u/Holiday_Banana_7859

Hi fellow teachers! I am a younger piano teacher (female), teaching 6 yrs now as a side gig, but I'm now at the end of my 1st year doing it pretty much full-time. I have managed to build a studio of around 25 students. All my years prior to this one, I was looking to gain experience working with all age types (and was desperate for any student that wanted lessons tbh), so I accepted students literally 3 yrs old all the way to retired individuals. I don't regret this at all; it gave me a ton of experience.

But now that I've worked with a ton of age groups, I'm coming to realize that my favorite age group is the younger kiddos. I absolutely love the process with my younger students -- I've invented fun musical games for them, and the slow and steady progress is really rewarding. For this reason, I've pretty much stopped taking adult students altogether recently, or I'm at least a lot more reluctant.

In any case, I have a 14 yr old male student who started with me about 6 months ago. He's super sweet, loves music, and has no experience other than playing from ear. I majored in music theory at conservatory, so my aim is to help him start understanding the music he is playing, instead of just playing it by ear. I went through the whole pre-college in NYC to conservatory, classical music route, so I'm realizing that my scope of education is somewhat limited when faced with a student who is unconventional (he has great ear, can improvise, and likes some jazz).

He is also a young boy who I think would benefit from an older male piano teacher/role model who would be more okay with him taking an unconventional route. I'm fine continuing to work on building his fundamentals and the like, but I can't help but wonder if he'd be better off working with someone who is less concerned with playing things "accurately" and the "classical way." I guess I wonder if I'm just getting in my head a little bit -- there is definitely a ton I can teach him -- he doesn't know any scales, chords, circles of fifths, harmonic analysis, etc., but again, I just wonder if he'd do better with someone who could offer a different approach.

I, for one, have no experience in jazz or playing by ear. What are everyone's thoughts? Should I encourage him to find a new teacher? Or should I continue offering my services in building his foundation?

And I guess a small part of me also wonders if it's okay to turn down students because they don't fit the mold of the ideal type of student I want to teach? I hate saying no and closing doors because you never know, but I wonder if now is the time to start getting more picky about the age/gender of students I take moving forward?

I’ve been playing classical piano for over ten years now. Went to conservatory and now I’m a professional freelance piano teacher and part time concert music composer. I’m obviously well versed in classical music but I don’t know anything about jazz. I’ve read simple lead sheets before like “my favorite things” with some melody and chords written on top, but as far as understanding how jazz works and improvising I have no clue. Some of my students are interested in jazz and I’d like to teach myself a little so I can help them with this. Does any one have any suggestions for books I should look at? Also would like a book for absolute beginner players as well, so I can use it with my more jazz inclined beginner students.

Hi everyone, I got married in the roman catholic church a few years ago. Unfortunately my husband cheated on me (with my best friend, ugh) a week before my wedding and continued cheating during the marriage. I didn't know at first, and found out about 6 months into marriage that they were seeing each other in secret, at which point I moved out and filed for divorce. Luckily we had no kids together, nothing sticky, just a really upsetting 6 months of my life. I'm legally divorced now and he is sorting the material for a catholic annulment. Our priest thinks we qualify for annulment because he cheated prior to marriage, therefore meaning that he didn't have true intentions when entering the sacrament.

In any case, I am dating a man now who I really love and some time down the road (not now but next few years in the future (trying to be extra careful this time!!)) would love to marry. We are both very religious and want to get married in the Church but worry either annulment will take many years or that I'll be denied. I've always had an interest and respect for the Greek orthodox church. I'm not Greek at all and received all my sacraments in catholic church, but I took ancient greek in college and took a course on history of Christianity so I know a lot about the religion and the schism between catholicsm and the orthodox church. I'm just curious: is there any way that I could be approved for church wedding in the greek orthodox church even if im not considered divorced by the catholic church? What are the "rules" for this type of thing?

