These are the things that I like to include in my Annual Studio Report:

• A summary of the events from the year. For me as a piano teacher, this includes recitals, workshops, masterclasses, festivals, and individual student accomplishments (students who performed in talent shows, accompanied a school performance, or played for a worship service).
• Professional update. Here’s an opportunity to let students know about the work we put into our jobs outside of classroom time. I like to tell my students what ongoing education and conferences I have participated in during the year and what professional organizations I belong to.
• New studio equipment. If I have purchased anything over the course of the year, I take the opportunity to remind students about this new equipment and how it has been utilized in their lessons–even simple, new equipment. For example, last year I included the purchase of gathering drums in my annual studio report and let families know that they had been a useful tool in teaching beginning students rhythms and mastering passages where both hands play at the same time. Recording equipment, theory games or additions to your music library might also be worthwhile to include here.
• Studio policy changes. If there is anything new that you are changing to your studio policy in the year ahead, it is good to let your students know at this time. If I am raising my rates or changing my teaching hours in the fall, this is when I let that information be known.
• The year ahead. I also like to let students and their families know about what things they have to look forward to when they renew their commitment to music lessons. Festivals, recitals, workshops, competitions, etc. Of course, this does take a little advanced planning on your part to have a general idea of what events you will be holding in the future, but having a head start on your teaching year will certainly make the summer months more relaxing and enjoyable!

But what’s most interesting is that when they come back, they’re just a little bit more focused and motivated than usual.

The same goes for me when I return from vacation. As much as I love spending some time in the sun with no responsibilities, it’s that refreshed and recharged feeling I have when I return that I like the most.

My studio is a happier, more productive place for everyone after being closed for a few days. In addition to my spring break, I greatly value the weeks off before and after the summer session and during the winter holidays.Without them, the risk of burnout — for both teachers and students — is all too high.

Most of my vacations are not spent on a beach; though, I spend much of my vacation time right here in the studio. I recharge for the next session by looking for new repertoire, reorganizing my studio, making contact with parents I might not have had a chance to speak with regarding their students, and brushing up on my own musicianship skills.

Knowing that I can take my time to enjoy these tasks (rather than cram them into a busy day of teaching) eases my stress and gets me excited about my work all over again.

Every studio has a different approach when it comes to vacation time. Mine probably takes more than most, which of course means there is less income flowing during those weeks. And while I definitely feel that financial pain after a two-week vacation period, my opinion is that the benefits more than make up for it.

What are your thoughts on vacation time? The bottom line is that no matter how much or how little you schedule in your studio, you most likely see the same positive results as I do afterwards.

In teacher training classes, at conferences, and among music teacher friends, this is one of the most heated topics I hear about. Most people have a strong opinion one way or another. If you are an active performer and expect lots of flexibility from your students to accommodate your performing schedule, you may be one of the teachers IN FAVOR of make-up lessons. If you, on the other hand, are someone with a tight child-care schedule or teaching space limitations, you may be COMPLETELY AGAINST make-up lessons. For community music schools, preparatory divisions, or multi-teacher co-operatives, the topic of make-up lessons probably fuels many of your faculty meetings.

Here are some of the pros and cons I have heard about make-up lessons. First, let’s assume that if you, the teacher, misses a lesson, you either owe the student a refund or a make-up lesson. The harder question is what to do when a student misses a lesson. Was little Johnny really sick or did he want to stay playing outside on a nice day? What about the family who didn’t call in advance but picked their child up sick from school? Do you really want them feeling pressured into coming to a lesson, exposing you to illness, just “because they had already paid for it”?

Advantages of Make-up Lessons

• The student and family feel that you are flexible and sensitive to their needs
• As a teacher you are willing to give make-up lessons and, in turn, may more frequently rearrange lessons to meet your other commitments
• Make-up lessons provide consistency of weekly lessons or additional lessons during a
  “make-up period” that the student would have forfeited.
• End of semester make-up lesson periods can be used to teach a new skill or provide an out-of-the-ordinary musical experience.

