks like, from which days and hours you teach to how you handle missed lessons to how you handle payment. It also gives information about your expectations for practice and lesson attendance. And it explains what you teach and why you structure the lessons the way you do.

How do I create a studio policy?

You can start by writing a 1–2 page document stating what you offer and what your expectations are. A good studio policy will include the following elements:

1. Your philosophy of teaching (how and why you teach)
2. Who you teach 
3. When and where you teach
4. What kinds of lessons you offer
5. How you accept payment
6. How you handle missed lessons
7. What your expectations for students (and parents) are during lessons and in at-home practice

I introduce my studio policy to everyone who interviews to be part of my studio. After the interview, a printed copy goes home with the parent along with a copy of my studio calendar and a contract for payment. In order to secure lessons with me, the contract must come back signed by both parent and student, indicating that they agree to my policy and terms for payment. (An additional printed copy of the policy and studio calendar go in each student’s binder. Learn more about how I use binders here!)

Having a clear policy in place shows parents that you are a professional and have parameters around how you run your business. After the initial expectations are stated, the policy becomes a tool that you can refer back to when questions come up concerning payment, missed lessons, practicing, and so forth. When you are asked to make an exception, you are free to be flexible, but you are also free to gently but firmly refer back to the policy with “No, I’m not able to do such-and-such; instead, this is what I offer.” 

Having a good policy in place and the determination to hold fast to the expectations you set for the studio can resolve many potential conflicts and help you focus your time and energy on teaching!

What are some boundaries you have set in your studio policy that have been helpful in your studio? Let me know in the comments!

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Commit to doing one thing better.

That's it: one thing! What is the one thing you want to have accomplished today at the piano?

We can easily over-complicate things as adults. We think we need to come up with a warm-up routine, or read through a whole piece from start to finish before we start practicing, or…[fill in the blank]. But often we just need to commit to doing one thing better.

I must admit: my summer was not filled with much practice time at all! Instead, I spent time with my three teenaged daughters, taught piano lessons, worked on some product development, and spent time evaluating and honing systems in my music studio. So when I returned to the piano last week, I had some decisions to make! What music do I want to study this season? What performance goal am I working towards? Which piece will I work on first?

I picked up some music that has been lying dormant for a few months and returned to it: Liszt's Jeux D'eau, Debussy's Sunken Cathedral, various Chopin pieces, a Bach suite, a new piece by Heino Kaski… And as I've been reading through, I've started noting what needs work! Some music needs harmonic analysis, others need slow work and decision-making about fingerings; another piece needs to be committed to memory because there are too many awkward jumps; still another piece needs technical work. 

I pulled out my practice journal again and wrote down what pieces I'm working on this year, and then made a short list of what I need to do next. I love doing this because it gives me a focus. The next time I return to the piano, I'll know exactly what to start on. Whether I have ten minutes or an hour, I will be able to grab a piece, start working, and accomplish something because I've made a note of what specifically needs work.

Whether you are working on music for your personal growth, a performance, or just to keep up with your students, try keeping track in a notebook or on a piece of paper what you accomplish each day and what you want to work on next. Be specific. Write in measure numbers. Tell yourself what needs work. Be your own teacher. 

Little gains add up to big wins. Do one thing better today!

For more thoughts on practicing, see:

Using a Practice Journal for More Effective Practicing

Always Be Prepared: Three Songs at the Ready

Practicing in Sections

Backwards Practice

How I Memorize a Piece of Music

How to Prepare for Accompanying an Instrumental Sonata (or Concerto) Quickly

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In our current cultural climate, we seek not to offend. We are careful to be considerate of other people’s preferences, values, and belief systems. At least, we try to be. This can lead us to refrain from expressing anything that we actually believe, especially if it happens to be religious in nature.

Recently, I was looking up information about Johann Sebastian Bach online, and I wanted to find a quote of his. As I have started playing with AI tools a little bit, I asked AI to give me a list of quotes by J.S. Bach. Interestingly, 3 out of the 4 quotes AI came up with referenced God:

“Music is an agreeable harmony for the honor of God and the permissible delights of the soul.”

“I play the notes as they are written, but it is God who makes the music.”

“The final aim and reason of all music is nothing other than the glorification of God and the refreshment of the spirit.”

“Without my morning coffee I'm just like a dried up piece of roast goat.”

(I had to look up that last one to see if it was actually something Bach had said. It was!)

I wanted to put a quote on a new resource I’m putting together for piano teachers, and at first, I hesitated to put down something “religious” in nature, thinking that it might discourage teachers from downloading the resource and using it in their studios. After all, no one wants to offend.

However, after giving it a little more thought, I realized that Bach’s faith in God was so much a part of who he was and why he composed that I couldn’t not include one of his “religious” quotes. In fact, at the beginning of many of his compositions, Bach wrote “J.J” or “Jesu Juva,” Latin for “Jesus, help.” And at the end he frequently added “S.D.G.” or “Soli Deo Gloria,” meaning “To God alone be the glory.”

