We hope your year is off to a great start. Here is the list of new features and bug fixes we released in January.

New Features

• On Money > Statements, we added the link “Click here to pay for invoice <invoice number>”
• We added UAE Dirhams (AED) to the list of currencies.
• Added a total sum at the bottom of the Family Accounts report.

Bug Fixes

• Teacher view in calendar was broken in Google Chrome. This is now fixed.
• Event Locations page only displayed 20 entries with no option to go to next page. The list wasn’t sorted either. This is now fixed.
• When creating an invoice, automatic billing from calendar option was taking to long to load. This is now fixed.
• Video tutorials did not work on Internet Explorer. This is now fixed.
• When creating new Invoices, the package select pull down menu did not work in Safari. This is now fixed.
• Details were missing when importing invoices in Quickbooks. This is now fixed.
• Permission denied appeared when a Teacher tried to create an Event Category even if permissions are correct. This is now fixed. Please re-save your permissions to reset.
• On the student cancellation page, the “Never mind” button did not work. This is now fixed.
• On the Location view of the calendar, lessons did not appear if they were at the same time and location. This is now fixed.
• When exporting contact lists, the notes section did not appear for teachers and parents. This is now fixed.

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?

In Measure One (chapter one), Victor, a struggling bass guitarist finds himself low on income with no upcoming performance engagements and decides that he better “practice.” Practicing scales, chords, and arpeggios, he quickly loses interest and gets sleepy. Suddenly, the teacher appears, dressed in a NASA-style blue jumpsuit with a motorcycle helmet on his head, carrying a skateboard in one hand and a burlap sack on his back. His name is Michael and he states that he is a teacher. When asked of what, he replies, “a teacher of nothing.” The discussion winds its way around to music, and Michael asks the student, “What is music?” After more dialogue, Michael finally says, “Music comes from the word mu which is the ancient word for mother; sic is an abbreviation of science. Therefore, music is the mother of all sciences.” “Music is important.”

Music teachers know that music is vitally important for many reasons. Music has the power to transform and change lives, as well as unite people of differenct cultures and backgrounds, not to mention all of the educational and health benefits that are now being discovered. While devouring the book, I realized that like the main character of the book, I too, especially in teaching, can get so stuck in the notes, the music theory and the technique, that I forget about the language. Our instruments are but a vehicle through which we express our ideas and feelings, like a pen is to a writer. Michael, the teacher in the book, guides Victor through a journey of self-discovery and spirituality through exploration of the ten elements of music. Of those ten elements, notes and technique take up only two. Of course, the notes must be learned, and the technique must be developed, but there is so much more. Here are the ten elements of music that are expertly discussed in the book:

1. Notes: melody, harmony, scales, modes, chords, etc.
2. Articulation/Duration
3. Technique
4. FEEL (groove or emotion) “You should never lose the groove in order to find a note.”
5. Dynamics
6. Rhythm, tempo
7. TONE
8. Phrasing
9. SPACE: rest, not playing, breath
10. LISTENING

This year in my teaching, I have made it a goal, even with beginners, to keep the larger picture in sight and to incorporate as many elements of music as I can into each lesson; to help students get beyond the notes to the true essence of the Music; to help them find their own unique voice with their instrument and to communicate their own story with the music.

At the end of the book, I found a profound quote that I will end with. “Strive not to practice only to make yourself better, but have the pure intention to make all musicians better – The spirit of Music herself will be on your side.”

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

Here is the list of updates we launched in December, 2011. We’re monitoring the votes on our feedback system and are looking into adding those with the most votes soon. If you haven’t voted the features you’d like to see implemented into Studio Helper, please do so now.

• The system now prevents duplicate invoices when a recurring invoice start date is later than the current date.
• We added Dominican Pesos to the currency list.
• On your studio website login form, students who typed incorrect passwords got redirected to the main Studio Helper Login page rather than your website. This is now fixed.
• The button “Save and add another” on the Receive Payment page did not work. This is now fixed.
• On the Permissions page, the checkbox always stayed checked on the question “Who should be able to delete students.” This now fixed.
• On the Invoice List, if sorted by Client, the alphabetical order was broken whenever an invoice was deleted. This is now fixed.

At the top of my list of to-do’s over the holiday break? Whipping my studio into shape for the new year. It was badly in need of reorganization after the end-of-semester frenzy — and I’m pretty sure mine isn’t the only one!

That, of course begs the question: is your studio ready for 2012?

I started to feel a little overwhelmed as I wrote down all the tasks involved, but actually tackling them one by one was surprisingly enjoyable. The very best and most satisfying part was crossing them off the list, which looked like this:

• Scan printed sheet music
• Enter expenses and file receipts
• Finish thank you notes to students
• Frame and hang student artwork
• Clear out my inbox
• Part with unneeded programs, fliers, etc.
• Find homes for stray items in my storage closet
• Back up my computer on my external hard drive
• Put away Christmas music
• Pack up Christmas decorations
• Reorganize music bookcase
• Put instruments and equipment back in their place

Once all of these items were crossed off the list, I did a deep cleaning (including dusting, windexing, sweeping, and vaccuuming) and then took a long nap!

