Friday Finds #220: Best of May

 

1

All my students are getting new binders this year. I’ve been rotating quite a few over and over but it’s time to start fresh. At their final evaluation meeting, I laid out 8 color options for them to choose from: black, blue, red, lime green, and peach, pink, periwinkle, and teal. 

Since I purchased them in sets of 4, I made students give me 3 color choices in order of favorite. That allowed me to utilize every binder I purchased.

Once I had everyone’s options, I sat down and assigned colors. It sounds like a lot of work but it really was quite easy.

Let me just say that the pastels were by far the favorite colors. Next time I may limit to those 4 colors.

 

2

Price-setting and finding the right balance for your business as well as your local community is definitely a difficult game to play. Clinton Pratt developed a really useful Tuition Calculator that can help you play around with numbers in a variety of settings/situations.

 

3

Nicola’s recent video on Project Management Software had me ready to give them a shot again.

I’ve tried Trello and Asana both in the past but am really picky about my workflow and I just didn’t love them. While Evernote has worked pretty well for me in the current format I’m using, I was starting to feel something a little more robust was needed. Nicola convinced me to give ClickUp a shot. I’ll let you know down the road if I stick with it!

 

4

Piano Studio Business Claims: The best things in life are tax-deductible (Rebekah Maxner)

 

5

Anyone else struggle to keep your dishwasher from getting nasty? I rinse everything before it goes in and take a paper towel and wipe out the gunk at the bottom hinge after I put away every load but it’s amazing how yucky they still get. Ever looked inside the side gears? Ick!

I’ve struggled off and on with having way too many dishes still come out unclean (and our dishwasher is only a year old). I would alternate back and forth between Cascade liquid and powder and others.

The pods have always felt way too expensive to me for something that isn’t really inconvenient.

However, that all changed when I became desperate to not have to re-wash half a dozen items every time and finally broke down and bought the most expensive pods. Voila. Problem solved.

Finish Quantum Powerball.

Haven’t had to re-wash one dish since.

I got the big pack.

 

6

Overcome the Disadvantage of Friday Piano Lessons (Nicola Cantan)

 

7

If only I had a reason or good space for this piano rug

 

 

 

8

If you’re interested in learning about MLT. Andy Mullen over at The Improving Musician is a great place to start. He has loads of quality resources in his Free Student Library.

 

9

Recently, I stumbled across a fantastic Ukulele teaching resource from Musical Mama. Uke lessons are a great 2nd instrument for teachers to offer. Entrepreneur that I am, a few years ago, I taught myself just so I could teach one of my student’s lessons that were interested instead of passing the income into someone else. Something to consider!

 

10

The past two weeks I have definitely been in a bit of a food funk. The last week of lessons was so crazy and my first week of I’m just tired and recouping. My drive to cook has been minimal, however, I never like to leave you hanging with food fun so here it is:

Grilled Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts (Cook’s Illustrated)

Olive Garden Salad copycat recipe (Dinner at the Zoo)

Cashew Crunch Salad with Sesame Dressing (Pinch of Yum)

Chicken Porridge a.k.a. Chicken Congee (Seonkyoung Longest)

 

Follow on Instagram: @food.fun.with.amy

 

 

Specifics on my “À La Carte-Style” Adult Lessons

This post is part of a series called Your Questions Answered that highlights questions from readers just like you. If you have a question you would like to submit, you can do so here.

 


I’ve been a regular reader and subscriber of your blog for ages!

I’m working on a website reboot for my studio over the summer and have been browsing other teachers’ websites to get ideas.

I read your blurb about adult lessons and really liked the way you have it set up with 6 weekly lessons over 8 weeks. Would you mind if I borrow that setup and use it with my own adult students?

If you’ve got a moment to respond, I’d love to know how you handle specifics of that setup – do you have the adults come at the same time each week for their lesson, or offer flexibility on time slot as well? Any specific wording that you’ve found works well to communicate those policies?

Thanks for your help and for all the great tips over the years!

-VR

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Friday Finds #219: Self Care: Rest and Renewal

This week is my last full week of lessons. Wahoo!

Next week, while the studio will still be on its regular schedule, students will come in and do a final run-through of their recital pieces (which I plan to record), and then parents will join in and we will have our final evaluation meeting.

I don’t know about you, but my body and mind are extra ready for a breather this year! That makes me extra happy I decided to end my semester one week earlier than usual and give myself a two-week break before Summer lessons begin.

Today is all about taking care of ourselves through rest and (thus) renewal.