Rather than trying so hard not to offend, we need to be bold about speaking what is true. Johann Sebastian Bach loved God and made it his aim to honor and glorify Him in his music. To omit his faith from the conversation is to omit the very soul of his artistry. As teachers, we have the opportunity to present historical context honestly and respectfully. Including a quote that reflects Bach’s devotion isn’t a statement of exclusion; it’s an invitation to understand the depth from which his music flows. In a culture that fears offense, let’s not be afraid to share what is true and to honor the Source of the music.

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Are you considering adding homeschoolers to your piano studio? For the past several years I have worked to attract homeschoolers to my studio in an effort to concentrate my teaching time to the hours when my own girls are in school. (I wrote more about that here.) Here are some of the pros and cons I have experienced in my work with homeschooling families:

Note: Of course, every family is different and it is impossible to say that all homeschooling families you encounter will function this way; however, these are some general things I have found to be true.

Pros:

🎵 Homeschool families are purposeful about their children's education and want music lessons to be a part of a well-rounded education. Because of this, they will often schedule practice time into their homeschool day, just as they do schoolwork. (Yay for consistent practice time!)

🎵 Homeschool families have time available during the day for lessons, potentially expanding your teaching hours.

🎵 Homeschool families often have multiple children, and younger siblings will often follow in their older siblings' footsteps by taking piano lessons.

Cons:

🚸 Because homeschool families control their own schedules, they may take multiple weeks off at a time, or even a month's vacation.

🚸 Homeschool families are not bound to the public school calendar. If you also teach children that attend public school, this means that holiday breaks can happen at different times.

In my experience, the Pros greatly outweigh the Cons, which I find mostly have to do with scheduling. I love building relationships with families and teaching multiple siblings, getting the bulk of my teaching done weekday mornings, and having the support of parents. 

Regarding the Cons, I believe that if you are clear on your studio offerings - including how many lessons you offer each month/semester/year, what your make-up policy is, and how payment happens - you can navigate the scheduling hiccups with ease. (At any rate, it is miles easier than trying to work around after-school sports and drama schedules!) 

I offer my homeschooling families the same tuition package that I offer my public school kids: weekly private lessons and quarterly group lessons. I love introducing my students to each other and watching them form relationships during our group lessons, and consider the community-building just as important as the musical knowledge they gain during these times. (Find out more about how to run successful group lessons here!)

Let me know if you have any questions in the Comment section below!

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Working as a freelance accompanist and independent contractor often means looking for work. While we would all like to receive the word of mouth gigs that show up because people know us and like what we do, the fact remains that there are times when we need to market ourselves and find our own work. Here are four ideas of where to find accompanying gigs, and what you need to do in order to land them!

1. Narrow down exactly what you want to do! 

There are so many options available to collaborative pianists:

• Vocal accompanying
• Instrumental accompanying
• Playing for church services
• Weddings
• Working in musical theater in the pit band, as a rehearsal accompanist, or as a musical director
• Playing for school choirs
• Playing for a ballet company
• Play on a cruise ship
• Play for local student festivals like solo and ensemble
• Record accompaniment tracks or play for auditions
• Play for your local opera company

2. Let people know you’re looking for work.

Start with friends and family – let them know you are available to play for [fill in the blank]. Go to the places and individuals you’d like to play for and let them know you’re in town and available for hire. If you can, get in front of people and play for them. Offering your services as a sub can get your foot in the door and serve as a sort of on-the-job interview!

Connect with local musicians. Start with a local Facebook group and look for musicians’ meet-ups. Or ask someone to coffee. Get to know who works in the area and ask them to help spread the word that you’re looking for work.

Email choir teachers at local schools. Find out if they need an accompanist for choirs, musicals, or their annual solo and ensemble festival.

3. Look online

Join your local Facebook groups. In the last several years, many local musicians groups have showed up online. Start looking for location-specific groups of piano teachers, accompanists, pianists, and musicians. Some cities even have groups that function as job boards, where you can find gigs. Introduce yourself to the group, check in often, and take advantage of opportunities to get in front of people and play.

4. Advertise online

Pianoaccompanists.com offers a free listing of your contact info and can be a good first online presence for jobs. You can also set up a simple webpage with your name, a short bio, and contact information. When people reach out to you, be quick to respond (within 24 hours) and clear about whether you are or are not interested/available for the gig. Think of every contact as a networking opportunity and make a good first impression. Even if you aren’t available or don’t end up getting a gig, people will remember how you treated them and if you were prompt and polite with your communication. Maybe you’ll get a future call back!

The jobs are out there, and once you make a few connections, things seem to start happening. It will take time to get “known,” but once you have a solid regular gig, whether with a school, church, music studio, or community organization, more work will come your way!

