Thank you all for your patience during this time and support will notify you as soon as the recurring invoice issue is fixed. Please don’t hesitate to let us know if you encounter any problems. 800-517-2811, option 2 or support@studiohelper.com.

You may find it odd that this spring, I’ve actually decided to let go of my private lesson students and move solely to group lesson teaching. Yup — I’m downsizing.

It was a difficult decision because I’ve been teaching private lessons for longer and built a close relationships with my students and their families, but we recently welcomed home our second child through adoption, and it has become clear to me that I need to be at home more to meet the needs of my own children.

And so begins the awkward process of letting go of students.

I’ve let go of students a few times prior to this under different circumstances. In group classes, were the students lack of respect and commitment to practicing was hindering the progress of the group (after already issuing warnings, of course), it became necessary to remove students from the situation.  Here’s what I do when I have to let go of a student:

• I call the family. Even though it would be so much easier and less awkward to e-mail, I want to show them the respect and consideration of a phone call and give them the opportunity to ask questions and talk things through.
• I call other teachers ahead of time to find out who has openings, and provide a list of those teachers for my students in a follow-up e-mail.
• I phrase things positively. When I let go of students for not practicing/listening, I tell the parents, “I think another teacher would be more effective.”
• I allow for the possibility of letting go of students in my studio policy, when I  warn that students who repeatedly refuse to practice or become disrespectful in lessons may not be able to finish the year under my instruction.

If you have a student who is giving you a lot of grief and not meeting the expectations you outline on a regular basis, don’t feel as though you are beholden to the situation. It’s okay to let students go in order to maintain a healthy studio.

As always, Studio Helper is interested in your feedback. We strive to make Studio Helper as user friendly as possible and we want our customers happy. Please take a moment of your time and complete the survey by following the link below. Thank you for participating!

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Spring is here and the phone is ringing! As I respond to the many phone calls I have received about studying piano, I was inspired to do a little research on how to best handle the phone interview. Even though many of my first contacts come through email, I always make a phone call before scheduling a live interview. This spring, I have had more phone calls than emails, which is an unexpected trend. I wonder if it has to do with the many fraud emails that are now out there. Be wary of any emails that ask for your bank account information to transfer funds. I delete them immediately!

At any rate, Joanne Haroutounian in her book Fourth Finger on B-Flat recommends having a fact sheet of information close to your phone that includes pertinent information that you would like to share with prospective clients about your studio. This can include your tuition rates, lesson length, philosophy, available times, and offerings beyond lessons.

In addition, create a form with a place to write the name of the person calling, contact information, age, level, other instruments studied, extracurricular activities, and if a transfer student:  prior teacher, years studied, repertoire studied, and any festivals or exams completed. Joanne’s book comes with a comprehensive CD-Rom which includes a downloadable form for Telephone Talking Points that is very practical and user-friendly. Another question I always ask is, “Do you have a piano?” I require that students have an acoustic piano so this is a very important question. Remember that this is a two-way interview. Not only is the prospective student interviewing you, but you are interviewing them to see if it is the right fit for your studio.

Also, it is okay to screen your phone calls. I am fortunate right now to have a full studio with a waiting list, so I cannot always answer my phone immediately. I am most likely teaching! However, it is important to return phone calls promptly. Another reason I screen my calls is that I want control over when I speak so that I can give my undivided attention to the person calling. If I cannot respond the same day of a call, I do my best to respond within one or two days. Typically, I will call back and if I have to leave a message, I will let them know the best time to reach me. If an email has been the initial mode of contact, I will schedule a phone interview via email.

Scheduling phone interviews in advance helps to ensure that am in the right psychological frame of mind to conduct a successful discussion, one that will project a professional image. The following are simple phone etiquette tips to help in giving that very important first impression:

• Use a high quality phone.
• Shower, groom and dress professionally! You will feel better and project a more confident image.
• Stand up or at least sit up straight at a table or desk. This will make you sound more energetic.
• Smile! Believe it or not – smiling projects a positive sound image to the listener.
• Speak slowly and enunciate clearly.
• Avoid making extra noises, i.e., chewing gum, shuffling papers, etc.
• No background noises (no crying babies or barking dogs).