Is it just me or is anyone disappointed by the new alo color drops lately? I love the pink marshmallow but it seems too close to the vintage pink/candy pink colors, and california blue to azure blue. I am really excited for some new darker fall colors to come out similar to the new lululemon recent color drops, but am disappointed to see that alo is still going strong with the vibrant colors. Maybe I'm alone in feeling this way-- thoughts ???

Hi everyone, just curious on what everyone's honest feelings on how much a household needs to make yearly to support a family of 4. Assume kids are in public school, living in "nice" apartment, and participating in 1-2 extracurricular activities. I always wonder what other people's thoughts are on this!

Hi everyone! I recently came out with a new policy document in my piano studio limiting the # of makeups students are allowed per month (1 per month). Before I made this decision, it was a total free-for-all, with parents cancelling left and right for any and every reason. I ended up scheduling over 50 makeups for student-initiated cancellations in the month of June, many of them due to "she had a birthday party and/or playdate". In any case, so far I've had no parents have any real issues with this new policy except 1. Basically, she thinks it's unfair and believes that if I can't offer makeups for every missed lesson for every student, then I have too many students, and why can't I just have like 7 students? I really don't like the way she spoke to me. I'm a young teacher, still finding my footing, and she definitely used this against me. In any case, this client has gotten at least 5 of my other students, and historically she's helped me out at our last piano recital, and we've definitely had some more personal, friendly conversations. I'm unsure if she will unenroll her daughter, but if she doesn't, I'm not sure I can get past the hurtful things she said to me. I'm wondering if other piano teachers have had similar experiences when they are newer to teaching, and whether it's ok to "fire" a client if I historically had a good relationship with her and her kid is pretty talented.

I'm 22 yrs old (F), living in NYC. I'm a senior in college. My dad was great when I was a child, he paid for my extracurriculars and Catholic school education. However, he was very vocal and open about how tight we were on money all the time. When I started asking him about college and how much we could afford, he told me that he could give me nothing. This was distressing for me to hear. I was very high achieving student at a gifted school and was applying to ivy leagues and the like. All of these schools are 80/90k with room and board included. I ended up skipping half of my senior year to work as much as possible-- odd jobs here and there as a part-time nanny and cafe worker. I managed to save 30k. I went to college, I got into a great school, I got full tuition scholarship but no room and board. Room and board was about 20k and it was out of state. I figured I could work in college as much as possible. I paid for my first year out of pocket, took out some small loans, and have managed to get to my senior year 100% on my own dime, working 40 hrs a week outside of full-time school.

However, I have some serious feelings of resentment toward my dad. I see him going on international trips once a year and buying my step-mom expensive things. Even my sister (19 yrs old) he frequently buys amazon items for her. But since I work 40 hrs a week he says he will not help me and when he was in college, his parents didn't help him at all, so he won't help me either. I know he has serious financial issues, but it's upsetting to see him spend so much money on other things while I struggle my way toward graduation with a full-time job. It's also crazy that he will give my sister money for things because she doesn't have a job when she easily could get one and refuses because I have one-- like I'm being punished for being a hard worker.

Anyways, I feel my relationship with my dad has been seriously affected because of this. We don't talk about it, but it's always looming in the background of our conversations. I'm about to graduate, and I'm looking at NYC apartment prices. Even in the cheapest neighborhoods, rents are like 2k a month, which I simply can not afford. I also can't move out of the city because my entire family is here and I have a good job lined up.

t's just really upsetting to see all my friends get their college paid for by parents and their rents at least assisted by their parents, and for my dad to be so unwilling to help with anything. (2 years ago I had some chronic health issues and he would not help me afford my medical bills! I had to wait for it to get sent to collections and I pleaded with them for me to pay lower amount). I'm trying to make him understand that prices are just not what they were when he was kid, and now people in their twenties are needing parental help well into their mid-twenties, but he doesn't seem to get it. My boyfriend thinks I need to drop these feelings of resentment and not expect anything from him.

How do I move on from this and navigate my young twenties without the feeling of financial security from my father? Should parents be expected to help their kids with these things past 18? Am I being greedy and selfish? Curious to hear any thoughts, but please be kind because this is very emotional for me.

