Each year, I find myself re-evaluating my studio policy, tweaking it and adjusting it as a result of things that I have learned throughout the year. When younger siblings were hanging out during older siblings’ piano lessons and becoming disruptive, I added a new policy about having no siblings present during lessons. When parents were cancelling piano lessons [...]

Problem This year I am celebrating 10 years of being a music studio business owner. In 2002, I opened my studio and had 17 students within the first year. I now carry a load of about 40 private students. My dilemma is that I am completely full, teaching six days per week, but just a [...]

Last week I took an online training course to become a certified teacher of a new music program at my studio.  A great deal of time was spent on marketing, and teachers from all over weighed in and gave fantastic, orginal ideas that have helped them grow their studio effectively.  Here’s a few ideas I [...]

Are you an independent teacher? Do you have a small studio? Do you wonder how and when to change you hourly rate? Here are a few thoughts on determining a rate and scheduling increases that I use in my courses for teachers.

Time management is an essential component of managing a studio. In addition to managing and planning the details on the business end, many studio owners take an active role in the lesson and class planning. In this month’s blog, I will summarize points from Marienne Uszler’s book, Time Flies…How to Make the Best Use of [...]

Summer is such a great time to rest and read. For the next three months I will devote my blog to reviewing three small wonderful “self-help pedagogy” books written by Marienne Uszler that have really influenced my teaching. There are three books in the series: Play it again, Sam…What, Why, and When to Repeat, Time [...]

I used to panic when summer hit.  My students all assumed they had the summer off from piano lessons (as that was typical practice where I lived).  While a few students were still interested in taking lessons during the summer, the drastic drop in income always took some adjusting and required me to budget throughout [...]

Since I opened up my studio ten years ago, I have required all parents to attend a year-end parent/teacher conference. The conference is always scheduled the week after spring term ends. This year it will be the first week in June. Every parent is required to attend in order to register for lessons in the [...]

When I wrap up another year of lessons, I always like to send out a studio report to my current students, and post a link to it on my website and studio Facebook page for prospective students to see. I do this for many reasons. At the end of the year, some students are feeling [...]

April is an interesting month in my studio. My students’ spring breaks fall on different weeks throughout the month, so each week is a little lighter than usual. 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 [...]