Disadvantages of Make-up Lessons

• Families may take advantage of your flexibility and are likely to miss for a friends’ birthday party as easily as they will miss for an excused illness.
• Commitment to prioritizing lessons (and possibly daily practice) may be diminished.
• Unless you are very strict about your payment policy, missed lessons can lead to missed payments and conflict between family and teacher.
• Make-up lessons are more teaching time for no additional money. You, the teacher, were available at the regularly scheduled lesson time. You were most likely paying for the space. Your student was not available and a make-up requires you to essentially give the lesson for free.

One of the most common comments I hear is that families are comfortable paying for a semester of ballet lessons, the soccer season, or a summer art class. They will miss a class when necessary but, in these examples, would not expect a make-up class or refund.

So what makes music lessons fall into a different category? Is it the fact that most lessons are one-on-one? Is it that lessons are sometimes taught in our home or apartment? Is it the old fashioned view of the little old lady down the street who taught piano but did it because she loved music and kids, not for the money?

I am endlessly fascinated by what seems to be an often illogical professional decision on the part of individual teachers and music schools. As musicians, we have spent years, often decades, studying our instrument and becoming dedicated, inspired music teachers. Most often we have to accept the limitations (and benefits) of being self-employed. More flexibility and control of our own business, but no paid vacation, no sick, no personal days, no paid holidays, no comp days after a week of overtime, no 401K. And yet, make-up lessons essentially make being paid for your time optional.

If I show up for work, I want to be paid. Even for those students who attend all the lessons in a semester, a week of make-up lessons at the end of the semester is either a missed week of lessons for that student (for which the teacher is not paid), or a comp lesson from the teacher. Neither of these options feels truly professional. I would not ask my dentist to examine and clean my teeth for no charge just because it was “make-up teeth cleaning week”.

Recently I read an interesting article that cuts right to the point. In 2001, Vicki Barnham wrote the article “Makeup Lessons From and Economists Point of View”.  It is located on the website of Ottawa Suzuki Strings, a long-standing, well-respected music school. I hope it gives you food for thought.

As we enter the summer training season and the last few months of another great school year, I hope you will take a few moments to think about your position on make-up lessons. Please post comments. I will continue the conversation and include your thoughts at Institutes around the country.

So far, I have managed to avoid much student turnover and my returning student rate each fall has been between 90 and 95%.  I have found the following strategies to be successful in helping me to achieve this rate:

• Building good relationships with my students’ families.  I make sure that we have good communication and let them know up front about practicing expectations and the importance of becoming involved in the musical learning process.  If parents feel they can be open with me, they usually come to me early on when there is a problem–before it is too late and a student has already made up his or her mind to quit lessons.
• Involving entire families in events at my music studio.  In the past year I have begun offering adult piano classes and early childhood music classes.  Parents of students make up the majority of the enrollment in my adult classes, and younger siblings are typically excited to enroll in a music class and learn from the same teacher as their older brothers or sisters.  Connecting families to my studio in more than one way helps build customer loyalty.  Taking on younger siblings as piano students also helps alleviate the need for advertising since I am often able to draw from my existing pool of students!
• Providing many performances and events for student participation.  Students tend to be motivated when they are working towards an event, which encourages zeal and excitement about what they are learning and means they are less likely to become apathetic (which often results in terminating lessons).  Parents LOVE to see the progress their student is making, and are always so proud of their child after hearing him perform in a recital, masterclass or competition.  Make sure that you provide many opportunities for your student to showcase his talents for friends and families.
• Educate your families about what makes you a good teacher.  Do you belong to local teaching organizations?  Do you have a higher degree?  Do you participate in ongoing education?  Do you provide unique performance experiences?  When students and their families understand that what you are able to offer them is special and valuable, they will appreciate and respect you as a teacher and studio owner.

The Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) provides a Code ot Ethics that addresses this issue in its Commitment to Colleagues section:

The teacher shall maintain a professional attitude and shall act with integrity in regard to colleagues in the profession.