Hi everyone, I'm 22 yrs old (F). Just graduated from a top-ranking music conservatory. I have 20 piano students on the UES, likely to have a waiting list this fall. I've been teaching since I was 16 yrs old. Actually, two of my students have been with me since then. I'm starting to realize independent teaching is less about credentials and more about word of mouth. A few months ago, I was getting phone calls and emails every day with new student inquiries, all referrals from my other students. I started to realize how underpriced my services were when a parent looked baffled after I gave them my price of 65/hr (almost a year ago). I thought they made a face because it was too much money, but then they said that they paid their previous teacher 130/hr. After a lot of research, I realized the going rate is more like 120-150/hr, even for beginner students. In recent months I've started accepting new students at 85/hr and now I'm writing new policy to be enacted starting September 1. Rates will now be 95/hr. I love what I do, planning to continue this as a full-time gig. I believe I'm uniquely good at what I do-- I'm particularly good with early childhood music ed. My conservatory piano teacher has asked me for advice for teaching 4 yr olds. I believe I have found my niche. In any case, I'm set on 95/hr starting September 1, but wondering if I should be charging more and/or when to increase rates if I'm already increasing in September. Curious what people's thoughts are?

Hi everyone, I'm a rising senior in college in NYC. I want to apply to master's programs in early childhood ed, with the goal of getting a lead teacher position K-2 in a private school. This fall I am starting a part-time teacher assistant position at a great school near me. I also run my own piano teaching business (I have 20 students) and I work evenings starting 3:30 pm. Ideally I'd like to find a grad school program that I can complete during the day so that I can continue to work at private school part-time but run my piano business full-time in the evenings. I see that most master's programs meet in the evening. Are there any that don't?

Piano teachers of young/beginner students: do you handle parent check-ins and homework assignment within the paid lesson time, or on your own time afterward?

For older students this typically isn't an issue, but with kids under 10 I often need to give parents/kids very detailed instructions on what to practice and how, and that eats up a lot of time. If a lesson is booked for an hour, is it fair to wrap up the playing portion 5 minutes early to walk the parent through homework? Or is the expectation that this happens after the lesson ends, off the clock? I think the right answer is to end early, but what if it doesn't take up the full 5 min and then I "cheated" them out of a full 60 min. Maybe I'm overthinking it, but just curious about everyone's thoughts here.

Hi everyone, I'm a young piano teacher (F22) with 20 piano students, teaching in a big city. I've gotten a few requests from time to time from my piano students' parents that they'd like me to pick their kids up from school, then give a piano lesson, pick up from camp, babysit in the evening, etc. etc. I care deeply about my students, piano teaching is my full-time gig and I genuinely love kids, so in the past I've always been more than happy to be of extra help in any way. However, I'm starting to encounter the issue of parents negotiating my babysitting rate and trying to pair it with lessons so they pay me less than if we just did babysitting on their own. I'm starting to realize there's a potential conflict of interest with me being babysitter and piano teacher sometimes, not only in the minds of the kids, but mostly in the parents. It's a weird in between when I am serving as both. I'm curious, do y'all ever babysit your piano kids? Is this something I should stop offering going forward?

Hi everyone, I have a 7-year-old boy whom I started teaching about 2-3 months ago. He is very smart when it comes to musical concepts. He is taking to note reading very well, has a good sense of rhythm, and is very interested in music history/classical music in general. However, I'm having the most difficult time with him over any student I've had so far with his hand technique. He plays with completely straight, flat fingers.

So... just for some context: I have 20 students currently and have been teaching 7 years now, so I have a few tricks up my belt. I use this little crochet turtle called "Hermon" -- I place the toy under their palms to teach them to curve their fingers. If he flattens, he will send Hermon to the ER. I use various metaphors -- from "upside down beggar hands" to "waterfalls from a cliff." These tools tend to be enough for my students to get the point and curve their fingers. When they failed to work on him, I had him purchase a Dozen a Day mini book to combat his technique. As a last resort, I purchased "bubble handz" off of IG with is a wrist/hand corrector device (this was pretty much a waste of money).