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This summer I ran two piano camps for my students and any interested friends/siblings/potential students. One was Joy Morin's “So You Want to be a Composer?” and the other was her “Music of the World” camp. Both curriculums are fantastic and served my two groups of students well.

I've written about the composer camp elsewhere, but in brief, I ran this camp with six 6-12 year-olds: two current piano students of mine, two students who take Suzuki violin lessons, and two former campers with some beginning knowledge of music and the piano. Since it was a smaller group, I was able to give individualized attention to students as they worked on their own compositions. The curriculum definitely requires kids to have the ability to listen and discuss music in a focused manner, although it has plenty of variety to keep everyone engaged and having fun!

The second camp I ran was Joy's “Music of the World,” and this was with an entirely different group of students! I hosted 11 kids for this one, more on the younger side (several 6-year-olds) and in their beginning years of piano. This was a very craft-heavy camp, as each day we cut and pasted facts and illustrations related to each country into a “lapbook” that the students could take home. Kids also had the opportunity to make an instrument each day.

Because I knew I had a younger group (and a lot of siblings!), I researched some outdoor games to supplement with. We ended up playing an egg-and-spoon game for our visit to Australia, throwing pennies into a frog's mouth during our time in Peru, kicking hacky sacks on the day we visited China, and playing mancala (with egg cartons and beans!) when we went to Ghana.

Many of the campers from both weeks had attended my Piano Camps for beginners last year, and they were thrilled to be back for more.

If you're looking for a ready-made camp curriculum for your students, check out these camps by Joy:

So You Want to Be a Composer?

Music of the World

And my camps designed for beginner students with 0-2 years of piano:

The Great Music Race

Musical Secret Agent

What other camps have you hosted in the past? If you have a curriculum to recommend, leave a link in the comments!

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I’m heading into year three of teaching piano, after a multi-year hiatus due to raising my own kids. Our three girls still live at home, but are at an age where they are more independent and starting to be able to drive themselves places. I have had the privilege of being a stay-at-home mom for their growing-up years, and have always tried to work music around our family life. I have taken random freelancing gigs, hosted concerts in my home, and played for church and choirs during times my husband could watch the girls. When I started to think about resuming piano lessons, I decided I wanted to try to attract homeschool students so I could keep my afternoons and evenings free to attend our girls’ sports games and drama productions. 

Finding homeschoolers

Year One 1️⃣: I sent emails out to friends and family, letting everyone know that I was teaching again and had daytime hours available for homeschoolers. I began reaching out to homeschool groups on Facebook (the ones that let you advertise), and I contacted friends I knew who either were a part of homeschool co-ops or had been in the past. I also passed out fliers at my local farmers market. That year I gained 4 students from 3 different families. Total: 4

Year One Summer 🌞: I created two piano camps and invited my existing students, spread the word in Facebook groups, and posted on my kids’ school group. I filled both camps with 20 students and earned a little extra income. No new homeschoolers, but the camps did whet the appetite of some of the participants for future lessons.

Year Two 2️⃣: I became more intentional about posting in Facebook groups and expanded to local neighborhood groups and one run by my church. I posted regularly, once every month, in each group. I lost two students and gained a sibling and 3 more homeschool students. I decided to open up limited hours on Saturday mornings to accommodate non-homeschoolers, and gained 4 more students Total: 10

Year Two Summer 🌞: I heard from a parent of last year’s campers and gained 2 more students. I lost a student to graduation but gained another sibling. A parent who had inquired over a year ago in a Facebook group reached out, and I gained one more student. Total: 13

I held two more camps with a total of 17 kids. The camps were a big hit again, and I received 2 new inquiries. 

I actually turned down the last two inquiries, as I decided to cap my numbers at 13 this year. Besides teaching, I have a regular choir gig, am building my online business that serves piano teachers and choral accompanists, and want to leave room to continue freelance accompanying as well. Right now, 13 feels like a good number.

Lessons in Marketing to Homeschoolers

I’ve learned a few things about marketing in the last two years (and am sure I have lots more to learn!):

1. Word of mouth is a great way to gain students, but it takes time for “word to get around”

2. Consistent, repeated advertising in Facebook groups eventually yielded results 

3. Camps are a fantastic way to advertise lessons (of course, you also have to market your camps…) 

4. Although I have an active website, I don’t generally attract new students with it. (It does draw some inquiries, however, and is where I first point interested parents, as well as where I house my new student intake form.)

5. Siblings are one way to organically grow your studio 

6. Growth takes time ⌚

While it took some time to attract the students that I wanted in my studio,  I am happy that I set the parameters for the times I wanted to teach, as I now have a schedule that works with my family life.