 

1

Cheers to Acknowledging Rest (Beyond Measure podcast with Christina Whitlock)

“Let’s face it: especially this time of year, rest is HARD for ambitious teachers. Rather than making you feel guilty for not incorporating more white space into your spring schedule, this episode encourages us to acknowledge the rest that comes – intentionally or not – and to embrace it for the benefits it brings.”

 

2

What if We Approached Taking Care of Ourselves the Way We Approach Our Jobs? (Shonda Rhimes)

“…what if the only person I’m competing with is the me I was …yesterday?”

 

3

Paid Time Off for Piano Teachers (Nicola Cantan | Colourful Keys)

 

4

24/6: A Prescription for a Healthier, Happier Life by Matthew Sleeth.

I read this book several years ago and really enjoyed it. There are other similar ones out there with the same name.

 

5

Use some of this “slow” time to make some “slow” foods. Here are some suggestions:

Irish Soda Bread (Ina Garten)

The Easiest Bread Recipe You’ll Ever Bake (it really is!) (Williams Sonoma)

Chicken Stew with Biscuits (Ina Garten)

Rhubarbecue (slow-braised ribs in Rhubarb BBQ sauce) (Taste of Home)

Scalloped Potatoes and Ham (The Kitchn)

 

6

4 Lessons I Learned from Doing Less (Michelle Cushatt)

 

7

A Helpful Guide to Becoming Unbusy (Joshua Becker | Becoming Minimalist)

“Busy” has become the new “fine” – the new “default state” for our lives.

 

8

How to Make Your Weekend a WOW Experience: My 5-Ingredient Recipe for Total Rejuvenation (Michael Hyatt)

 

9

Finding Sabbath Again (Mike Glenn | Patheos)

“Sabbath gives you the time and space to remember what matters.”

 

 


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You’ll get my once-a-month “Secret Letter” which includes what’s been going on in my studio that month, books I’m reading, and more. You will also have the option to have new posts delivered to your inbox weekly.

 

Light but Fun Composing Ideas for Summer

This post is part of a series called Your Questions Answered that highlights questions from readers just like you. If you have a question you would like to submit, you can do so here.

This question was posed in reaction to another Your Questions Answered post regarding Summers Lesson and Curriculum.

 

Love-love-love your posts they are so helpful.

Like you, I’m getting ready for Summer Lessons. I try to change things up for the Summer and this year I’m introducing more about composing. I started introducing this the last semester of this year but I want to do a lot more over the Summer.

What ideas do you have to teach composing on a light level but keeping it fun?

What other kinds of things do you do over the Summer?

Also, I have two 4 -year old girls starting this Summer any really fun ideas for them?

Sorry I know that’s a lot of questions but you always have great ideas.

Thanks Again,

Frances

 

​​Hi, Frances!

​A few resources I’ve used in the past include:

​The main thing I think is important is giving them small parameters such as what meter, how many measures, key, mood, etc., and to keep them short. Many of these resources do just that.

​As far as your second question goes regarding fun ideas for 4-year-old beginners, the first thing that comes to mind is to spend a lot of time off-bench singing and moving and doing activities such as drawing a picture that “sounds like this little song we’re going to learn”.

My favorite tool for preschool students is Music Moves for Piano’s Keyboard Games Book A. The pieces are very short – only 4 measures and focus on students simply playing to a beat and learning patterns – not reading notes. However, you will likely want to purchase the teacher book if it’s your first time trying the series.

I’ve also used with success in the past resources from both Trevor and Andrea Dow’s Wunderkeys and Faber’s My First Piano Adventures however, Music Moves remains my favorite because it encourages the most “musicing.” That is, singing and movement, not just reading notes.

I hope this gives you a little bit of a springboard for some more ideas! Congrats on the new students and good luck!

~Amy

 

Purging Old College Notes and Professional Magazines

This post is part of a series called Your Questions Answered that highlights questions from readers just like you. If you have a question you would like to submit, you can do so here.

 

Dear Amy –

Help!

I have these enormous binders from college many years ago.

I know I need to toss a lot of it, but there are definitely resources in there I don’t want to get rid of (and would love to make more easily accessible to review).

Any advice?

-Christina W.

 

Hey, Christina!

I would hedge a guess many-a-teachers are nodding their heads in agreement – me being one of them. Ha!

You’re beating me to this task as it’s one I’ve also had on my list for years but never seems to move up in importance. Bravo to you for tackling it!

That being said, I went through a similar purge of all my MTNA American Music Teacher and Clavier Companion magazines last year.

8 years’ worth and something like 5 magazine file boxes was weighing me down mentally. Why? Because how does someone utilize any of that information or recall what they need to from stacks (or binders) of information.

