Building a Strong Parent-Base

I believe that in order for my students to be successful, and in order for them to become long-term students, the most important thing I can do is have a strong and broad base of parents. The parents must be willing to invest a great deal of time into getting them to lessons and practicing with them at home. Lessons of any sort are a commitment not just on the part of the child, but on the part of a parent, too. The happier your parents are, the more likely you are to develop a long-lasting relationship with the student. Parents are integral to the success of your studio.

Here’s a few ideas to ensure that you have a strong group of families that you are working with at your studio:

• Charge enough. This may sound strange, but if you are only charging a very small amount for your lessons, then you are in danger of giving the impression that what you are teaching their children is not valuable. When I was in college I taught piano lessons for just $9/half hour lesson. It was not unusal for parents to not bring their children to lessons — after all, it was just a $9 loss if they didn’t feel like driving their kid to lessons that evening. Now that I charge more than twice that amount, I believe my parents place a higher value on the lessons, and make sure that getting their kids to lessons is a priority.
• Make sure your parents are part of your child’s practice at home. Parents may think that their older child — perhaps a 10 or 11-year old in music lessons, doesn’t need supervision when playing. But if a parent is in the living room with the television blaring during a child’s practice, a child — no matter how old — is more likely to “practice” the things he is good at and enjoys playing instead of the new assignments his teacher has given him. He also may rush through his practice since he feels as though he’s missing out on the show his Dad’s watching in the other room! Supervising a practice may be as simple as reading a book in the piano room during the child’s practice so that they can keep the student on track. For a younger child, it may mean sitting next to them on the bench and guiding and directing them. Either way — a parent needs to be involved.
• Invite parents to attend lessons. This doesn’t mean your parents need to come and listen to the entirety of their child’s lesson every single week, but perhaps you could invite them to always attend the last five minutes of a class, or come to one entire lesson a month. This gives the child a sense of accountability to someone other than you.
• Have parents sign off on the child’s home practices. This encourages accountability all around — a child is accountable to a parent, who is in turn, accountable to you as the teacher. It may be necessary to be very specific with parents. Don’t just have them sign off on the entire practice, but have them initial next to each assignment that was given on the dates it was practiced. This way, parents will hopefully double check that their child made it through technique exercises and all repertoire instead of skipping the things he doesn’t enjoy.
• Communicate your homework assignments and expectations clearly. I have begun e-mailing all the assignments to the parents of my students in the hours following their lesson. This allows me to give specific practice instructions to the parents, and not just the students.
• Provide performances — and not just for the benefit of your students. Acknowledge that your parents are part of your students success, too.  Most students wouldn’t practice faithfully without their parents encouragement, and would have no way of getting to lessons from week to week or paying for their lessons if it weren’t for their parents. When parents are able to hear their children play, it is rewarding for them, too.