r/pianoteachers

Fellow teachers, I've been thinking about building a simple tool to handle the scheduling + payment chaos most of us deal with. Before I waste time on it, I want to know if I'm solving a real problem or just my own. Quick question: what's your biggest admin headache? chasing payments, rescheduling, parent communication, something else? What does your current setup look like?

For 18 years, I've used combinations of Bastien and Faber pretty much since I began teaching, along with a selection of dozens of other supplemental material that I've really liked.

I often see posts here about people leaving the method series and moving on to repertoire books and the like. I also see a lot of talk about the Royal Conservatory of Music series, but I'm unfamiliar with that here in the states.

I'm interested in exploring some other options, especially for a couple of my intermediate students that I'm working with through book three of Faber right now.

What do you use for theory and technique when there are still skills and concepts that need to be learned? Do you go ahead and move to things like Hanon and Schmitt dexterity exercises and just work on scale theory? Or do you still find books to use that help with these concepts?

And other than actual repertoire books such as Masterwork Classics or Grade by Grade and things like that, do you use other that may supplement the learning but aren't original repertoire pieces.

I'm just looking for some general ideas and details to get started on research and how to go try out a different direction.

Thanks!

Experienced teacher just looking for new ideas.

Some students know a piece very well yet are still inconsistent: non-recurring mistakes here and there. (Maybe especially with elementary to intermediate students.)

What I usually recommend is:

-very slow "retraining" each hand to overcome muscle memory / rote / autopilot

-examining what's causing an error and targeting exercises etc on that underlying cause

-mental practice away from the instrument

-practice variations (tempos, dynamics, rhythms, articulations...)

Are there strategies you find especially helpful in these situations?

Hello! I'm starting my own home studio soon and plan on doing group classes. I'm looking for inspiration am curious to see what y'alls set up is like for your group lessons or piano labs! TIA!

Hello,

I’m looking for repertoire recommendations for a child who recently started Faber 3A (we are looking to quit Faber), and is about halfway through RCM Celebrations 1 Repertoire and Etudes. Thanks in advance!

I'm 80 years old. I played simple guitar for decades but physical limitations made it less and less enjoyable. I'm now trying self-taught piano, with great enjoyment. I will likely never play for anyone else, and my intention is to learn my favorite songs and play by memory.

The guitar required no music reading because the chords were all I needed from music books. The piano is different of course.

My practice has been to tease the melodies out from the dots on the staff, memorize the keys, and practice still I can get some

Hey everyone, had my three recitals this weekend, and they were amazing and fun! Tiny 5-year-old girl stood to play her two pieces, all the way up to high school students that I could have set out a tip jar for them because they did so well! Expressive, dynamic, poignant, just...amazing.

People stayed after for the receptions and parents helped clean up after the last one. Kids did not want to leave because they were friends with each other and sharing music stories.

The private school where I teach after school lessons 3 days a week allows me to have my home studio students attend recitals in a lovely recital hall for free and even prints the programs for me for free! I've been with this school over 20 years.

School pays over $50 an hour. I make more at my home studio, but the school provides great benefits and amenities.

All the after school teachers make the same rate. Whether they teach strings or voice or percussion or piano or brass. No matter their years of experience or degree.

Here's my concern-

In 2021, a third piano teacher was hired. In 2026, she still only gets beginners because her students keep quitting. I have had 10 students transfer from her to me. The other two teachers, yes, more have been hired, have also had several transfers from her.

All the transfer families are saying the same thing-

She does not communicate

She always seems to be on her phone

She does not explain how to practice

We do not know the expectations

My child does not know what to do

She is difficult to talk to- off putting

And, this year, she listed herself playing Reverie by Dubussy. Yes, U.

She credits Jingle Bells to Alfred.

When I pointed it out to the Fine Arts director before, I was told it's not my business so I said nothing this year.

This year, due to scheduling, she and I shared a couple of families. I would have one sibling and she would have the other.

A parent shared much of the other teacher's recital video with me. Half her students needed her to show them the start key. None of her students were able to play chords. The majority were single note pieces, And bizarrely, for at least two pieces, half the piece was cut out! Old MacDonald did not have the second part to it!

I talked to another parent at the school and they told me she was no longer allowed to sub for the school during the day, which she was doing as a side job, because she was caught too many times on her phone, even once with headphones in.

And yet, she got a raise. All the co-curricular teachers were just given a raise for the fall. She is on the email list.

From one of those conversations, the head of Fine Arts has said that as long as she is getting students, it doesn't matter if they transfer or quit, she keeps getting students so therefore the school keeps getting money.

The school sets up the schedule, and most of us have had the same students for years and years. She often has openings for new students because every semester/ every year students quit so she has openings.

Never mind that some of her students flat out quit and maybe feel like they cannot do music, cannot understand, assume they have no talent.

Every student should have a good teacher.

Again, she has been at this school since 2021. Her highest level student was playing from Piano Adventures level 1.

But, should I care?

When I get her transfer students, they did not know anything. I had to go back to day one. Like, they copy what she does but had no idea what she was doing. I had to teach the names of the keys!