You don’t!

That’s when you decide (as we did) that enough was enough.

How did I tackle it?

A little at a time – not putting pressure on myself to use one of my days off to do it all.

I placed a small stack next to the couch and every day – either first thing in the morning during my brief quiet reading time or at the end of the day’s downtime – I would flip through one or two magazines.

It’s surprising how much I remembered what articles I enjoyed and found benefit in. (It helped that the first time I read them years ago, I folded down the page on my favorite articles. 🙂 )

 

Step #1 – Find a time frame that works that feels achievable, not overwhelming.

 

Step #2 – Flip through, skim, and determine what is most beneficial moving into the future. (Have high standards – only the best information/articles. For me, that was no more than 1 or 2 per magazine – sometimes none!)

Next, I used the Scannable app to scan the articles. (Genius Scan is another favorite app for scanning).

When you scan with Scannable, you can choose to save it in either PDF or image format into Evernote, or “send” it into another program.

So, even though Scannable is an Evernote product, you could use it to scan items and send to any of your file managers such as Google Drive or iCloud Drive.

 

Step #3 – Scan and save in the best digital management place for you.

Remember that simply saving articles digitally will not do you any more good than the physical ones if you don’t make them easily accessible – that is, easily searchable).

One of the reasons I absolutely adore Evernote is because Evernote Premium gives you additional search powers. It can search the text of PDFs as well as your handwriting on hand-written notes! I find that amazing (and incredibly helpful).

Without Evernote Premium, it will only search the titles of notes and text typed in the notes themselves.

If you don’t want to pay for Premium, or if you prefer to use a cloud file manager such as Google Drive or iCloud Drive to save all of your stuff, the best way around this would be to make sure you title the document thoroughly for what it’s about.

Sometimes I add additional words outside of the title – ones that I might use when searching for information on that particular topic. This will make it much more searchable in whatever digital storage place you use.

Here’s an example (from an online article/resource):

Natalie Weber has a composition resource called “The Psalms Project.” I might title the file name (or Evernote note) like this:

The Psalms Project_Composition_Composing

Otherwise, if I saved that PDF file and was looking in my digital files for a composing activity, using the word “composition” is not in the original article title.

I hope that makes sense!

If you use Evernote, you can also tag every item with a multitude of things. So I might tag that one note with the tags:

composition, bible, summer camp

Then, that one note/file will show up under each category without being duplicated in Evernote.

Step #4 – Make sure the materials you are converting to a digital format are easily searchable and thus useful.

Once you make your choice of what’s worth keeping. The last part may feel a little difficult…

Trash the rest.

It’s time.

You didn’t look at it for 10 years anyway, right?

Is it really that important?

I don’t think so.

Feel the weight lift from your shoulders? Ahhh…

Sweet relief.

Step #5 – Let it go. The trash is your friend. 

 

~Amy

 

P.S. Please recycle.

P.S.S. If you’re interested in diving into all the great ways that Evernote can work for you and your business, check out the Evernote for Independent Music Teachers series here on Piano Pantry.

 


Please note that Piano Pantry is an Evernote affiliate, which means I earn a small percentage back if you sign up using my link at no extra cost to you. See all disclosures here.

 

Friday Finds #218: Summer Repertoire

Happy May! If you missed last week’s big April re-cap, you can read it here: Friday Finds #217 Best of April.

I don’t know about you, but I often struggle to remember to put in music orders far enough in advance from when new terms start to actually have music by the first lesson!

So, today, I’m sharing some resources to help you as you plan your student’s Summer repertoire. This list focuses on what I would call a more relaxed repertoire such as popular tunes, what my teens like to call “flowy” music,  and some fun and unique patterned repertoire.

You’ll also see a few favorite repertoire lists from other bloggers as well. Let me know what fun repertoire you have planned for your students this Summer in the comments!

P.S. This week, I answered a reader’s question regarding how I run my Summer lessons. Catch that post here.

 

1

Back in 2018, my studio’s Spring Recital theme was “Songs we Know.” In a follow-up post, I shared a list of some favorite books with popular tunes.

 

2

Will Bailey has a great site full of fun original music kids seem to enjoy. I especially love his Way Cool Keyboarding Books for teens who play at a mid-late elementary level.

The music is very patterned and young teens absolutely love the way it sounds. Plus, they get a taste of how to play chord charts intertwined between each piece.

