I recently wrote a blog post about my stance on whether or not to offer a free trial lesson to prospective students. After about fifteen years of experimenting and trying things, I’m resting (for now) on the side of offering a free trial lesson to new beginners and transferring students alike. You can read about […]
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For Music Teachers: Why Offer a Free Trial Lesson?
Why I offer free trial lessons to prospective students and why you might want to, too. Free trial lessons are a somewhat controversial topic in the music teaching world. Many teachers believe offering a free lesson devalues our work and encourages prospective students to exploit these offerings. This may or may not be true. But […]
Communicating with New Suzuki Parents…
Starting a new student is an exciting, fun, and a little bit scary process. It’s wonderful to get to know a new student and family, and watch their joy and wonder over the beginning violin steps. Especially with young students, this time is just magical. It’s also scary! There’s a lot of pressure to get […]
How to Make Changes to Your Suzuki Studio without Alienating Your Students
Occasionally, I will realize that I have really messed up my violin studio. I’ve not created boundaries around my time. Or I wasn’t clear about my expectations for practice or listening. I’ll come to the conclusion that things need to change. Maybe you’ve felt the same in your own studio. But how do we press […]
5 Violin Teaching Tips, Tricks, and Resources 9/1/2017…
Hello friends, Thank you for all of the very kind, supportive emails over the past week. You are all amazing. Honestly, I felt a little nervous, ashamed, even guilty about telling people about how my studio had changed. I felt selfish letting students go to spend more time with my family, (I also felt guilty […]
Five Violin Teaching Tips, Tricks, and Resources I’m Loving This Week — August 25, 2017
Hello friends! Long time no see! I’ve been taking it easy this summer, recovering from some major teacher burnout. (More on this later, I promise.) I’m so excited to be back on the blog lately, and after two Suzuki institutes this summer (ISSI and ASI), I am feeling more and more dedicated to my work […]
Why I Totally Changed Suzuki Parent Education in My Studio…
And How Automation Keeps Me Sane… In recent years, I have begun to realize how much power I have to create the culture and community in my Suzuki violin studio. Any “issues” or “frustrations” I have had with parents or students, if I look hard enough, I can trace back to my own actions. And, […]
The First Thing You Need to Do Before Looking For New Violin Students…
When we need to find more students, that need is often accompanied by a feeling of desperation and panic. But it would be a mistake to rush into looking for and accepting students. As music teachers, there are only a limited number of teaching hours in any given week. It is crucial that these hours are […]
5 Violin Teaching Resources I’m Loving This Week
Getting ready for fall is one of the trickiest parts of being a violin teacher. It seems like everything goes crazy in August. New students calling, setting up the lesson schedule, parent education, and more. Not to mention, getting your own personal life in order too! Here are a five violin teaching tips, tricks, and […]
How I Use Music Teacher’s Helper to Streamline My Studio Schedule
And Make My Studio Parents’ Lives a Thousand Times Easier…. A few weeks ago, I shared a post about why I totally changed my make up lesson policy. I have moved to a much more flexible make-up policy. If my students give me 24-hour notice before they cancel lessons, they can register for a make up […]