We could be growing our fine arts program even more and having students eager to join band or choir or orchestra because they are confident in their music abilities.

But she is depressing!

It's not my business, but any advice?

Thank you!

I run a small home studio and also teach at a music school, and I'm noticing a steady drop in students who are willing to play in year end recitals. I don't make it mandatory, which I know is part of the problem, and I also tend to end up with sweet but slightly nervous, capable students. But even my older, more advanced players are kind of "meh" about it and never really commit. I want them to feel proud of their accomplishments during the year and show them off a bit at a recital.

Any suggestions for how to increase performance willingness without making it mandatory, just implied? I'm a very anxious performer personally but push myself to play in front of people because I know it's so good for me mentally and I want to get over those nerves.

Yeah, thats the question. I can't play comfortably while practicing due to intrusive thoughts that pop up in my head. I can only play really practice when I count out loud. Though my goal is to one day sing while simultaneously playing my insturment. So anything helps.

I have a 10y/o student that plays with a very bouncy arm. Like his elbows are flapping when he plays and his wrists are bounding up and down. I continue to remind him and try to show him the right technique, and he will do it for a note or two, but with a very bad attitude, while insisting his way is better and it's easier. When I get him to play with better technique, he plays comically badly on purpose to show me that his technique is better. I try to explain to him that with all the bouncing his hand will move around a lot and it will be very difficult to play the right notes without looking at your hands, but I'm having trouble making headway with him. He's only been playing for about 6 months, so I don't want to be too pushy and make the experience unenjoyable, but I think this way of playing will only cause him harm in the future and should be corrected as early as possible.

It's not that he can't understand what the right position is, it's that he thinks the right way to play is stupid and I'm getting pushback. Anyone dealt with something similar?

Hi all. I’m 27 and I’ve just started learning to play the piano. It is not my aspiration to become a world class pianist. I am learning the piano because my 24-year-old brother (autistic) has been learning for the last six years with the support of my mother (who is godsend) despite not being musically inclined at all.

My brother has worked hard to obtain the simplest motor skills (holding a pen, opening a can of coke) - so playing the piano was a huge feat for us. He requires a shadow for most things. Nevertheless, he’s on Alfred Level 3, and has gone through a few of Faber classics as well. Technique-wise, he maintains tempo with a metronome and a lot of practice, but struggles with playing keys “softly” or “fortissimo” style because it’s a real challenge. Like, we’ll model the way to strike a key, and he’ll do it instantaneously, but then ignore it while playing the entire piece.

I want to be well versed enough to carry him through most pieces such that he progresses. He’s been going to a music institute since he started and was always supported by a teacher and he’s incredible. He identifies notes by sound and can play music from listening without sheet music! He is incredibly smart and his pattern identification skills (better than your average genius) have gotten him this far.

I live far away from my brother but will be his permanent carer one day. I would like to be as good as I can to train him through pieces and push him (teachers are great but don’t really push him as much as we can as family). What are some things that can focus on at the moment? I’ve picked up Alfred Adult Level 1 which has been digestible.

I feel like I should learn how to play well to anticipate difficulties and explain (in a way digestible to him) techniques, etc.

Playing the piano is a blend of different worlds so would appreciate some guidance.

P.S. I plan on getting a teacher after I’m halfway through Alfred Level 1, feel like I can independently learn the basics.

Curious if you have one and what it is, and whether your students follow it!

Hi everyone. I'm a teacher. I started writing this mini-essay to help me think through what I think is really the ultimate question about music practice. But I've realised I can't answer it satisfactorily, at least for now. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts if you are a piano teacher too.

The practice feedback loop:

Are you the type of piano student who runs their fingers along (approximately) the right keys, and then turns around to look expectantly at the teacher, waiting for feedback on whether it was good or not? Or are you the type who gets feedback not from an external source, but from YOURSELF?

Although it may sound counterintuitive, the best kind of feedback is the kind that comes from your own ears, not from your teacher. You are a musician. This not only means that you can play the piano (to a greater or lesser extent), but also that you have the deeply human intuition for music. You understand what sounds good on an instinctual level.

You must USE this instinct in your practice!

If we can practice with open ears, listening to the sound we are making in real time, interspersed with hearing the rich sounds of our imagination, then we are really practising. This better kind of practice consists of repeating passages of music with this feedback loop running, not on a conscious level, where we are explicitly analysing whether the notes, rhythm, dynamics, and articulation of our playing was accurate or not, but on the level of REALLY hearing what we are playing, feeling it emotionally, and noticing how easy it feels, and how pleasurable it is to listen to.

When we can access this deeper level of practice, two things happen. 1) we may find that we enter a flow state of heightened focus, where practice no longer feels tiring and overwhelming, and instead we find we can practice for long periods of time without losing concentration. 2) we may find that our relationship towards a teacher changes completely, rather than being reliant on them for every little detail on how to play, they become more of a guide towards accessing more complex ingredients of music. They will also thank you enormously for making their job a lot more fun.

But the question is - how do we make this shift?

trying to see what are some good ways are to minimize the admin and marketing work, appreciated!