 

3

Piano Music for Teens (Lauren Lewandowski)

Favorite Beautiful Modern Piano Music for Teens (Jill Ice)

 

4

Who doesn’t love fun variations on Chop Sticks? Here are a few I keep bookmarked:

Chopped Sticks Rag for Three by Joyce Grill (1 piano, 6 hands / Early Intermediate)

C.S. Theme and Variations by Randall Compton (1 piano, 4 hands / Early Advanced)

Whitewater Chopped Sticks by Calvin Jones (Early Advanced)

 

5

Summer might be a good time to explore the rote repertoire series, Blitz Books, from Samantha Coates.

 

6

How about having students spend time learning some tunes by ear and harmonizing? Perhaps better yet, have them sing the melody while chording in the RH and playing octaves or other patterns in the left.

Here are 147 Tunes to Harmonize (Piano Pantry) to help get you started!

 

7

Chrissy Ricker’s Let’s Quest! (video game-inspired music) Songbook or any of Andrea and Trevor Dow’s Classical Pop Sessions would be a fun way to change things up for students in the summer!

 

8

Summer is a wonderful time to do a studio-wide project to learn the important Happy Birthday tune. Use my new Happy Birthday by Ear teaching resources to guide both you and your students through the process!

 

 

Summer Lessons and Curriculum

This post is part of a series called Your Questions Answered that highlights questions from readers just like you. If you have a question you would like to submit, you can do so here.

 


What curriculum do you teach in the summer?  Do you keep the student going in their regular curriculum or do you use something different to give them a break?

I love your idea of 6 lessons in 7 weeks and I would love more info on how you set it up.

Thanks,

PM

 

Dear P,

Those are some great questions and I would be happy to share a little more info!

I don’t have a set curriculum I teach in the Summer. For the most part, I just keep going with whatever students are working on but it’s always quite relaxed and there is no Classical repertoire involved unless the student specifically wants it.

Usually, I try to do a lot of pop tunes, Disney, chord charts, really anything the student is interested in. For several years I held a studio-wide outdoor picnic performance and it was fun to play that kind of music in that environment.

The 6 lessons in 7 weeks have worked perfectly for me ever since I’ve opened my studio. Depending on how my late July looks, I’ve even done 6 lessons over 8 weeks or 7 lessons over 8 weeks.

It’s nice to give flexibility to families in the Summer and I prefer to have a lighter schedule myself. Because of my preference for a light summer, I also do not require students to take summer lessons. I strongly recommend it for the first 3 years but don’t require it.

If they opt not to take summer lessons, however, I have a $30 non-refundable holding fee to keep their spot for fall lessons. I can’t replace my income for those two months if they don’t take lessons because I can’t take on new students for which I don’t have space in the fall. This is a great way to still have a little extra income while maintaining a lighter summer schedule.

The summer tuition fee is paid for in one payment (due by the first lesson) however, on occasion, if a family requests, I will let them make it in two payments. My fee is the same “per lesson” rate as the school term although I don’t advertise “per lesson” rates – that’s just how I calculate my fees.

My rates are listed as an annual tuition rate. More specifically, a school year rate and then a separate summer rate. From there, they have payment options of annual, semester, or monthly. I think it’s good to keep the focus on the big picture fee rather than on a per month (and especially not a per lesson) fee.

I hope this helps and let me know if you have any more questions!

 

~Amy

 

Friday Finds #217: Best of April

Friday Finds Blog Post

Happy end-of-April!

Here are my favorite fun finds from all over the web this past month for you, my dear peeps.

~Amy

 

 

1

The Real Book (Episode #438) from 99% Invisible podcast

The absolutely fascinating story of how the popular “Real Book” evolved into fruition.

 

2

My Hunt for the Original McDonald’s French Fry Recipe (Atlas Obscura)

How interesting! Do you remember the original McDonald’s french fries (prior to 1990?) Even though I was a kid in the ’80s, I don’t.

They were apparently fried in beef tallow rather than vegetable/soybean oils as they are today and in turn were much crispier.

Of course, I’ve already put beef tallow in my Amazon shopping cart. We’re not McDonald’s eaters, but like a good American, enjoy eating a good french fry now and then.

 

3

 

Have you heard of CeraVe? If you have any kind of skin sensitivities, it’s a product developed by Dermatologists that’s available in your local drugstore or grocery.

I found out about it when I had a crazy heat rash on my legs a couple of summers ago that wouldn’t go away. After going to the dermatologist, their simple recommendation was the CeraVe Itch Relief Moisturizing Cream and a mild antibiotic.

 

4

Do you hold year-end evaluation meetings with parents and students? Here are some resources to help.