I encourage you to think of how you can create a studio that works for you. Maybe that means group lessons, hiring a teacher to teach some of your students in another space, teaching adults during the day, putting together a music class or group lessons for a group of homeschoolers at a co-op, or…? Don’t be afraid to think outside the box and create the kind of schedule that fits the season you are in!

What does your studio look like currently? Let me know in the comments how you are working to create a studio that works best for your situation!

If you want to use my camps as a way to attract new students, either in a 2-hour-a-day/4 day camp or in a modified weekly class format, check them out below:

MSA: Musical Secret Agent

The Great Music Race

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America! America! God shed His grace on thee!

Image by Nikki from Pixabay

When the world shut down in 2020, I asked a friend of mine, Seiko Werts, to help me put together a virtual concert. I wanted to do something in the style of our Indie Musikhaus house concerts, where we provided music from a mix of genres that was connected by a meaningful theme. We filmed our parts separately in our homes and Seiko beautifully melded them together into one of my most favorite concerts.

As you celebrate this Independence Day, I hope you enjoy the music we prepared in honor of our country, the many people who call it home, and the God who allowed our forefathers to dream up the “American experiment” and establish such a wonderful place to live.

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Let's talk about Group Lessons! I'm not talking about regular weekly piano lessons with a group of students; rather, a once-a-month or once-a-quarter get-together with your private piano students where students perform for each other, play games to reinforce music theory concepts, and learn about a topic in music history like a composer. In my piano studio, we call them “Piano Parties”!

Group lesson “Piano Parties” are an essential part of my piano studio offerings. So much of piano study is done in isolation that we forget there are others “just like us” who are learning and pushing through challenges at the piano bench! It is important for students of all ages to experience music in community with others, to hear others play, and to collaborate in fun musical experiences. My group lessons serve to form community among the students, provide for more in-depth teaching time and reinforcement of music theory and history concepts, offer a welcoming space for informal performances, and give me time every 4-6 weeks to offer make-ups or work on admin/lesson prep. 

Two big questions always come up: “How do you structure your Group Lessons?” and, “How do you schedule your Group Lessons?”

STRUCTURE

My Group Lessons always follow a simple format: an opening game, student performances, learning about a composer, and closing games. I have a collection of music theory games that are accessible to beginner and intermediate students of different ages and are easy to incorporate in a mixed group setting. I've put together a free Group Lesson template (click HERE to get yours!) of my schedule, along with a resource list of over a dozen music theory games and suggestions for composer-focused activities that you can use to help guide your planning.

SCHEDULE

It can be tricky to schedule private students for a group lesson. The way I accomplish this is by publishing a calendar of my private and group lesson weeks for my piano families, and releasing it in the spring so that families can plan for them. Group lessons take place during my normal private lesson days and times and are in lieu of the students' private lessons for that week. So, for example, if I teach half-hour private lessons on Saturdays from 8:30am-12:30pm, I will schedule an hour group lesson on a Saturday from 9:00-10:00am. This overlaps the normal time of some of my private students, and isn't too far off from the remaining students' lesson times. I schedule the same way for my weekday lessons.

There are always families who have a conflict on some week or other, and they may opt to come to a different group lesson day that particular week, or if that doesn't work, they miss the lesson altogether. In the latter case, I will send home the activities/worksheets from the group lesson for them to complete on their own. 

Because I operate my studio on a tuition model, group lessons are bundled into my studio offerings for the year and are subject to the same “no make-up” policy as that of my private lessons. 

I hope this helps you think about how you can make group lessons a part of your piano studio and takes some of the guesswork out of planning a fun and productive time with your students!

Click HERE to get your free Group Lesson template!

Let me know if you have any questions in the Comment section below!

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For my piano studio, students have the option of taking 6 weeks of lessons in the summer in addition to, or instead of, attending a Piano Camp. Because we work so hard during the year, and because there are often areas in which students can use a bit of review, I like using the summer to “go sideways.” 

If you are unfamiliar with the term, going sideways means learning music at the same level that a student is at, intentionally staying there in order to solidify concepts. This can happen at any time during the school year when it seems a student isn’t fully mastering a piece before it feels like it’s time to move on. Summer, with its laid-back feel, is a great opportunity to “take a break” from your regular piano lesson plan and review concepts through games and new music.

If you use method books, you will find that the pacing is just right for some students, but far too slow or even too fast for other students. This is one reason you will find a lot of “supplemental” books at one level – so that a student can continue to work on the same rhythmic, melodic, or harmonic concepts to achieve mastery before learning something new. 

BEGINNER STUDENTS 

For my beginner students who need sideways practice this summer, we will be working through a same-level method book. Since we are using Faber Piano Adventures, this will likely be a Rock ‘n’ Roll, Jazz and Blues, or Disney book! 

We will also be playing games to reinforce finding the landmark keys of treble G, middle C, and bass F on the piano, and recognizing stepwise direction on the staff (up/down, left/right), as well as reviewing the rhythmic names and values of notes and rests. These are common challenges for beginners, and developmentally appropriate for them as they are learning similar concepts in literacy at school (recognizing letters and phonemes and sight words, reading left to right, and developing fluency in reading combinations of words). 

