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Studio Booking Software Articles

29 Aug

Review: Jazz Standards for Female Singers

by michellep
in Performance
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This is a review for Hal Leonard’s “Vocal Pro” Series “Jazz Standards for Female Singers, Volume 2.” First of all, I just love this book! I am even considering making it a required purchase for all incoming voice students this year. The songs are classic and fun. They are challenging, as the notes move up and down a lot, and quite unexpectedly, but at the same time, the keys are all friendly enough for the beginning singer. With that in mind, I will say the only downside is that these keys are not good for soprano singers. If your students are most comfortable in a high register, you may want to consider the male keys. 

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28 Aug

Weekend Hours: a “Do” or a “Don’t”?

by admin
in Program Development
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Since I first opened my studio back in 2007, I had a “no weekends” policy. I’ve had families ask about Saturday and Sunday lessons and music therapy sessions, but I always stood firm that I would limit my work week to 5 days. Until now.

The thing is, Sunday has never really served as a day of rest for me. After choir practice and church in the morning, I usually come home and work on a songwriting/recording project or prepare lesson and session materials, which works out nicely since my husband is usually busy watching football anyway. And on most Sundays, I head back to church in the late afternoon to teach my early childhood music class. So even though my studio was never open for business on this day in the past, I still was always in work mode.

This summer as I was planning my studio schedule, I realized that something would have to give. With a full load of students and no plans to downsize, my choices were to either work well into the night — 8:30 pm on most evenings — or open up a couple hours on Sundays (Saturdays will always be off the table).

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23 Aug

A New Year

by admin
in Uncategorized
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By Meridith Johnson The days becoming noticeably shorter seems to ring in a new season with yellow school busses packed with children in every seat, excited to head back to school.  Every fall seems to welcome new beginnings as students return to sports, school and activities with a blank page of possibilities ahead this year. Music lessons beginning again for our students this fall also carries with...

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21 Aug

Igniting the Spark

by admin
in Performance, Program Development
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Spark

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. – William Arthur Ward

As summer draws to a close, I reflect on my studio goals for the coming year. September always provides an opportunity to begin anew! This year, I will strive to empower students to be accountable for their own learning. As the above quote states, the most effective teaching is that which inspires the learner. I would like to inspire my students to learn, not for me or for their parents, but for themselves. A tall order. For the students that already have a passion for music, this is easy. My job is simply to keep that flame glowing by assigning appropriate repertoire and challenges. For others, however, it can be difficult to ignite that spark.

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09 Aug

Affordable Marketing in Your Community

by cconrad
in Marketing
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marketingWith families returning home from summer vacations and gearing up-for-back-to-school, it’s important that your studio’s name and information is out in the community so that you have new students enrolling this fall. Even if you don’t have a huge advertising budget, there are creative ways to become a community presence that will cost you little to nothing.

Here’s a few affordable — and even free — ideas from my experience and observations of other successful studios in my community:

  • Sample Classes – I teach group piano classes, so during the first week of August, I set up shop at the community room of my local library and offer sample classes. I have my studio policy and registration forms to send home with families and provide a special discount offer for families who enroll within a week of attending a sample class. A friend of mine who teaches Music Together classes does her sample classes at the local Children’s Museum, who advertise them for her free of charge, since they enjoy having a musical activity to offer museum visitors.
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