My studio reopens today after being closed for over a week; the fact that it is organized will make the transition into a new semester easier for both my students and myself. No rifling through stacks of sheet music and unalphabetized file folders or searching for missing books…at least until it’s time for spring cleaning/reorganization.

What’s on YOUR to-do list for project “Studio Readying 2012″?

WHAT is it?

TAP provides a recognized national standard of musical success through an effectively sequenced course of study from beginner to advanced levels. First of all, a bit of recent history: last year The Royal Conservatory Program partnered with Carnegie Hall to create TAP. Prior to TAP, the program here in the United States was formerly called The National Music Certificate Program (NMCP) and before that, The Royal American Conservatory Examinations (RACE). Though it is fairly new here, the Royal Conservatory was founded in 1886 as the Toronto Conservatory of Music. Interestingly, its founder, Edward Fisher, was a young organist born in the U.S. The Conservatory offically opened in September of 1887 and is now celebrating its 125th year. The mission of The Royal Conservatory is “to develop human potential through music and the arts.” Notable alumni include Glenn Gould who graduated from the Conservatory with highest honors at age 12.

TAP encompasses four main areas: repertoire, technique, musicianship, and musical literacy. The program covers all instruments, voice, and the academic areas of theory, music history, and pedagogy. The Piano Syllabus consists of ten Grades with a theory assessment requirement beginning at Grade 5. Included also are elementary and intermediate piano pedagogy, as well as diplomas in Piano Performance and Piano Pedagogy.

WHEN is it?

Assessment sessions are offered twice per year in November/December and May/June. Winter assessments are now over, but registration for spring assessments opens on January 17 with a deadline of February 21. If you enroll a student in this first year of TAP, you can qualify as a Founding Teacher! Further information regarding location and dates can be found on the TAP website.

WHY do it?

Some states in the country (such as my own, Minnesota) already have well-established syllabus programs. So you may be asking, why do one more thing? For me, it is a way for my students to compare on a national level. There is a common language and recognition for high achievement. In fact, to celebrate its inaugural year, TAP is hosting a special event at Carnegie Hall on March 27, 2012: national top achievers will be selected to perform in a concert and radio broadcast with From the Top and host Christopher O’Riley. Furthermore, students may be able to receive high school credit for succesfully completing Grades 8 and beyond. Also, the adjudication is excellent. The adjudicating body is called the College of Examiners. A strict selection process, training, supervision, monitoring, quality control, and unbiased third party opinion ensures that a high standard of professionalism is maintained.

The supporting materials that are available through Frederick Harris are extremely high quality and include the Perspective Series as well as sight playing, ear training, theory, and history texts. By following the curriculum, a clear path for success is set. Additionally, as a teacher, I do not have to volunteer and I do not need to fill out registration forms. Parents can simply go online and do it themselves. Some teachers, however, do choose to fill out registration forms for their students. Personally, I like not having to do it! It is nice to have the administrative and online support that the website provides. Critiques and theory assessment results are available online and can be accessed and easily stored for future reference.

This is a very comprehensive program. My students really love it and it has been a pleasure to see the smiles on their faces, and the pride in their eyes after successfully completing an assessment! I have observed that those who participate grow into fine, well-rounded, independent musicians. It is a program that will motivate the student to reach his/her musical potential.

HOW to start?

It is very easy. Just go to the website: www.theachievementprogram.org and sign up to get your teacher number. Students can then begin enrolling for assessments with your teacher number. Jumpstart the new year and consider adding this program to your music studio!

For the past year I have been teaching with my computer in the studio. I use it to take care of the business of music teaching with Music Teachers Helper, to look up youtube videos with my students, and to listen to and play with the CD recordings I have downloaded into iTunes. Slowly I am becoming more comfortable with the blending of technology and more traditional music lessons. But having to turn to the computer and manipulate the keyboard often feels like an interruption to the flow of the lesson.

My excitement about the iPad stems from the fluid way that I have been using it during lessons. The iPad is small and can easily rest on my solid, black music stand. It requires touching rather than a keyboard. And, most of all, the kids LOVE it. It’s pretty and it’s fun. The apps feel like games even when they are covering challenging concepts.

What are my favorite apps so far?

Cleartune chromatic tuner- this is an easy to use, quick to respond, tuner. As sensitive as my old Korg tuner and incredibly cheap through the app store. We begin every lesson with a quick tune and some intonation exercises.

Do you have a favorite tuner? What are the characteristics you look for?

Note Squish- A funny, animal filled note reading game. A note will appear on the staff and below small moles will appear with letter names. You have to tap the correct mole to move to the next screen. As you improve, bunnies begin to appear as well as the letter moles for extra points and difficulty. This game is a HUGE hit with my students.

