Studio Management
Webinar Series: 07/12/2017 – Piano – Teaching Shared Lessons
In this webinar Neil talks about teaching Shared Lessons, including some teachers’ perceived challenges, as well as the many benefits. Topics include: Students Progressing at Different Rates in Shared Lessons (00:16) Understanding & Communicating Benefits of Shared Lessons (02:24) Parental Involvement in Lessons (10:49) Ideal…
Coaches not purchasing SHMs
How do I deal with this? I have a group of two boys in Foundation 2. I’ve asked the life coaches to purchase Accompaniment 1, several weeks in a row. Each week they come back and haven’t gotten it yet. Now they’ll soon be purchasing…
Pre-recital background music
Recital question: I would like to have some background music playing while people come in to the church before the recital starts. For those that have done this, what have you used? Where did you pull your sources? I was sort of thinking about an…
Claiming territory in lesson pace
What would you do if a parent doesn’t want you to teach new assignments to the group because her child doesn’t really practice, but the other student is very ready to move on and does practice? They prefer a group lesson. I feel that I…
Teacher playing at recitals
For the first time, I played at my students’ recital tonight. It was pretty fun, and I was surprised at the families’ reactions. I heard several moms whisper to their kids “your teacher’s going to play!”. I didn’t expect them to be excited. I demo…
Ideas for a global makeup lesson
Seeking workshop ideas for a global makeup lesson. What things have you tried? In a workshop that includes a range of levels: Writing lyrics to a common song (students don’t know which song). Write the number of syllables they’ll need for each sentence. They choose…
Combining disparate ages in a group
How well could it work to have two girls aged 7 and 11 in a small group? The 7-year-old just started a month ago and is doing great and learning as quickly as any 11-year-old would. The 11-year-old will likely start very soon. I cannot…
Recital pieces for early levels
If the majority of your students are in Foundation 1 and Foundation 2 and that’s basically all the songs they know, what do you have them play for recital so that there isn’t a ton of repetition? Especially because everyone wants to play the blues.…
Keeping young students engaged
I would love some ideas on keeping 6- and 7-year-olds engaged during a half hour lesson. I’m only teaching SM, but anything else to make the lesson times and learning the songs more fun for them would be appreciated. I don’t have a whole lot…
Curriculum Pacing in a School Setting – Neil Moore
I’ve been teaching Simply Music in an R-13 school the last three years and my students don’t get anywhere near the progress expected from the SM program. Most are getting though around 2 levels a year. This is obviously falling very short of the 4…