Friday Finds #214 – Year-End Evaluations (Piano Pantry)

Friday Finds #215 – Parent/Student Questionnaires (Piano Pantry)

Maybe Measuring Progress is Really Measuring Something More Important? (Key Ideas podcast)

 

5

8 Solo Piano Collections for Worship (Ashley Danyew)

Ashley has a podcast called Field New on Music Teaching and Learning I’ve been enjoying recently thanks to a recommendation by Joy Morin.

 

6

A fun virtual tour of Leila Viss’s piano studio.

 

7

My highly recommended recipes from what I made in the past four weeks:

Chicken Fajita Stuffed Poblano Peppers (Simply Recipes); For a little healthier side, serve alongside quinoa rather than rice.

High Protein Oat Waffles (Skinny Taste); I already shared these several weeks ago but they are too good to not bring up again!

Rhubarb Dream Bars (Baking You Happier)

Southwestern Apple and Radish Salad (Cook’s Country); Add some shredded rotisserie chicken to make it a meal.

White Bean and Tuna Salad (Simply Recipes); Add some extra salad greens for a more robust salad.

 

8

The Ultimate Music Education Book List (Mrs. Stouffer’s Music Room)

Wow, an incredibly comprehensive list!!

 

9

In case you missed them and they are just what you need at this time:

Friday Finds #213 – Recital Prep

Friday Finds #216 – New Student Interviews and Registrations

 

10

12 Facebook Settings and Notifications You Can Turn Off Immediately (Real Simple)

 

11

How Music Teachers Can Sell Digital Products (Piano with Lauren)

 

12

Music Publishing 101 (Chrissy Ricker)

 

 

Update: MTNA Music Study Award fillable form fixed!

Just a quick update!

Two weeks ago I published a post with a printable template to help you print your MTNA Music Study Awards.

The form had always been fillable but this year when I downloaded it, it was not. I have to admit, I convinced myself I was mistaken that it was in the past and just went right ahead and made a printable template so you didn’t have to write in the student’s names by hand.

Thanks to fellow colleague/reader Jan Fulford who was a little more proactive than I was! She contacted me on Facebook and pointed out that yes, they had been fillable in the past but were also not working for her this year either. So, she contacted MTNA and found out it was flux and it was supposed to be fillable.

It has been fixed now – YEA!

Don’t worry, it doesn’t print the fillable area in purple. 🙂

Plus, we noticed that the centering of the words “present the” was off so they fixed that as well!

Thanks to Jan for her help in getting this all fixed!

P.S. Even though it’s basically not necessary anymore, I’m going to leave the printable template post active just in case since I’ve already put the work into it.

 

Friday Finds #216: New Student Interviews and Registrations

Friday Finds Blog Post

You may not be mentally ready for it, but this is the time of year to be thinking not only about Summer lessons but about your student load/list for the Fall term.

Along with that comes the work of meeting with/interviewing and registering new students. Take some time to think about the process you use. The way we run our student interview meetings, and the process set up for registering students is the first peek families will have into the quality of your studio.

Do you like what you see? Is it the kind of onboarding process you would feel good about if you were the one signing up? Is everything streamlined, easy to understand, and smooth and painless?

Here are some resources for you today as you consider your own interview and registration process.

 

1

How to Plan a New Piano Student Interview or Meeting (Colourful Keys)

 

2

3 Printables for Interviewing Students (Color in my Piano)

Interview Evaluation Forms (Music Educator Resources)

 

3

 

One activity I find great to do with students during your first meeting is to decorate the piano. It gives you a chance to engage with the student and shows parents you work to make lessons fun. (Piano Safari)

 

4

New Piano Student Interviews – How to Seal the Deal (Compose Create)

 

5

How and When to Say No to Prospective Students (Teach with Diane)

 

6

One Registration Question Not-to-be-Missed! (Piano Pantry)

Here are 5 Questions Ask Every Piano Parent (Teach Piano Today)

 

7

 

If you’re looking to book interview meetings and/or do your registration forms online, there are all kinds of tools out there to make it easier. Some favorites I’ve heard of from other teachers over the years:

Google Forms

Typeform: People-Friendly Forms and Surveys

JotForm: A Typeform Alternative

Doodle: Free online meeting scheduling tool

Simplify This: Online Appointment Scheduling & Booking Software

 

8

Would you like to obtain signatures on your policy documents but want to keep it all digital still? Check out Sign Easy, an electronic signature app.

 

9

Supercharge Your Piano Studio Organisation with Google Gadgetry (Top Music Co)

 

10

Why You Need a Piano Studio Child Protection Policy and Plan (Rebekah Maxner)

 

11

The Email Every Piano Teacher Should Send Home at the Start of the Term (Teach Piano Today)