Rhythm in Reach- this is a fun rhythm touch game with nine levels in 4 different meters including 6/8 time counted both in 6 and in 2. Each level has an option to repeat a rhythm as many times as you would like and to see more rhythms of the same level before taking the “test”. Each attempt gives feedback on any mistakes and a % score after completing the exercise. A metronome counts down before each exercise and can be set to slow, medium, or fast.

Metronome- There are many metronomes in the app store. I find that the internal speaker for the iPad is fairly loud which is key to successful use. I have recently downloaded two different metronome apps. One is very simple and offers only 2/4, 3/4 or 4/4 options and another which has many features and is more like a “Dr Beat”. Which metronome app do you like and why?

Dice 3D- Of course we could just throw a die to roll for repetitions but what fun is that? In this app, the kids can choose which shape, number of sides, and color die they use. You can add additional dice for multi-player games. Just shake the iPad and the dice will roll and land.

Make Dice- On this dice app you can “write” on each side. I use it to write review pieces, parts of the lesson, activities, or specific ideas to think of while playing a piece. It’s simple and easy to use. Once again, a fun way to put “chance” in charge and have some fun. Just shake the iPad and the die will tell you what to do.

Key Signature Quiz- This is a great game for students to challenge themselves on major and minor keys. It can be set for major, minor or both keys. Choose sharps, flats or both and set a time limit of none, 5 seconds or 10 seconds. This is great for students preparing for auditions or theory tests and working through the circle of fifths.

iRecorder- This voice recorder is one of many available from the app store. I have enjoyed using the built in audio recorder on the iphone for several years now. This app   is even simpler, records in fairly high quality even without an external microphone, syncs over wifi and through itunes, and can be easily emailed to students right after making a recording. I LOVE this app!

My Note Games- This is my newest app. The app is free but it has several games that can be bought in-app. I splurged at bought all four games as a bundle for $5.00. Play-A-Day, Tap that Note!, Pay that Note!, and Play-A-Carol. A colorful large staff introduces notes one at a time and the app can be set to “hear” you instrument. In my case, the flute. It then goes through 18 levels giving the students gold medals for each level completed. It is very satisfying for the young students and interesting sight-reading for the older ones up to a beginner-intermediate level. The game is colorful, easy to read, has a large staff, and gives excellent positive feedback for independent practice. My students were sad to stop playing and work on other things during lessons this week!

This is by no means a comprehensive list of music teaching apps for iPhone and iPad. I would love to hear what games you have come across in your teaching. I see this article as the beginning of a series. I plan to use the iPad daily in my teaching and have already seen the difference in sight reading with those students who have tried the games in daily practice at home. Keep an eye out for more updates as I try new apps and have some kid-tested results and reviews. Enjoy!

The Internet makes it simple to keep customers up-to-date on everything happening in your studio–events, continuing education, performance opportunities.  Using the Internet to frequently communicate information lets customers know that you are an active and involved teacher.

E-mail Newsletters

Perhaps the most obvious and easiest way to update clients about your studio is to send them an e-mail.  I have recently started using a service called MailChimp that allows me to design a quick newsletter template.  I try to send out these newsletter updates twice a month, and include a paragraph or two on such topics as practicing tips, upcoming performance opportunities, or links to musical events in the community.  The ability to design a more colorful template and insert pictures makes these newsletters professional and attractive and I love the way it presents information to my clients in an organized way.   I also have found that sending a newsletter directly to the inbox of a parent  rather than sending it home with a student is a better way to make sure this information gets into the parents hands!

Blogs

As I said in last month’s post, a blog is a simple and free way to advertise your business.  More than a marketing tool, it is also a great way to communicate information to current clients and expand on the snippets of information you’re sending out in your newsletter.  For example, your newsletter might tell your clients that you attended a conference and what workshops you took part in; but your blog can include a more detailed description of information you learned during these presentations.  Or you may expand on additional events in your community and maintain some sort of online directory.  I have found that using my blog to encourage my piano students to attend symphonies, concerts, and musical theatre productions has helped make music relevant in their lives, ensuring a longer future for them in piano lessons at mys tudio!

Facebook

Facebook is yet another way to keep in touch with your clients.  I use it to remind parents of upcoming recitals, schedule changes, and other calendar events at the studio.  Linking blog posts and copies of your newsletter onto your wall is also another way to make sure the information is getting into the hands of your parents.  One of the other great things about Facebook is it allows your clients to communicate with you in little ways.  After a recital last week, I had several parents post on my studio facebook’s wall about how much they enjoyed the recital.  One parent even posted a picture of her daughter and me playing a duet from the recital.  I also use Facebook as a way to post links to other articles about information I find relevant and important for families of piano students.  If I read an article in a publication about the correlation of music lessons and higher SAT scores, I’m quick to post the link to my studio’s wall.  Reminding clients of the benefits of music lesson is one more way to guarantee that music lessons remain a priority in their lives!