Furthermore, the last two bullets in the Commitment to Colleagues section speak to the ethics involved in transfer situations among students, parents and teachers:

The teacher shall respect the integrity of other teachers’ studios and shall not actively recruit students from another studio.

The teacher shall participate in the student’s change of teachers with as much communication as possible between parties, while being sensitive to the privacy rights of the student and families.

Direct communication is definitely the key. When I get a call from a parent transferring from a different studio, I try to find out as much as I can about why the student is leaving their current teacher. I ask if the parent has spoken with their current teacher about leaving. If they have not, I urge them to do so and ask if it is okay if I contact the teacher. The reason I do this is because someone did it for me. I have had students leave my studio to study with a different teacher for a variety of reasons. One of the first times it happenned, the teacher that the parent had contacted called me and asked if I was okay with the change. I developed a deep respect for this teacher because she took the time to call me. It felt good to have everything out in the open and I felt that the teacher displayed common courtesy towards me. Thus, I have implemented the same response when students want to transfer to my studio from a different teacher.

I have experienced the opposite – where the parent hasn’t been honest about why they are leaving and I discover that they left to study with another teacher – and I wonder why the teacher would not have contacted me. I feel an obligation to my fellow colleagues to act with integrity and professionalism because students will come and go. Relationships with colleagues are long-standing yet delicate. It is important to strive for a very high command of ethics in our interactions with each other. I challenge you to think carefully when faced with any problematic situations this spring. Use the MTNA Code of Ethics as your guide and practice integrity with your colleagues.

Jeffrey Cufaude is an architect of ideas …custom-designing keynotes, workshops, and leadership conferences that promote learning and community.

What most impresses me about the blog is not that Jeffrey is a musician, a teacher, or even in the arts. And yet his articles are relevant and to the point. As an “ideas architect” (something I had never heard of before), his topics are broad enough to appeal to the masses but specific enough to be useful in my day to day work.

As music studio teachers, owners, and administrators, we can only do so much with our limited resources. How do we fill in the gap? Volunteers. Throughout my career I have worked with volunteers as an organizer or recruiter. I have been a volunteer myself both in arts organizations as well as several other types of non-profits. It is a tricky job. On the one hand there is the enormous need (have you ever heard of an arts organization that had more than enough help?) and on the other hand there is the habit of using volunteers to the brink of burnout and beyond.

While reflecting on the article I began to think of my own volunteer experiences and, as a studio owner, the use of volunteers in my program. I am reminded of:

• The students’ parent who volunteers his photography skill at every studio recital and then donates the proceeds of all photo sales to a studio selected organization.
• The “studio parent” who organizes the studio recitals and receptions
• The parents and teens who run the “music store” for our annual weekend workshop
• The countless people it takes to organize and run a fundraising walk or concert for our organization
• The music students who want to perform regularly at a local senior center to fulfill their school community service requirement
• My own volunteering on several non-profit boards and committees
• Organizing the benefit concert for our scholarship fund
• Providing materials, treats, and support for the small group who fold the weekly church newsletter
• Joining the volunteer cadre of teachers who weekly give their time as teachers in the religious education program at our local church

And the list goes on. How do you use volunteer time and energy in your program? Is there someone who leads your volunteer efforts?  What have you volunteered for in the past? Was it a good experience? Did you feel valued? Would you do it again? These questions led me to two highlights from Jeffery’s article.

Don’t waste volunteers’ time. Time is one of the most significant contributions a volunteer offers to an association.  It is a gift we need to manage carefully.

Don’t forget the fun! Doing the work of the association is serious business, but the way we go about it doesn’t have to be dry and boring.  We must engage not only volunteers’ minds, but also their hearts.  Making volunteer experiences memorable will keep them coming back for more.

I hope you find a few moments to read the full article. It is terrific food for thought. I would love to hear your ideas on creating a strong and vibrant volunteer community.