Good afternoon to everyone on r/PianoTeachers!

Over the last few months, we wanted to encourage more engagement between teachers, students, parents and the wider Reddit community, to expand our scope beyond the existing B2B focus of this Subreddit. This was in response to feedback from our members.

The decision was made to trial two new features in order to achieve this: a “Certified Teacher” user flair that that would be held by community members to identify them as working professionals, and an “Ask A Teacher” post flair, which would permit members from outside the community to post on select days.

We felt that it was important, to maintain the integrity and credibility of the community, to ensure that only those with a Certified Teacher user flair would be able to respond and give advice on posts tagged under the Ask A Teacher category. With Reddit posts and comments across the whole site increasingly becoming populated with Generative-AI responses and misinformation, we felt that it was crucial to check that those responding to an “Ask a Teacher” post were, in fact, teachers, and we tested an AutoMod script to streamline this process.

In order to do this responsibly and, most importantly, lawfully, we would have needed to implement our own robust Data Protection and Privacy policy. Verifying employment, qualification certificates or evidencing of professional standing would require us as a Mod Team to process and store (even temporarily) the personal data of our community members who wished to carry the appropriate user flair.

We identified requirements to comply with Data Protection law, ICO Guidance, and alignment with Reddit’s own Terms and Conditions. It was important to us that if we were to verify community members as certified teachers, that we did so ethically and in accordance with all of the above regulations. After facing several obstacles in this regard, we came to the conclusion that this kind of data processing would not be practical, given the time we have to spare as community moderators.

Based on this, we have made the decision not to continue with the plans to implement Certified Teacher user flairs.

We do recognise that the Ask a Teacher post flair will provide valuable engagement, and so moving forward, we will retain this weekend posting event on a regular basis, however we will be adjusting the AutoMod controls on the community to allow all our members to respond without requiring verification. There may be an adjustment time for the new settings to be actioned, and we greatly appreciate all of the messages and patience from the community in the meantime. This also means that we will all need to be mindful of the responses that come up on these posts to spot misinformation early, and work together as a community to provide positive and accurate replies.

If you have any questions, please reply below and we’ll do our best to get back to you as quickly as we can.

With love!

Mod Team

Studio teachers, how do you handle the post lesson workflow stuff?

I am curious how other studio teachers handle the after-lesson work. The notes, practice goals, student progress, the admin and tracking of what you covered with your student.

My parents have been teaching for 20+ years and have different systems. Either by memory or by a binder full of notes.

What does yours look like? Do you write notes during the lesson, after, or end of the teaching day? Anything you’ve tried that didn’t stick?

Asking out of curiosity and partly because I’ve been building an app for my parents(IOS app called ForteAi). Trying to get more input from other teachers.

If anyone wants to try what I built, link is below. Also more than happy to give extended access for feedback. Just DM me.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/forteai/id6753263331

I teach many people from kids to adults, and something I realized is, especially among adults, getting them to play with a metronome is very hard, and many of them don't ever practice with one.

I understand when you are first learning a piece and getting the fingering and muscle memory down, playing with a metronome is hard and trying to focus on the rhythm when you don't even have the right notes/fingerings/chords, etc down can be very challenging.

But I have students who, after practicing a piece for a couple days and are able to play it from memory, still don't practice with a metronome. They say its too hard and makes them play worse.

This is very concerning for me. I truly believe practicing with a metronome, especially as a beginner and even intermediate player, is going to improve you abilities dramatically, make you sound more professional (since nothing screams inexperienced more than someone with tempo all over the place when unintended), make practicing easier as you can gradually increase difficulty of practice, etc.

If I hear someone play a piece, I can EASILY tell if they've practiced with or without a metronome.

How can I drill the importance of this to my students and get them to overcome this fear of the metronome? Alternatively, am I just making a big deal out of something that doesn't matter and actually, a metronome isn't as helpful as I think?

Hi all. I am a 17 yr old pianist (completed grade 8 a few years ago) and about 6 months I started teaching my girlfriend’s little brother (11 yrs old) piano. He had been playing for a little bit before but without a consistent teacher, which has now become a bit of a problem as I have become aware of gaps in his knowledge. I’ve been working with him on his grade 1 pieces, and we plan for him to take the exam at the end of this year. His playing has become really good, and he’s managing to play with expression and dynamics really well which I think will make him stand out a lot in grade 1. However, he really doesn’t know how to read music much. When I started teaching him he was already playing with his dad’s help, but he’s just been memorising the notes with his and my help (which I’ve realised was a big mistake). I try to encourage him as much as possible to read the notes himself (which he can kind of do if I give him the starting note and he counts up and down from whatever line or space it’s on), but he tends to get frustrated, which is understandable. I’m starting to get really worried about sight reading, and I was thinking about making him work through the Pauline Hall Piano Time book he has (I learnt from them and they are great) but I think it’ll be a little patronising for someone his age, especially when his playing ability is much beyond that tbh. I’m gonna talk to my piano teacher about this and I’m sure she’ll help me but any tips/resources from here would be amazing