Animal Rescue and Race is a great way to teach and review keyboard geography 

Rhythm Playing Cards are fun to use when learning rhythm symbols and their values

INTERMEDIATE STUDENTS 

Intermediate students may study method books during the school year or work through the myriads of piano literature available for them. Summer lessons might look like working on duet literature, practicing sightreading skills with fun music a level or two below their current level, or focusing on music in certain keys to reinforce reading in a key signature and correct scale and arpeggio fingering. Alternatively, students might like to try out a specific genre, exploring jazz, gospel, pop, or celtic music.

I also like to introduce my intermediate students to lead sheets. This is a fun way to teach harmony and chord inversions, and to give students an opportunity to experiment with improvisation and transposition.

Rodgers and Hammerstein Piano Duet Book is one of my favorites to work on with students!

Chrissy Ricker has a variety of free resources in all of these areas 

ADVANCED STUDENTS 

Advanced students often have competing interests, full schedules during the school year, and even a work schedule to navigate. Summer can be a good time to explore a genre they are interested in, have fun sightreading duets together, or listen to a variety of music by one (or several) composers to help narrow down choices for study in the new school year. 

Check out IMSLP for classical music in the public domain that you can download and print, and for recordings. Search by composer, time period, instrument, and level ("instrument difficulty")!

What do you do differently in summer lessons? Let me know in the comments below!

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Inspired by nature

To be played on a Watercolor Xylophone

Body percussion - a hit with the kids!

Hard work on one main composition all week

I inputted each student's week-long composition into music software (MuseScore is free online!) and printed it out so they could take home their very own “published” composition!

We put on a brief Composer's Showcase at the end of the last day, where each student chose to perform one of their pieces for their parents and siblings. We also viewed a slideshow of all the fun activities and hard work everyone engaged in this week.

Thanks, Joy, for putting together such a fun and rewarding camp!

For more on Piano Camps, check out these blog posts:

So You Want to Be a Composer? (Joy's camp)

What Does a Piano Camp Look Like? (free webinar)

The Great Music Race Piano Camp for Beginners

The Musical Secret Agent Camp for Beginners

Are you running a camp this summer? Let me know in the comments!

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Do you have a good system for billing, either for collaborative work or piano teaching, or both?

For the past two years I have used the free version of an online software called Wave for invoicing and all of my accounting. I have found it to be a great way of keeping track of my business finances.

Currently, my business activity consists of accompanying a weekly community choir, teaching a private piano studio of 11 students, selling digital products online, and collaborative freelance gigs. By using Wave for all of these activities, I am able to:

• Use a customizable invoice template with my logo and business information
• Save customer contact information
• Keep track of paid and unpaid invoices
• Record sales
• Record expenses
• View and print reports for accounting and tax purposes
• Duplicate past invoices for recurring charges
• Create categories and descriptions of recurring billable activities that Wave displays in a drop-down menu (45-minute piano lesson, 30-minute piano lesson, 30-minute rehearsal and Solo and Ensemble performance, 2.5 hour choir rehearsal, etc.)

There is some legwork on my end to get invoices to my clients. The free version of Wave only offers a link or downloadable PDF of invoices, so I have to email each customer when I am ready to bill. For now, I am willing to invest that bit of time in exchange for getting to use a free tool. Wave does have automations available for paid subscribers, so that is an option for those who want that feature. At any given time, I am able to view a report of income and expenses broken down by categories I have assigned. There are many reports available at the click of a button!

Wave is a great tool for collaborative pianists (or “accompanists” if you prefer the old school title!) and piano teachers to keep track of billing and payments in a professional, organized fashion. I encourage you to give it a try!

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Image credit: David Yonatan González from Pixabay

Why do we perform? Why go through long weeks (months, years) of preparation, wrestling with technical and musical challenges, fixing mistakes, "practicing for performance," only to subject ourselves to public scrutiny and our own self-criticism and nerves?

After all, our audiences could just turn on a CD, log in to YouTube, ask Alexa to play something, and we could save ourselves the trouble!

But the communal experience of enjoying live music cannot happen digitally!

I used to play for musical theater, and because it was a small regional organization with a tight budget, I was often in the pit band. And I remember the nights when the audience was flat, seemingly afraid to make a noise or laugh at jokes. Those performances always required extra effort from the actors, but it felt like playing to a black hole. 

On the other hand, on nights when the audience clapped the moment the lights went down and laughed at the first stage antic, the energy was electric. The actors felt it, the band felt it, and the night became a continuous give-and-take.

Live performance is this wonderful conversation between artist and audience, a sharing of lives, an expression of our shared humanity. And when the audience is engaged and "gets it," it is incredibly fulfilling for all those present, something AI will never be able to duplicate.