And while I very much appreciate that parents are not just cheerleaders — they are also responsible for setting expectations and enforcing regular practice — it makes me sad to hear from students that their parents have criticized them as being “no good”, “untalented” and used other negative language regarding their musical skill.

As a teacher, how do you deal with the repercussions of this?

When this situation has come up in my studio (and unfortunately, it has on several occasions), I take action in two different ways: first with the student, and then with the parent(s). My first priority is validating my student as a musician, which I do by pointing out his or her progress, highlighting particular skill areas, and reassuring that everyone has room to grow, and will continue do so at his or her own pace.

If a student shares with me that he or she has received overly critical feedback at home, I never bring that up in my conversations or correspondence with parents. I simply make it a point to repeat the validation I’ve given my student, either in my weekly lesson summary email or via phone.

It is extremely important as a teacher to keep the lines of communication open with students’ families. While I don’t see all of them face-to-face each week (in fact, many parents drop their students off and I never see them at all), I do make sure to keep them abreast of progress, specific goals, and most importantly, successes. This has proven to be the best method of dealing with critical parents without overstepping my boundaries.

What are your strategies for dealing with negative criticism on the home front?

Recently my ensemble policy has been questioned by some of my colleagues as well as a family within my studio. Isn’t it too much of a time commitment? Jr and Sr high school students are so busy. Can’t my child just keep taking lessons even if they don’t sign up for band in school? I have been tempted to make exceptions to my requirement.

Then, just a few weeks ago, I had one of my long-time students stop taking flute lessons. I was sad and disappointed but had seen it coming. I wondered if there was something I should have done differently. My student had been struggling all fall. She was coming to lessons unprepared, withdrawn, and disengaged. The change in our lessons was dramatic. I spoke with her family, we talked in lessons, I looked for music that was particularly fun and engaging. I was working hard to help her through what felt like a particularly difficult practice slump. (We all have them!) Just six months ago she was progressing through her repertoire, well-known and respected as the most advanced flutist in school music program, and she had just gotten a new flute. Then this past fall, for the first time in three years, she did not audition for the after school honors band. She didn’t want to join a chamber music class. She began to balk at playing in front of our group class. She decided not to take band in school. It was a slippery slope that ended in a wonderful, talented young girl feeling overwhelmed, unmotivated, and bad about herself.

The more I have thought about the situation, the more confident I am that my “ensemble requirement” is absolutely right on. Many of my students begin playing when they are very young (age 4-6). At that age a private lesson and group class is sufficient and they work with their parents daily at home. For my pre-teens, the parent relationship is changing. They are no longer as willing to have the parent actively working with them at home. Developmentally, it is appropriate that they are craving independence, peer interactions, and acceptance. In my experience, no matter how long they have studied their instrument, making music cannot be a solitary experience for this age group. They need to communicate, to feel like “one of the gang”, and to be surrounded by an environment of music. Sending a student to practice alone in their bedroom day after day is like a watching a beautiful plant slowly being starved of light and water. Music is a living language and it needs to be shared with others.

There is nothing more exciting than to see one of my teenage students thriving in school and in music. To know that their instrument has become their “rock” and it has helped them to weather one of the most volatile and difficult stages of growth. To see that they are well on their way to becoming what Dr Shinichi Suzuki calls “the good citizens of the world”.

What ensemble experiences do your students participate in? If you are a piano instructor, how to do manage to make playing the piano exciting and fulfilling at this every social time? Do you see a difference between those students who are engaged in music with their peers and those who are more solitary? What creative solutions have you found for your home-schooled students or those who do not fit into the typical programs? I look forward to your thoughts.

That said, I’ve never been one to implement reward programs to try to motivate a student.  I’ve known teachers who provide prizes or even monetary rewards for students who practice a certain number of times per week, but in my experience these can be ineffective and expensive.  Instead, I have found that providing students with performance opportunities motivates students to practice and in doing so, helps encourage a long-term relationship with the student and his family.