What is your experience with the phone interview? What are your best practices? Please share – I would love to hear additional ideas!

A few years back, I was invited to join my local chapter of the Illinois Federation of Music Clubs. At first, I was completely intimidated. Most of the members had been teaching piano, voice, and other instruments for many years — some even longer than I’ve been alive! I was relatively new to teaching, since it was something I did in addition to providing music therapy.

But it was nice to be part of a group, and I’ve become more and more involved since joining. I’ve learned so much about music education from my fellow members, and yesterday, I had the opportunity to give back by presenting on a topic that is close to my heart: teaching music to children with special needs.

It turns out that many of my fellow teachers are interested in taking on students with special challenges, and are hoping to put the information I shared to good use in the future.

At the end of my presentation, I left them with a list of important points to remember, which I’ll share with you below.

•  It’s normal to be intimidated or overwhelmed when working with children who have special needs, but remember to your comfort zone. And if you find that you’re not the right fit for a particular student, be honest with yourself and with the parents.

•  Children with special needs are usually capable of much more than others give them credit for. Many students with special needs actually have much more natural talent and ability to learn music than “typical” students. With these students, learning the music might not be the issue, but they might need help with attention to task, or coping with frustration, or learning how to practice at home.

•  Special needs may or may not be apparent to you as the teacher during lessons. I have several students with diagnoses and IEPS, and I hear from their parents about the kinds of struggles they have at home and at school, but I don’t see any of that at their lessons. With me, they are just like any other typical student.

•  Communicate with parents as much as possible.

•  Don’t let special needs hold a child back from participating in recitals, Festival, and other studio events. This year, I had two of my students with special needs earn their first gold cup.

•  Be prepared for your other students to ask questions. It’s likely that they are perfectly accepting, but just curious. I’ve found that my typical students are really interested in my music therapy work, and the kids I work with who have special needs, but almost always in a positive way. I look at this as a good opportunity to remind them that music really is for everyone and we all have our own ways of expressing ourselves and our talents.

•  Be willing to bend your rules and usual teaching habits to accommodate children with special needs. Flexibility is key.

My studio welcomes children of all ages and abilities, and having such a wide variety of students has only made me a better teacher. Do you have advice to share when it comes to teaching children with special needs?

It is wonderful to have the cold winter behind us and to look forward to warmer weather including a sense of rebirth in the air!

We have had a lot of compliments about how lightning fast Studio Helper is. That is wonderful news that at the end of the day, through the rough spots, the upgrade was a huge success! A big thank you to the programmers, developers who helped us through this transition.

Speaking of programmers, they will be working on many new features that have been requested through uservoice. The first to be implemented will be the way you are charged for students. You will now not be charged for former students. Once you move a student to the former status, all future events on the calendar will be deleted since they won’t be active.

This way it also solves your dilemma of keeping students names in your studio in case they come back again. If they decide to resume classes, you can move them back to active. Please note, that if you simply add them to the calendar that will also automatically make them active. Some of the fixes that have been applied include, event reminder emails, inventory counts, PDF reports and tasks on the overview page.

Don’t forget our Distributor Program, where you can earn money referring other studios to Studio Helper.

 Check out our blog. Interesting articles and announcements are on the blog for your review. It’s a great way to keep up with Studio Helper News. Also, like us on Facebook!

 You can submit an idea, or vote on features you would like to see implemented on Studio Helper by going to https://studiohelper.uservoice.com/. You can also email our support team with questions and concerns and also search our Studio Helper Knowledgebase, which contains many answers to frequently asked questions.

 We look forward to your comments and success stories, and will post your comments, stories and suggestions on the Studio Helper Facebook and Twitter page as well.

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-Technique: I try to include technique exercises that will enhance their recital piece. If a student is learning a sonatina filled with scales and trills, her warm-up exercises each week will emphasize building strength to play these scales and trills quickly, accurately, clearly and confidently.