If you find yourself talking yourself out of performing because of your own doubts or nervousness, try thinking about what the music means to you, and then consider that it might have a similar effect on someone else. Maybe someone is just waiting to hear the thing that only you can say through music. Of course, they could just put on a CD, but then it wouldn't be your living, breathing "voice" they're hearing. Don't be afraid to share your life through the awesome gift of music!

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Last week I put on a concert for the seniors’ group at my church. I called it “Joy Comes in the Morning.” I put together some of my favorite pieces by Bach, Liszt, and Margaret Bonds, along with a selection of hymn arrangements to show how music expresses the human experiences of joy, sorrow, and worship. The program began and ended with Bach. I’m happy to share with you some of the pieces I played at the concert.

Bach's is some of the most difficult music to play in the piano repertoire, both technically and expressively. He was a master artist, producing over 1,000 compositions during his lifetime. He was also a church musician, writing cantatas for the choir to sing each week, training up the boys’ choir, and serving as organist.

Franz Liszt also wrote some incredibly challenging music; however, for this concert I chose some of his Consolations, which are among his easier works. From pianist and composer Margaret Bonds, I played "Troubled Water" from her Spiritual Suite.

The hymns provided the text for meditation. 

"The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul." - J.S. Bach

I deliberately chose a mix of old and new music, classical and sacred* to show a continuum in time. If you are a Christian, you know that our faith has roots in the Jewish fathers – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but that it also appears in the lives of so many others in history. Johann Sebastian Bach is included in this line of believers. His creativity, work ethic, and excellence in all that he did, should inspire us today to dedicated and deep work, and his devotion to God should give us pause as we also strive to do everything to the glory of God.

I don’t know if Franz Liszt was a believer, but I do know that after being a showman celebrity at the piano, he withdrew in the latter part of his life and became quite meditative, composing pieces such as his Consolations. My thought here is that as we are comforted in our trials, God brings us to a point of submission to His authority and His will…and it is there that we find peace, which causes us to worship Him as He intended from the beginning. 

Once again, we return to Bach. This last piece is a bit of a marathon. It begins with an exposition of a theme, a dramatic introduction with repeating motives and fast running notes, then it steps back for a page into a meditative Adagio, stretching out long melodic lines that build and release. Finally, we come to the multi-page fugue in which the fugue subject appears 17 times! I have been thinking lately, as I practice the fugue, that it is like the sky that is new every morning – the clouds continually take a different shape; the sunrise appears in widely varying colors. Bach uses the same subject over and over, but in fascinatingly different ways, and as the piece goes on it becomes more complex and riskier and terribly exciting to play!

The way of an artist is mysterious and compelling; it draws us into another realm, causing us to stop and think, to meditate on beauty and soak in it. It can also induce in us an attitude or posture of worship. I think this is intentional. The God who created the world and made the breathtakingly beautiful sunrises is the same God who created Bach and gave him the inspiration for his wonderfully full and complex musical output, and He is the same God who made us to play and sing and create as He so wonderfully does over and over every morning.

The creation and the re-creation is an act of worship.

*Unfortunately, the hymn arrangements are still under copyright, and as such I am not able to share them here.

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As I see it, piano teachers have always struggled to some extent with making a livable wage, or at least with making a steady income. In recent years, many teachers have moved away from a pay-by-lesson model to a tuition model (pay by semester or in monthly installments for a year’s worth of lessons). This has helped alleviate the lean summer months and the time around the Christmas holidays when students tend to take fewer lessons due to vacations. 

As for the livable wage, teachers can raise rates, offer group lessons, or supplement their piano teaching income in various ways: 

1. Raising rates can be helpful, but it still seems that a teacher will be tied to the reality of teaching 40+ students, which means 30-40 hours of contact time and an additional X amount of hours doing administrative work, professional development, etc. This approach has a limited earning potential when weighed against the fact that one teacher can only take so many individual students, particularly when working around one’s family life and responsibilities.
2. Other teachers teach group lessons, which take various forms. One might teach buddy lessons, where two students come for a set period of time and each receives individual piano instruction while the other learns/practices music theory concepts on a computer. One might have access to multiple pianos or keyboards, and students work through the same curriculum while using headphones, with the teacher checking in now and again with different students. One might even manage a studio of teachers, where he/she gets a percentage of the profit from others teaching lessons for them. All of these situations have some limitations for the average piano teacher. 
3. Supplementing piano teaching income can happen in a variety of ways. Besides the obvious – having an outside job, related or unrelated – teachers can rely on a spouse to carry the rest of the financial burden, compose and sell music, teach online or create online courses, or create resources to sell to others. 

This last option is one I’ve been mulling over the most recently. There is the lure of “passive” income, in which one can still be master over one’s time and schedule, and yet earn money. For the average piano teacher, this is appealing, especially as many happen to be mothers trying to balance the family’s needs, but it can seem hopelessly out of reach. 

