QUICK NOTE: I’m releasing a podcast episode and my very first YouTube video THIS WEEK where I’ll be talking through 10 questions that every music teacher should ask when it comes to teaching lessons. I’ll be covering that same information in this blog post, so feel free to read on, or subscribe to the YouTube channel or podcast if you prefer!
Last week I posted about knowing your teaching strengths, and it really comes down to self-awareness as a music instructor. If you haven’t already, go to chwstudios.com/teachers, and sign up so that you can get access to a free pdf that will help you think through your strengths and blind spots. To continue with that idea this week, I’ve put together 10 questions you can ask yourself that will help you communicate better with your students and teach the best possible music lessons!
1. Are you working on starting your own home studio? What is your biggest hangup so far?
- I have had a long and sometimes incredibly tough journey from when I first started teaching from home until today. The great new for YOU is that I have done a lot of the thinking for you and I want to share what I’ve learned with you! I would love to hear about your biggest obstacles, either to starting from scratch, or an ongoing problem, so that I can help.
2. Do you have clear Policies and payments? Do you have them printed out, ready to hand to new students, with monthly payments and a yearly schedule?
- A great benefit of teaching at a local music lesson studio is that they generally have policies laid out for you, and it’s as simple as following them. If you’re teaching from your home studio, that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook for this! I will be sharing my policies and how I go about communicating them to students and parents in an upcoming post. Bottom line: having them printed out for that first lesson looks and feels way more professional.
3. Are you constantly improving your teaching space? Outside look?
- If you have your own home studio, are you keeping it clean? Does your home look inviting from the outside? This is something that I have to stay on top of week in and week out, but with a simple checklist and some planning ahead, this can be a really simple daily task.
4. Are you struggling with finding more students?
- I have tried websites, Facebook ads, Craigslist, and you might be surprised at what has worked best for me when looking for new students!
5. What do you love about teaching music lessons?
- Maybe you’ve been teaching for years and you know the answer immediately. I love seeing my students working through a new part in a song and finally getting it after weeks of practice! I also love that each student is different and unique - having to think differently during each lesson means I get to constantly grow as a musician.
- Maybe you JUST STARTED teaching lessons this week. If that’s true, pay really close attention to questions 5, 6, and 7 and let me know how I can help.
6. What’s the hardest part about teaching music lessons?
- I’m going to leave this one open-ended so that you can think through it and give me some feedback! Think about the most recent time you were frustrated during a lesson and let me know.
7. How do you deal with tough students or students that don’t listen?
-I’ve heard this question from other music instructors more than anything else. Stay tuned for a future post, and see the next question to start on something that will help you.
8. Have you spent time teaching yourself to think like a student?
-One quick tip on this: things that are SO EASY for us as teachers now were once difficult, or at the very least, brand new concepts for us to think through. Try as much as you can to train yourself to get into the mind of your students by thinking back to when you first learned whatever it is that you’re teaching.
9. What are your teaching strengths? What about blind spots? Are there words or phrases you’re using that are confusing to your students, or that you haven’t explained and need to explain?
- Again, check out my last blog post and sign up to receive a free PDF that will help you think through these and even write them out if that’s helpful for you.
10. Are you using books, materials you’ve created, teach mostly by ear, etc.? Do you keep track of what each student is working on?
Ok, that’s a lot to chew on, and based on your feedback, I’ll be addressing each of those topics over the next few months. Again, if you haven’t subscribed already, go to chwstudios.com/teachers and sign up to receive updates on new blog posts, podcasts, and videos!