-Slow Practice: Since we often work on a recital piece for a long period of time, my students have a tendency — towards the end — to become over-confident and sloppy. Their rhythm may get messy or they may get lazy with their articulation, or just practice it as quickly as possible when they’re practicing at home – sound familiar? In the final weeks right before a recital, I will tell students they are only allowed to play the piece painfully slowly. This slow practice allows them to clean up inaccuracies and also think through expression and articulation as they play. Since students often despise doing this, I usually have to send an e-mail to the parent and let them know of the slow practice assignment, asking them to assist me in making sure that the piece is only practiced slowly at home.

-Memorization: I truly believe my students know their pieces best if they have them memorized. I start the memorization process very early on in our practicing — having them memorize in sections as soon as they are comfortable with note accuracy. By memorizing in sections, if they have a memory slip-up during a performance, they are able to jump ahead to the next section rather then continuing to trip up on the same part as they struggle to move forward.

-Performance Practice: For students who are truly nervous about playing for an audience, I try to provide them with opportunities — or suggest opportunities at home — prior to the recital that will allow them to play their piece in a comfortable environment. I may invite a group of students who have lessons on the same day to play their recital pieces for one another in a group class setting. I may suggest that students play their piece for their friends when they come over for a play date, or for Grandma when she comes to visit.

-Recording: You don’t have to have fancy equipment to record your students playing. Thanks to my recent purchase of an iPhone, I often record my students playing and allow them to view themselves performing their song. It gives them a chance to sit back and hear what corrections need to be made, and where the piece might be lacking. We’re able to talk through things as we listen to the performance together, and can re-record after we’ve made adjustments, allowing them to see the immediate growth.

Our team continues to improve Studio Helper. The recent upgrade in March included a new framework and bigger servers. This will increase the loading times for the studios, which is great news! There are a few new features and fixes already in place.

New Features

• Birthday lists are now on the overview page.
• Studio Availability is now featured. It is located under the settings tab and then down to studio availability. You can now set the operating hours of your studio. Instructions are in blue so please read those prior to selecting the availability times.
• In the recurring invoice list, there is now a next button in the bottom right and a drop down arrow to filter how many invoices you want to see on a page.
• There is now a view or print receipt link on the right hand side of the screen while viewing an invoice.

Fixes

• Fixed Remote Registration Page
  
• Fixed Notes Section In Invoices
• Fixed The View In People List
• Fixed Calendar View
• Fixed PDF View
• Fixed Email Feature In Payments

We will continue to roll out new features with the most popular features being implemented first.

A few years ago I realized that our typical end-of-semester recitals were growing too long. We had usually performed both solo works as well as a small selection of ensemble pieces. As the students advanced both the solo and ensemble works became more complex and quite a bit longer. It was time for a change.

In my studio we have weekly private lessons in addition to group classes twice a month. The students are groups by level rather than age. It creates a diverse group of students often pairing very young students (age 4-5) through high school beginners. As the students advance there is room to move “up” a group but the age disparity remains throughout the program.

Many teachers have marveled at how kind my students are to one another. Be it two same-age students who are vying for an orchestra placement or two students who are years apart, they genuinely like each other. Could I break up the groups differently? Of course. But we live in a society in which education has become almost entirely age-centered and I think we have lost the benefits that working in mixed-age groups can bring.

As part of my quest for a new recital system, I decided to use the yearly group class schedule to help me make a change. Rather than meeting twice a month all year, I chose to let the difficult “short” months like December and February have just one group class. We then created an Ensemble Month in March leading up to a featured Ensemble Concert the first week of April. Group class meets every week for the month. Rehearsals are intense but we all know that there is a goal to be reached in April. For the month we focus on intonation, playing together, working effectively as a group, and learning some fun, new music. An amazing concert is the product and we all feel an incredible sense of accomplishment.

March is a tough month. Here in new England, the weather is not friendly and spring seems a long way off. Ensemble month has given the whole studio a motivational boost. By the time we give the concert in April the whole studio feels united. The parents have had the chance to watch rehearsals, and have informal conversations. The students know each other, have learned from each other, and show a deep respect for each other.

What felt like a “problem”, when I was faced with overly long concerts, has turned into a wonderful community-building opportunity.

What do you do in your studio that brings your students and families closer? Have you ever faced a scheduling or teaching dilemma that led to a creative solution? I look forward to hearing your stories.