Think about what is required to develop this passive income: some business sense; skill in marketing and/or graphic design and/or skill with technology; an entrepreneurial mindset and drive to succeed. In my experience, these skills are largely missing in the average piano teacher, who probably has some amount of musical training in a very specific skillset (playing the piano) and values the human contact and individualized instruction that are a hallmark of teaching piano lessons at home. 

There is a trade-off here. If one wants to succeed as a business owner, what is required is a measure of separation from physical contact with students. This is true for a teacher in any setting who wishes to “move up” in the profession and expand his/her reach. More students = less individualized instruction. This is true in the physical classroom and in the growing online platforms. Virtual lessons cannot accomplish the same artistry and attention to detail as in-person lessons. Worse, pre-recorded online lessons cannot assess an individual student’s strengths and weaknesses in order to tailor instruction. Going the other way, if a teacher becomes a manager of other teachers, or a business coach or teaching coach, or a conference speaker, he/she can indeed expand the number of students reached (as individuals, in a one-on-one lesson); however, this manager/coach/speaker is necessarily removed from private teaching as he/she delegates the responsibility to others. 

The exception to this last point is the composer-creator, who manages to keep an active teaching studio and produce content that is worthy of sales. This teacher does not need to sacrifice students to do both. I would argue, however, that it is difficult to do both to a high standard, as both roles require a commitment of time and focus.

There is something necessary and human about individual, in-person lessons, that we are in danger of losing as our society is increasingly driven to go online. Whether by economic necessity or convenience, the temptation to put everything online or to “go virtual” is real. But students (and teachers!) need in-person interaction, focused attention, individualized instruction, collaboration, and all of the joys and struggles of saying “hello” and “how was your week” and “what can I help you with” and “I thought of you when I heard this song” and “your playing really touched me” and “why does this seem so difficult for you” and “what else can we try, in order for you to be successful.” We are so quickly losing human eye contact at the cash register, common decency in letting someone else go first at a four-way-stop, and the joy of experiencing live music in person together; the individual, in-person piano lesson is a necessary respite from the fast-paced, impersonal, online world. 

This does not fully answer the question of “How to make money as a piano teacher,” but it does speak to the heart of the profession: what are we really trying to do? Creating musicians is an art, and art is not rushed or easily out-sourced. The arts speak to us as humans – there is a reason we call them the “humanities.” And what makes us human does not translate easily to the virtual world; it must remain in the physical world. 

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How do you make the most of your time, particularly if you are a musician and a mom, trying to juggle life at home with family schedules and your own musical commitments and projects? 

Do you ever time block? It is a great way to organize tasks and prioritize your time accordingly.

I am a big list maker.

My kids know that if they want something done (or purchased), it needs to go on a list or it won't get done. I have lists for the grocery store, long term projects, daily and weekly to-dos, and more. I love the satisfaction that comes from ordering everything that needs to happen on a piece of paper and crossing things off as they are completed.

But sometimes my lists just reveal to me how much I have on my place, and I get overwhelmed to the point of distraction. The lists become burdensome and I get sucked into the trap of worry over minute details for far too long or worse, veering off in an entirely unrelated direction and getting absolutely nothing checked off for that day.

Enter time blocking.

When I need to buckle down and make my time count, I require the constraint of designated times for specific tasks. I do this by returning to my lists, prioritizing what I want to get done today, and then assigning times for those tasks: an hour for this, 30 minutes for that, and so on. 

If the task doesn't actually get completed in that amount of time, that's fine, but it gives me a dedicated stopping point where I can then assess whether to keep going and take time from another task, or call it “good” for today and return to it later.

Time blocking has been immensely helpful for my self-discipline as a mother and pianist and it always feels good to know that I have accomplished something with my time. 

Just like music, time is a gift we are given that should be stewarded well.

My husband always says, "We are all given the same 24 hours"!" 

What will you do with yours?

Do you use time-blocking to boost your productivity? I'd love to hear about it in the comments below!

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If we think about the worship we do on Sundays as not only a teaching time, but a sample “practice session” of what Christians ought to be doing on their own throughout the week, then we ought to make it as participatory as we can. [In the language of education, this is teaching by “gradual release of responsibility,” or “I do, we all do, you do.”] Why the participation piece? Because 1) It helps us absorb the information we are learning more fully, and 2) It is what the body of Christ is called to do. God requires us to work, not as an element of salvation, but as the correct response of servants to our master. 

How does this play out in a worship service? Songs must be singable for the congregation, so that the people can “sing and make music in their hearts to God” and so that the church body can be “teaching and admonishing each other in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.” It is not enough that the worship leader sings; the people must also “own it” by expressing, with their voices, words of praise to God. This is an important discipleship piece, as the people must then “own” their Christianity as they go out into schools and workplaces during the week and speak the Truth of God [with their voices!]. What we practice on Sundays is “performed” in the workplace during the week. 

