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Performance

23 Nov

Giving Thanks to Your Customers

by admin
in Performance, Policies and Procedures, Program Development
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“Gratitude is the best attitude.” ~Author Unknown

The holiday season is a time for giving thanks. Do your customers really know how much you appreciate their business? What do you do to express your gratitude? In order to develop good customer service and build your brand, recognizing your clients for their loyalty goes a long way. Most businesses have some kind of special event, sale or special recognition for their customers. We, as studio business owners, are no different. When I first considered this, I asked myself the question and thought that I wasn’t doing much, but after some reflection, realized that I already do quite a bit – not to say that I can’t do more! There is always room for improvement!

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09 Nov

Holidays in the Studio: Halloween

by cconrad
in Marketing, Performance
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The holidays are the perfect time to utilize fun and original ideas and enhance performances, lessons and even marketing. Halloween is a popular, kid-friendly holiday that lends itself to some exciting opportunities for the studio. Performances This year my collaborative fall recital with other teachers in my local association fell three days before Halloween. The students that performed from my studio played a variety of Halloween-themed pieces, with a duet of Grieg's...

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21 Aug

Self-help Pedagogy: Part 3

by admin
in Performance, Program Development
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In the last of this three-part series, I will review ideas from Marienne Uszler’s book, That’s a Good Question…How to Teach by Asking Questions. To begin, start by examining your own teaching either by audio or video recording yourself, or by simply taking notes and being aware of how you interact with students by asking questions. Do you do all of the talking? Do you allow time for the student to answer? Do you listen to the student’s answer? What types of questions do you employ, closed or open?

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20 Jul

Self-help Pedagogy: Part 2

by admin
in Performance, Policies and Procedures, Program Development
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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 Teaching Time.

Like last month’s blog on the use of repetition in practice (Self-help Pedagogy: Part 1), the first step is to determine how you use lesson time by video or audio recording yourself teaching a variety of different lessons. Then, review the recordings and make a timeline noting how much time was spent on each activity.

In order to plan an effective music lesson for the Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced leves, Uszler suggests that the following six elements must be present:

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22 Jun

Self-help Pedagogy: Part 1

by admin
in Performance, Policies and Procedures, Program Development
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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 Flies…How to Make the Best Use of Teaching Time and That’s a Good Question…How to Teach by Asking Questions. All three books are very practical and give specific teaching techniques, helpful hints and references for further research. They are short on words and length, but long on ideas and concepts.

Repetition of the same thought or physical action develops into a habit which, when repeated frequently enough, becomes an automatic reflex. – Norman Vincent Peale

Play it Again, Sam… is particularly appropriate for right now in my studio as students are learning new repetoire for the summer. Learning a new piece requires so much repetition. How many times do you have a student repeat a new idea in your studio? What types of repetition do you espouse? At first glance of Uszler’s book, I thought it might contain suggestions to make repetitions more fun using games and so forth. Well, not quite. This is not a quick fix – Uszler’s approach is holistic. It is about teaching concepts that will stick and developing independent learners capable of transferring skills.

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