Point is: No matter what I tell him or what I do, he can't seem to correct his technique. His fingers are very double-jointed, and his joints are hypermobile, and when I tell him to (for example) make the tips of his fingers strong and not collapse, the middle of his finger (the other joint closer to the knuckles) completely straightens and hyperextends. If I tell him to make that joint strong, he will collapse the tip. I keep working on it week by week, but at this point it is completely stunting his progress, and I can not move him forward in his books if he cannot correct it (and I can tell he is getting frustrated that we aren't really moving along)

Has anyone dealt with hypermobility finger issues in young students? What did they use to correct it? Should I keep pushing him along and hope it fixes naturally later? Any tips/tricks would be appreciated!

Hi everyone! I'm a young piano teacher (F) (20s), teaching piano students ages 3-adult exclusively on the UES. I have 20 piano students and am teaching full-time. Of course I went to music conservatory (outside of NYC) and have many musician friends but none are big on teaching and/or are local to Manhattan. I would love to build a community of other fellow independent Upper East Side piano teachers (if there are others!) to exchange advice on running their businesses/teaching/curriculum/etc. Please dm me if you are a fellow piano teacher! I would love to speak further!

I teach in NYC, I have a piano studio of 20 kids ages 4-13, ranging from beginner to early intermediate. Something I've been struggling with for a while is convincing parents and the kids that they need to be practicing outside of their lessons in order to make progress. Some things I'm already doing: I write down their homework at the end of each lesson in notebook and give the parents detailed instructions on how to do it (I sometimes stay 20 min after making sure the parent understands what they should do!). I also tell all parents they can text/call me during week and I can send audio messages or videos to help with practice. I give them a practice chart with every day of the week on it. If they fill out 5 days between lessons they earn 1 ticket. 1 ticket earns them something from my "small prize box" and 2 tickets earns them a toy from the "big prize box." I also offer extra lessons which I frequently offer where these serve as guided practice sessions. Even with these changes, and hosting 2x a year recitals, my students just won't practice or do their written homework. When I text parents about it, it's always the same conversation somewhere along lines of "we were too busy." Piano teaching is my full-time job and I love it so much and I'm so passionate about it, but teaching the same lesson every week and not seeing kids make any progress is absolutely demotivating for me to the point where I wonder if I should go back to school in pursuit of a different career. I would appreciate any advice on the above! I'm beyond frustrated and am trying everything in my power!

I have a student, 9 yr old girl, who is very talented. She's been playing piano for 1 yr and is playing in Journey Through the Classics Bk 1. She can read music but needs to write note names on her sheet music. Over the last 3 months, I've been having enormous difficulties getting her to look at the music while she is playing. I will point at music as she plays with pencil and tell her to follow along, I will have her read letters and play, but no matter what I say to remind her, she is always guessing and trying to rely on sound/memory to play her piece-- which results in her playing completely wrong notes and rhythm, and making it impossible to undo since she practiced it that way. Recently, I decided to take her out of her classical book and put her in Piano Adventures Accelerated Curriculum Lesson bk 1, with the idea that the music being significantly easier would retrain her to look at the music while she is playing and pay attention to things like dynamics and articulation on the spot. Sometimes I'm really second-guessing if I'm doing the right thing. She can physically play things that are much more difficult and I don't want to demotivate her in the "easier" book, but I also can't make progress with her if she is not looking at sheet music. Do any teachers have any suggestions or similar experiences?

Hi everyone, I am a piano teacher in NYC. I trained as a serious pianist/went to conservatory, and the like, but I never participated in any of the ABRSM exams. I'm interested in getting some of my piano students involved in the exams, but I don't really know how to get started. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I would go about starting to teach in preparation for these? Also, how do I decide which students should do it vs which should not? Is it generally for students who want to do piano more seriously? Also, do you think working in these levels could potentially stunt the progress/growth of students who would otherwise progress faster without it, or do you think the curriculum lends itself well to fast progress? Any and all advice is welcome! Thank you!