Our interview with Nancy Hibdon, Veritas Music & Learning Center of USA SH: Tell us about your studio. My husband and I created the Veritas Music & Learning Center to include private music lessons as well as academic classes and tutoring. I also have an elementary education degree, so we have a blending of music as well as academics. We opened on May 1, 2010. Most of...
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You can pick out the family within a few minutes of conversation — the kind who tells you they’re looking to “give piano/violin/dance/etc. a try”. They don’t give the impression of being overly-committed, and within a few months — when repertoire starts to become more challenging or when the exciting “newness” wears off, the student lose interests and asks to quit, which his parents are all to ready to let him do. You cringe when this happens, thinking of the spot he has taken up while students on your wait list have likely found other teachers in the meantime.
SH: Tell us about your studio. Jim Beaver’s School of Music, located in beautiful Hendersonville, NC offers private and group classes for: Classic/Acoustic/Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, Piano, Voice, Percussion and Drum Set, Ukulele, Dulcimer, Flute, Recorder, and strings instrument repair and maintenance. www.jimbeavermusic.com SH: What is your experience, and the style you teach? Our studio is staffed with instructors from all walks of musical life, from classically trained academics to weekend warriors. Our...
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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.
With 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: