Studio Management
Unfolding The Relationship Conversation
One thing I’ve learned from experience, is that when you take the time to educate the parents and the kids on how this Program works from the very beginning, then life is a whole lot easier. This week, I started two brothers, 8 and 9.…
Relationship Conversation
You all know the emphasis put on the Relationship Conversation in your initial training and in many conversations about teaching and working with coaches and students. I’d like to say a little more about it and the benefits of a weekly conversation about it. In…
Student Playing Too Fast
I have two individual cases where my students (both around 9 years old) want to merely “execute” the song – and as fast as possible! I have played to them with a lot of love, with the appropriate speed that the song requires, but once…
Playing Speed
There are songs we can play without thinking, at a fast tempo. Should we also still be able to play them slowly? Some of my students are in the situation where they can play the former (fast) but not the latter (slowly). I suggested that they…
Getting Students to Play More Slowly
I have a couple students that I know tend to play through their simpler songs asfastastheycan. I assume that this isn’t the best to help them develop playing with feeling, etc., and the one girl has trouble playing the song itself when she slows down.…
Using The Audio Recording During The Lesson
How do you all use the audio recordings in weekly lessons? Can you give me some ideas? I set aside some lesson time. Go to the website and open the audio recordings. Explain that most students take a while to get the hang of using…
Getting Students To Use The Videos
I have read in the past some teachers were having trouble getting their students to watch the video. Other students will routinely say that they are watching the video, but actually they are fibbing. Not learning how to use the videos properly, or not using…
Managing Students Who Don’t Follow Instructions
I have an adult student who has been SO keen and enthusiastic and constantly comes back saying that he has gone further into the video, and taught himself, pieces we have not covered yet. I have explained a few times that this is not acceptable.…
Students Processing and/or Resisting our Approach to Reading
I have an adult male student, 35, in the middle of Level 3 (Shared Lesson with one other adult), more than half way through Accompaniment 1, and with many Variations and Arrangements on his Playlist, who has a very hard time keeping his Playlist alive.…
Students Not Wanting to Learn Blues
I have a student named Karen that is 63 and is in a group with 2 other women. All of them have prior experience, and things are going well. We are in the middle of level 2 and have had 12 lessons. Karen however, from…