Does anyone know where I can find books like this online for some of my beginner students? Its like lead sheet but with the names of the notes on them
I found this Hal Leonard book called Super Easy Broadway which has this style of writing
I got a new student in June who is 7 years old. His prior music experience is just music class at school, so we started at the beginning of Faber Piano Adventures Primer. He is always happy to be in class, and I truly don't think he means to be defiant, but he has so much energy and very little focus. In a 30 minute lesson, I am lucky if he is in front of the piano for 15 minutes total. Usually it is closer to 10. Given the amount of focus he puts into his lessons, he is learning quickly, and, like I said, he enjoys it. I am just running low on activities that can be done as he moves about the studio, often very deep into some imaginary world.
For example, here are some games we do:
- he pretends he is flying in a spaceship, and I follow him with a magnet board telling him to press keys to make different things happen, eg press F for more fuel, press E to eject from the spaceship (this is his favourite, he loves space)
- we line up on the wall farthest from the piano, I call out a finger number, and we race to play any key with that finger
- I write out rhythms, and we clap/stomp them
- I clap a rhythm, and he repeats it
- I play an ascending or descending scale, and he reaches up high or touches his toes accordingly
- while he is playing spaceship, I will ask him what different flashcards mean
If anyone has more activity ideas or any advice at all for a very active student, I would appreciate it!
Hi guys,
I'm torn about whether to take private piano lessons and wanted to hear people’s opinions. I am UK-based, unsure whether I would prefer in person or online lessons.
I graduated from a pre-university music school in Russia about 10 years ago, after which I have practically not touched an instrument (classic trope if you’ve been traumatised by the Slavic teaching style since 4yo). My graduation programme was approximately grade 8 level.
I’m ready to get back to playing, and there are a couple of things I really want to patch up.
I would really appreciate any advice, especially from people with a similar background who got back to playing consistently and with joy. I terribly miss the butterflies you get when playing a passage that cracks your heart open!
Thank you!
Hi!
I'm currently a student at the piano, with a strong foundation and according to some people good with teaching ( in general, not the piano ).
since, I want to look for some side hustles.
and one thing I can take advantage of is my piano skills, I have a great foundation, scales, Chords, techniques
currently studying for a competition, and playing as a pinaist for a church.
I want to earn some extra money, but I don't want to charge much since OP here is not a virtuouso prof yet.
What can I teach for some beginning peeps? or what can I teach them, I know i should teach the basics, but in terms of step by step, and what study materials should I have. sorry for the bombardment of questions, it's my first time to teach. and I want to be a great teacher even I'm a student myself.
Piano community do your thing! 🔥
Hello fellow teachers,
I "rent" space from a local used piano store. The owner is a tuner/technician/rebuilder. He does not charge me rent, but I throw money his way when I can. I have cleaned his store and stocked the bathroom with toilet paper, paper towels, soap, and an expensive plunger. He does not clean the bathrooms at all, doesn't vaccuum his store, and doesn't dust any of the pianos.
He has burned bridges with other colleagues. A trusted friend who is a retired teacher shared how he demeaned her and was incredibly rude over his political stance, and as disgusted as I was to do business with him, I needed a place to teach my group classes to retired adults.
He has been problematic from the start. Today I posted on my personal facebook feed a picture of my newly rebuilt grand piano in my piano studio. He commented about the rebuilder I chose, and clearly this guy was jaded that I didn't choose him to rebuild for me. He has known for THREE YEARS that I am working with a different rebuilder, and he has not been this vile to me.
Anyway, after his unprofessional comment, he then started blowing up my phone. He told me to fuck off and used other choice words that I don't need to go into here.
I refused to engage and left him on read. I found a place to rent that is not ideal. It's one location I teach at, and I used to hold classes there. The owner and I get along well, but their instruments are in terrible shape, not to mention inadequate heating and lighting. I've been looking for a place to move to for several years now, but I can't afford commercial rent or a commercial mortgage.
Anyway, this guy has now publicly shamed himself and killed a professional contact (me). WHY would someone do this to a piano teacher? I have sent many students his way for tuning. I posted pianos on facebook marketplace for him. I have supported him publicly. I gave him a ride to run errands after a major blizzard when his car was stuck in his driveaway snowbank.
His wife is actively dying. I don't know if that is a factor. This seemingly came out of nowhere, but he has spilled his vitriol about others to me over the years. I've tried escaping these conversations, but he catches me after class and tries to engage. It's painful to extricate myself from his conversations.