A student who is preparing for a recital or competition is likely to practice faithfully.  He doesn’t want to embarrass himself by playing poorly in front of his family and friends, but wants to impress them with his musical abilities.  A student playing for a competition or festival will, likewise, want to impress the judge and earn a good score.  A student who doesn’t practice and gives a poor performance is likely to want to turn things around the next time and prevent this experience from happening again!  Since some instruments can also be a bit isolating, hearing their peers play can also be motivating to kids.  A beginning piano student has the opportunity to hear a high school student play a famous Chopin prelude, and becomes excited about what he will be able to learn someday if he sticks with his instrument.

Parents also enjoy opportunities to see their children shine.  Hearing their children play in a recital or festival makes them proud and helps them understand the real gift they are giving to their children by keeping them in music lessons.  Hearing advanced students play also allows parents to see the rewards of a long-term commitment to lessons.

At my own studio, I try to provide students with many opportunities throughout the year to play in a variety of settings and through a variety of organizations.  I never require that a student participate in all of the events I offer, but I always make my students aware of what opportunities they have and help parents select a few that fit their child’s abilities and personalities well.  Some of the performance opportunities I provide are:

• Annual studio recitals, held at the community room of our local library
• Seasonal recitals put on by my local teachers organization at our university (allows students to play in an amazing venue on an amazing instrument)
• Masterclasses put on by my local teachers organization each spring
• Students share holiday music selections each December at a local nursing home
• Competitive opportunities through the National Federation of Music Clubs and my state music teachers organization

Reconciling Lessons

Music Teachers Helper has been an invaluable resource in following through with my goal. Reconciling lessons after each day of teaching helps me to reinforce assignments that were given at the lesson (Music Teachers Helper can automatically email these notes to both parent and student). I always include something positive that the student did during the lesson or as a result of good practice during the week, and constructive comments for improvement. I use the private notes to help me prepare for the next week’s lesson and to remember to follow up about something that the student told me during the lesson (like an upcoming music concert, sporting event, or special occasion). Since this takes some time, I hope that the parents read it! I think most of them do and I was especially surprised when one parent emailed me asking where the notes were (I had been a little late in getting them out)!

Phone Conferences

Though I prefer the ease of communicating electronically, some issues are better discussed on the phone, especially delicate issues like a behavior problem or lack of adequate practice. Emails can be easily misconstrued. An old-fashioned phone conversation is often necessary. I have found out the hard way that it is better to deal with problems immediately and directly before they become irreparable. This year I have decided to conduct mid-year phone conferences. I plan to contact all my piano families to touch base on progress so far this year. This will be a nice personal touch and helps to establish healthy relationships with my clients.

“Live” Parent Conferences

For several years I have conducted year-end parent conferences where we sit down eyeball to eyeball and discuss progress as well as future goals for their child. Prior to the conference I send out a Student Report that includes questions for the student about what they enjoyed most and least, pieces they would like to perform, their favorite composer, etc. During the conference, the parent and I review the Student Report and I share my written evaluation with the parent. My main question for the parent is, “Are you satisfied with your child’s progress and if not, what can I do to help?”

We can perhaps look to schools for how they handle structured interaction with the parents. I view piano lessons as part of the child’s education and take my students’ progress or lack there-of very seriously. The conversation between parent and teacher is vital. How do you handle it when you have a student that is not making sufficient progress? Do you communicate with the parent immediately? Or do you hope that it is just a phase that the student is going through and it will pass. If it doesn’t pass, what do you do?

How do you communicate with the parent? One book that has helped me to understand this tenuous relationship is The Essential Conversation: What Parents and Teachers Can Learn from Each Other by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot. It is a beautifully written book that contains many examples of the dialogue between parents and teachers.

In the Suzuki philosophy of teaching music, the parent, student, teacher triangle is emphasized. The more we can do to strengthen this triangle, the better. Though not always easy or pleasant, it is necessary to view our communication and conversation in a collaborative spirit – as Bill Cosby so eloquently wrote, “Parents and teachers need to work in unison for the benefit of our children and our world.”