Claiming Territory

Showing 21 - 30 of 159 results in Claiming Territory

Struggles with Alma Mater Blues

I need suggestions about an 11-year-old girl in a shared lesson with another 11-year-old. They both benefit from the shared setting (both were private until 2 months ago). She practices more since being in the shared situation, and the other student (a boy) is learning…

Motivating students to practice entire playlist

I am looking for any and all tips, input, ideas, and strategies to help motivate students to play piano regularly, and incorporate their entire playlist, not just their favorite songs. I have exhausted all I can think of and have continual difficulty with several students…

Unmotivated students

I have a group of young girls. Their practice is sporadic, and two of them haven’t watched videos in four weeks or more. The third one moans and groans with her mother about practicing. One mom told me yesterday at the lesson, “She only practiced…

SHMs – help or hindrance?

I am a very new SM teacher and have not started to advertise in earnest yet. However, I started teaching one adult student who was going incredibly well, but she promptly dropped out after the first month of lessons were over (I charge on a…

Student refuses to watch SHM videos

I have a student that I’ve been teaching for just over 3 months. She practices regularly, but refuses to watch the videos. Her mom will not enforce this. It’s definitely slowing her down by not watching them, but she is still making good progress. How…

Student canceling lesson with short notice

I wanted to share a difficult conversation success I had recently: a teenage student attempted to cancel a lesson 30 minutes prior, by saying they were sick. To me, this felt like a classic case of claiming territory, making it necessary for me to let…

Benefit of requirement-based studio

I just had to let go of a 7-year-old student who was over-committed and not making time to practice. The mom and I are still friends and ended on good terms. I woke up this morning to an email from mom asking if she could…

Webinar Series: 11/29/2017 – Piano – How Unfulfilled Expectations Impact Your Studio & Your Results

In this webinar Neil talks about the design of upset, what that means specifically and how to manage, and more importantly, prevent upset from occurring. This includes developing an understanding of some underlying dynamics in your relationships with students and coaches with regard to expectations.…