Had I known he hated me as much as he says for years, I would have left long ago. His texts remind me of the drunken rants my mother-in-law goes on. I'm in Wisconsin, so I wouldn't be surprised if this guy is was drunk today.
I am just venting here. I'm open to ideas, but not necessarily expecting anyone to be able to fix my situation. I know I'll be fine. I've been looking into creating a nonprofit to secure grants to help retired adults afford lessons. I don't know where to turn for answers on getting started, but I'm networking and trying to get the ball rolling on seeing what my options are.
I just want to understand my role a bit better. Of course, having years of experience and completing conservatory education are legitimate qualifications. But sometimes, there are a few disrespectful students who think they know better.
I am no Horowitz or Rubenstein. But I do practice at least 4 hours a day so that I have the right to tell my students to practice. I can sightread up to level 3 confidently (the other levels are a bit shaky, I usually get it on the second try and not the first). I'm not perfect, but I don't think this should be a reason why some students should get a big head. Doesn't help when one of them are talented and they feel comfortable enough to point out my mistakes (ahem, I find that a bit disrespectful).
I guess what I'm trying to say is: how should I react to this? What attitude should I have? What mindset do I need to fully believe that I am qualified despite not being some piano machine that can play every piece perfectly?
I think arpeggios provide beginners a pianistic experience very quickly, and that arpeggios help make improv easier to do and to teach.
Time Stamps
0:00 introductions
0:30 my influences
1:15 this is more for teachers, but the reason to start with arpeggios (even before scales)
1:51 *for beginners* I define what an arpeggio and what chords are.
2:15 nuances as defined by Liszt to combine with arpeggio exercises.
3:20 changing (the top) notes in a C major arpeggio
5:20 detailing how the middle or bottom notes of an arpeggio can be changed instead
5:45 different arp variation (hands replacing)
6:15 how you can add a note (so 4 notes all together) to a chord
6:50 me doing my own improv, reminding you to change just one note (or add or take away one note) at a time. You gotta keep track of your changes so don't do too many at once.
7:15 summary
7:45 signing off, wishing you well on your sonic journey and reminding you I'm glad you're here to make music and to listen to sounds together :)
I used Sight Reading Factory a lot and improved fast, but the generated music often felt like random chaos and wasnt fun to play.
So I made the same idea with nicer melodies :)) It took me several months to develop a powerful algorithm that generates endless sight-reading pieces with patterns that feel much closer to real music.
I also added modules for chords, rhythm, flashcards etc...
Would love to hear what you think! :)
I’ve been teaching at a music academy for the last few years to get my start after graduating, but I know that ultimately I’m wanting to go completely private, and I’m aiming to pivot in that direction within the next 4-5years (realistic timeframe because I also plan on going back to school for my masters next fall). For those who have also made the pivot:
-What made you realize you wanted to have a private studio?
-Do you teach at home, or do you teach at a venue?
-Which policy rules did your former school have that you carried over into your studio? Which policy rules did you dislike and don’t apply, or you tweaked it a bit to work for your studio?
-What is your holiday schedule like?
-How long are your lessons (or what are the different lesson lengths you offer), and how much do you charge for them in your area?
-What is your makeup policy like, or do you not offer makeups at all?
You don’t have to answer all of these questions, but some insight from others will really help. Thank you in advance!
Question for the group -
Do you teach either 3 and 4 years olds? Do you use a method for this specifically (other than Suzuki?) or do you wing it?
I usually don’t start students until 5 years of age with a 20 minute lesson. But I’m curious if teachers have a special method for younger students?
I picked up this old upright piano and have been attempting to slowly bring it back in tune. I've been moderately successful with a tuner app, a hammer, and some rubber dampers but my knowledge ends there.
E6 has this unfortunate crunch to it, like the strings are hitting against metal or something. It is much more obvious in person than in this video, but I was hoping this would be enough to get some possible diagnoses.
Thanks!
My son is 13 and recently switched piano teachers. His new teacher refuses to let him use his ear to learn pieces and insists that he learn everything from sheet music.
He has a significant difficulty with visual tracking. He loses his place on the staff, confuses notes that are close together, and sometimes has to reread the same measure several times.
What I don’t understand is that he can usually hear a piece once or twice and play it back from memory, including pieces he has never been taught. He can work out the notes by ear and generally only needs help with fingering, technique, and expression.
If he can hear a piece and reproduce it accurately without being shown how to play it, why is his teacher insisting that he learn it through a method that is particularly difficult for him? Is reading music really more important than actually being able to play?