While teaching children motions to songs and explaining the words that they are hearing, are both important teaching pieces, we should go further in inviting them to participate wholly – with their voices. I understand that this is a difficult task, because many worship songs written and recorded – even for children – are not in a singable range for children. (They are in a singable range for the lead singer, however!) But…it is a worthy investment of time to search for those songs that can be sung by all members of the body of Christ. Consider the psalmists’ many admonitions to “sing to the Lord.” Of course, the people danced and raised their hands and played instruments, but most importantly the people were instructed to sing! 

If our young ones cannot read the words easily, we need to choose songs with fewer words or spend time teaching them the words (maybe this means repetition: singing the same song at the beginning and end of chapel). And if the songs are not in a child’s singing range, we need to look for different songs (or perhaps commission the church’s worship team to record them in a different key). 

There is something special about singing that connects the physicality of worship with the expression and emotion of the soul and spirit. There is singing “in the presence of the angels” in Revelation, which may suggest the voice of our Heavenly Father. Surely “He rejoices over us with singing” in Zephaniah and takes delight in the [sung] praises of His people! We should give every opportunity to our congregations, especially our youngest members, to fully participate in singing to Him.

"Come, Christians, Join to Sing"!" What is a favorite hymn or worship song that you love to sing? Let me know in the comments!

Picture credit: Image by 1tamara2 from Pixabay

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You know the feeling: you show up to a gig, or you create something and get ready to share it with someone, and as you begin you are hit with Imposter Syndrome. The “bad cop” thought assault comes in hard and heavy: “What am I doing here?” “I am not nearly qualified enough to do this” “______ (list of 100 names) can do this better than me.” “What if they find out I’m just faking my way through?” 

I had this moment today! In fact, it wasn’t a case of not knowing what I was doing, but more of a comparison game: “This has already been done before.” “Her presentation looks better than mine.” Sound familiar?

Our three girls play volleyball every fall, and inevitably we come up against a team that is better than ours. We may get off to a decent start but then start getting pummeled by the opposing team. When the opposing team makes an error that forces the ball back onto our court, our coach yells, “USE IT!” In other words, use this opportunity to be better. 

What great advice for us as musicians! “USE IT” – Use the gifts you have been given - your unique personality and perspective - and take advantage of opportunities to share it with others. Someone will always be better, more skilled, more qualified, more creative…but they won’t be you. Only you can play, create, speak, interpret, and present in the way that God has designed you to. Those “Someones” who look better to you right now don’t have your unique gifts. And if they are more skilled, USE IT – use this opportunity to spur you on towards more training, more practice, and more focused work toward getting better.

You have something special to share with the world, and the way that you present it is uniquely yours. Someone needs to hear what you have to say (or play)! USE IT!

I'd love to hear what new music or creative project you're preparing to share with the world! Leave a comment below!

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Picture Credit: Image by Andre Mouton from Pixabay

We all want paid time off, right? But how do you manage that as an independent piano teacher? Let me share a few ideas with you!

1.  Schedule it into your existing studio calendar. (Hopefully you are currently implementing a Tuition-based model. If you aren’t, check out this article on why you should!) Depending on how you run your studio, you may choose to charge tuition for a 9-, 10-, 11-, or 12-month calendar year. Your tuition can include monthly private lessons for a certain number of months along with a required summer component (either a set number of private lessons, a camp or two, workshops, or some combination). You can then schedule your PTO into your studio calendar. Present this to parents in your studio policy at the beginning of your studio calendar “year” and make your expectations for payments and lesson attendance clear.
2. Offer a summer intensive. Offer longer-length lessons or more frequent lessons during the summer for your existing students (a summer “intensive”). Use the time to focus on a particular skill or music genre. You can also offer a month of “trial” lessons (paid) for prospective students who want to “try out” your studio.
3. Save up! Maybe you want to take 2 or 3 months off for the summer without offering anything extra. Run your studio calendar of private lessons for 9 or 10 months, and for each month you teach set aside a little money for your “Summer PTO.” 
4. Find accompanying gigs. If you love to perform, seek out gigs in the form of weddings, church positions (sometimes music directors/pianists want a sub for a substantial part of the summer), or musical theater summer camps or shows. If you start looking earlier in the spring, contract with an instrumental or voice studio to rehearse students and play for their spring recital.
5. Run your own Piano Camp. If you love to teach groups of kids, have the space to host 4-10 kids, and want to either recruit new students or offer a fun alternative to lessons for current students, this could be a great option for you! Check out my two camps for beginners in my shop. 

I'd love to hear what other ideas you have on how you boost your summer income! Comment below!

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Picture Credit: Image by Diego Ortiz from Pixabay