142 – 5 Ways to Add a Personal Touch to Your Studio

Hello, my friends, and welcome to episode 142 of The Piano Pantry Podcast. I’m Amy Chaplin, a piano teacher who loves to blend life talk and teacher talk because the teacher life is the life you live.

Today, we’re talking about four ways that we can add a personal touch to our music studios. The change of the seasons always brings this topic to mind as I make little tweaks to bring the ambiance of the season to my home and studio.

Our studio ambiance encompasses everything from our pedagogical approach as teachers to our relationship with our students to the atmosphere we create in the space we inhabit. Now that your studio year is off the ground and running and the season is changing, I think this is a great time to dive into this topic.

Do you ever have something happen or have someone say an off-hand comment that wouldn’t normally be seen as a big deal, yet it makes a huge impression on your mind?

I had this happen to me years ago when I was in my old studio space. A mom (whose daughter is in her 11th year of piano with me now, by the way) was sitting in on her young daughter’s lessons after a long day of work as a nurse. She said to me,

Sigh I just love coming here. If only I could make my life as orderly and structured as you run your lessons. You know exactly what you’re doing when it’s like boom-boom-boom. It always smells good in here, and it’s always neat and clean.”

This mom has made similar off-hand comments to me before about the ambiance of my studio and how relaxing and comforting it is to be in it.

So, my first piece of advice on adding a personal touch to your space is to make it inviting. I’m not saying it has to be in perfect order, squeaky clean, or an empty minimalist space; just find small ways to make the room breathe. I like to think of the physical space as a reflection of the art of music. Make a space that is as interesting as the color and imagery you teach your students to make through sound.

Maybe it’s a bit of unique artwork on the wall, a sitting area with interesting-shaped furniture, diffused smells that tickle the senses, or vibrant paint on the walls that’s unexpected and bold. Challenge yourself to find little ways to make an impact on visitor’s senses.

The second way to add a personal touch to your space is to celebrate and highlight the community created by your studio. Display photos of your students. Celebrate both young students and those enjoying lessons in older age so they know they’re not the only ones and that lessons are not just for 7-year-olds.

Create opportunities for students to gather with each other and make music together, whether it’s a piano party for elementary students, a jam band for teens, or an evening of wine and music for older adults.

The third way to add a personal touch to your studio space is to keep the space fresh with small seasonal updates. Ambiance can be created in small ways – like changing out the hand soap or hand towels in the bathroom, the stack of magazines or books in the waiting area, entryway rugs, or even candy dishes.

Just last week on social media, I shared a reel of the candy jar in my entryway. I purchase one large bag of seasonal candy at the start of every season. Once it’s out – which takes about two weeks time – I go back to basic mints.

For Fall time, I usually do caramels, for Christmas, those soft peppermint nougat candies, some kind of Easter candy for Spring, and for Summer… I can’t recall any consistent candy choices I probably just end up sticking with mints in Summer. The most important factor to me is candy that is individually wrapped for sanitary purposes.

The fourth way to add a personal touch to your studio space is through mini celebrations. For years I sent birthday postcards to students. After 14 years of this, I finally decided to take a year off this year, but there are all kinds of posts on the Piano Pantry blog on organizing birthday postcards for students. You’ll find this, along with other items mentioned today and related content, in the show notes at PianoPantry.com/podcast/episode142.

Maybe it’s having the student’s favorite candy bar for their birthday or making a note to ask them at their lesson next week how their swim meet went. My friend Christina Whitlock puts up a shout-out board where students can celebrate their wins. I have yet to do this entirely, but I do have a board up where I display student artwork made for me.

Before I give you the final item on my list, I just wanted to let you know that this podcast is ad-free, thanks to the support of friends on Patreon. It’s always easy to think someone else is doing these things; I don’t have to, but the truth is, our profession is not a very big one, and it takes a lot of us to make a little add up. So, if you’ve been enjoying this podcast but putting off showing your support in this way, I invite you to join me at pianopantry.com/patreon where you can be a silent partner for just $4 a month or get some extras out of me for $7 plus you can cancel at any time.

The fifth and final way you can add a personal touch to your studio space is to be your authentic self. We don’t have to be perfect polished teachers. Learn with your students. Admit limitations and let students know things don’t always go perfectly. I kind of like it when I hit the point that I can’t sightread a student’s music perfectly. I let students know – hey, guess what? You’re at a Late Intermediate level, and I might not always be able to sightread your music perfectly the first time. Isn’t that an exciting step for you that you’re at a point that the teacher has to practice your music?

Try something new with students; if it doesn’t work out, admit it didn’t work the way you expected. Along those same lines, let your passions lead you. Most often, if you’re excited about something, students will get excited about it, too. This topic has come up before when talking about incentive programs. If you’re not excited to do an incentive, then don’t do it. If you have fun with it and are passionate about it, then your students will get excited through osmosis. Just be true to yourself as a teacher and person.

That’s it! Kind of a short one today, but sometimes that’s all it takes. Next week, one of my good teacher friends, Janna Williamson, will be joining us to give some tips on judging just in time for some of the Fall festivals.

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Have a great week, friends!