I have been teaching in-person piano lessons for almost a year now, and I would really love to break into the online piano teaching space. Has anyone made this transition before or just taught online piano lessons in general? Where do I find people online who would like to do this? I also would be fine with doing independent contractor work if there are good online companies that people recommend for this.
I’m 14 years old and I love music I’ve played a few instruments in my life and I’ve enjoyed them but right now I’m not playing anything I don’t have hobbies and it’s pretty sad I want to learn piano but everyone says I’m too old or it’s a waste of time and money what should I do?
Genuine question for people running a full lesson roster. Most of my reschedules come in over text, and the part that eats me isn't the lesson; it's scrolling back through the thread to remember what the original time even was, then retyping a reply and updating the calendar.
The one that actually scares me is recurring changes. A parent texts "can we shift Tuesdays going forward" and moving that whole chain is where I've come close to dropping a slot or double-booking the next kid. Moving a single lesson is easy. Moving a repeating one is where things quietly go missing, and you find out when someone shows up confused.
So how do you do it?
- Do you keep everything in one calendar, or a separate booking system?
- When a recurring session moves, how do you check the new time doesn't collide with an existing student before you confirm?
- Has anyone found a clean way to go from a text message to an actual calendar update without living in text threads all day?
Full disclosure since it's relevant: I'm building a small iOS tool for exactly this problem, so I'm partly asking to sanity-check whether other teachers feel the same pain or if I've just got a bad system. Curious what's working for you.
tl'dr
Are my expectations off or should I get another teacher? 1.5 years in and on teacher #4.
Me (32m) started playing piano March '25 as a lifelong dream. It's a hobby, just for me. No external expectations, just me learning sth new. I want it to be fun, but I also want to finally understand the theory behind it in appropriate doses.
My 'brief' of expectations to my teacher:
My questions:
How can I better screen teachers ahead of time?
What do I need to ask for to get to the above?
Are my expectations too high?
Full history:
Bad HS teachers have failed my music education, so I started at zero.
Teacher 1 ("Bob"), School A:
Teacher 2 ("Jane"), School B:
Teacher 3 ("Joe), School B:
Teacher 4 ("George"), School B:
Before I start, this is gonna be a really long post because I feel like I should explain the context, so please bear with me!
Basically, I'm a young piano teacher (still a teenager), and I only started teaching about 2 years ago after getting my ARCT. Recently, I've been having a lot of doubts about my qualifications as a teacher because I've been having trouble keeping students. Basically, I've been able to find students, but they don't stay for long.
My first student was a young girl who was about 5, I think. Our first lesson was a trial, so no charge, and then in the second lesson, her mother cut the lesson off after 45 minutes (the lesson is 1 hr) because the girl was having trouble focusing. The mom didn't pay me for either of these lessons (the first one was a trial, though, anyway, so it's fine), which I thought was strange, but I didn't push back because it was my first time and I wasn't assertive. The mother told me they would try again in a few months, but they never reached out again.
The second student was my brother's past student who had quit. The mom wanted her to try piano again, so they set up a trial lesson with me. I thought the lesson went okay, but afterwards the mom told me that her daughter still wasn't interested and didn't want to continue.
My third student is an adult, and I've been teaching her since November I believe, so not long. I find her really easy to work with and I think we've built a pretty good relationship, so there was no problem with this student.
My fourth student was another adult; we had 2 lessons together, and she was incredibly kind. I remember having the 2nd lesson at her house, and she offered me tea, and cookies. She wanted me to explain some theory to her, and sort of plan out how things were going to go, instead of actually jumping right into piano playing. We ended up spending most of the lesson talking and I feel like she liked me? She also offered to pay me more than I was charging (I charge $30/hr but she said she would do 75$ for two classes so basically $35/hr) and was just a really sweet person. A week later though, she messaged me saying that her siblings had some medical issues and she would have to stop lessons.
Fast forward to this summer, I started with 3 new students, all kids.
Two of the students were brother and sister, and I had two classes with them. They weren't too interested in learning (I got the feeling their mom was forcing them to take classes, and I also think their mom might be paying them to take classes), but they were learning pretty quickly as we were going through the method book. The mom also got them a piano and a subscription to Simply Piano, so I thought they were pretty serious about piano. After the second lesson, I reached out to schedule our next one. The mom asked for a specific day, which I said yes to, and she said she would confirm the time with me later. The day of, I sent her a message asking her to confirm the time, and she said that she forgot. She then asked for another day, and I explained I would be on vacation and offered her two other times that week. She never responded. After I came back from vacation, I decided to reach out one last time to see if they still wanted to continue classes and told her I could do it anytime that week. She responded a minute later, asking if I could do that the same day. It was already like 2 pm, and I had plans, so I just told her I meant any day besides today and asked if another time would work. She never responded.
The third student, I've had 7 classes with, and though she gets distracted more easily, I think she's more interested in piano. I think I have a pretty good relationship with her parent and I'm hoping they'll stay.
I'm not really sure how you guys go about finding students because I've struggled to. I've tried posting on Kijiji and NextDoor without any luck, so if you have any suggestions, I would really appreciate it.
I'm also just feeling doubtful in my own abilities as a piano teacher because so far, I've only been able to keep 2 students. It's not like I'm mean to my students; I would never yell at them or say anything hurtful to them. I try to be encouraging, I offer them incentives like stickers, and I try my best to be friendly with them. My lessons aren't disorganized either. I normally have them follow the Leila method book, and also do some exercises for Piano Adventures. I try to focus on technique too, like good posture and fingering.
I feel like I see a lot of people on this subreddit with many students, and I haven't seen any posts about teachers struggling to keep their students, so I feel like it's me who's the problem. If anyone has any advice, I would really appreciate it!
Sorry for the long post and thank you so much for reading!
I’ve seen discussions here about how much time independent teachers spend figuring out schedules, especially at the beginning of a semester when every student has different availability.
That’s exactly the problem we built ScheduleMyClasses to solve.
Instead of manually moving students around in a spreadsheet or calendar trying to make everyone fit, you enter:
The system then searches through the possible combinations and generates an optimized weekly schedule.
The goal isn't just to find a schedule that works. It tries to create a better one — reducing gaps between lessons, respecting your preferred hours and breaks, accounting for travel time, and making better use of your available teaching hours.
There are also a few things built around the schedule:
Student availability collection — Send parents/students a link to enter their availability. They don't need an account.
Easy import of your existing schedule — If you already have your teaching schedule in a calendar, you don't have to manually type in every student and lesson. You can import your existing schedule and get started quickly.
Manual scheduling — If you don't want to use the optimizer, you can build or adjust the schedule yourself with a drag-and-drop calendar.
Schedule communication — Once the schedule is ready, send each student their individual lesson schedule by email.
Calendar export — Export the semester schedule to Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook, etc.
Monthly tuition calculation — Tuition is calculated from the published schedule, including days off and schedule changes.
Tuition statements & payment tracking — Send statements to parents and keep track of who has/hasn't paid.
We originally started working on this after seeing how much time a piano teacher could spend every semester trying to schedule dozens of students manually.
It's currently free during early access, and I'm especially interested in feedback from independent piano teachers because that's one of the main groups we designed it for.
What part of scheduling/admin takes the most time for you? And is there anything you'd want a system like this to do that it doesn't currently do?
I started playing piano when I was 10, but I never learned it professionally. I never really practiced scales, and I can’t recognize the notes just by looking at paper (I have to count 😅)
I really enjoyed playing, but over time I became more and more lazy and unmotivated, and eventually I stopped practicing regularly. It makes me a little sad because the piano is such a beautiful instrument, and I really want to get back into it and start practicing again.
I also struggle a lot with playing in front of others. I get really nervous, and if I make a mistake or forget part of the song, I completely freeze and can’t seem to continue. It’s so frustrating because I know I can play the song when I’m alone, but the moment someone is listening, my brain just stops working.
Has anyone else experienced this? How did you get your motivation back and become more comfortable playing in front of other people?
Hi, I'll try to be brief. I am in my 30s, I have a day job, but I've played piano for many years. I have a few years of classical lessons but I am mostly centered in jazz, fairly strong in ear and improv and theory.
I've taught a couple of students throughout my life but they never lasted more than a few lessons before giving up (adult students). I have no official certifications in piano. I don't really need the money, I just am thinking of eventually soft retiring into a music hobby career. I'm not interested in teaching super young kids necessarily, but I'd be certainly open to teaching beginners. But my concern is that the market is just absolutely flooded with piano teachers who actually have the standard set of qualifications, so I don't know if I really fit any role in the ecosystem.
I know a jazz background is maybe slightly more rare in some places and that could be valuable, but on the flip side I don't think a lot of beginners typically seek out jazz teachers specifically though I could be wrong. And I wouldn't feel super comfortable teaching advanced players. But for instance I see a lot of people on reddit who seem like they are at the level that I could teach them. But yeah overall I'm not sure if it's realistic or worth my time, and if it was, what would be a good way to really try to launch that. Appreciate any tips.