Category: Professional Development

On Travel Teaching, Part One

6/23/2019

Around 14 years ago, when I moved to my current home, I was excited to start my own studio after years of teaching at a large music academy. We designed our new house to have a dedicated music room just off the entryway, which would serve as a waiting area for parents and siblings. It was an ideal set-up for a home studio.

However, after a year of advertising and working to build my business, I had a whopping 7 students. A couple of parents remarked that they really liked my studio set-up and my teaching style, but the drive to my home was just too far. Would I be willing to come to their home for lessons?

And so, I embarked on my journey as a part-time travelling piano teacher.

Today, my studio is split fairly evenly between students that come to my home for lessons and students that I travel to. After many years of travel teaching, I have organized my travel schedule to be as efficient as possible, and I have created a policy that works well for me and the families I teach.

While travel teaching has worked well for me, it is not for everyone. There are definite advantages and disadvantages to travelling for lessons. Today I will be sharing my thoughts on the pros and cons of travel teaching.

Pros of travel teaching:

No need for a dedicated studio space. This is great for teachers that don’t have the room to teach at home, or who live in an apartment or other residence that wouldn’t be conducive to teaching from home. Travel teaching is also a good alternative to teaching at a music school, since you can still be your own boss, set your own schedule, and run your business exactly the way you want it.
Travel teaching can help create a better home/work balance. Even if you do have the room to teach from home, travel teaching can help you to separate your home life and your work life. No students coming in and out of your home; no need to keep your house tidy or your pets out of the way on the days that you teach. It can also mean added privacy for your family, since they won’t be sharing your home in the evenings with piano students coming for lessons.
Many families appreciate the convenience of a travel teacher. This was the primary reason I started travel teaching--there is a big demand for teachers who are willing to drive to students’ homes where I live. It can be a way to set your studio apart if you are in an area with lots of other teachers. And many parents are willing to pay a premium for the convenience a travelling teacher can offer.
You get to see each student’s home set-up. This has been the most eye-opening part of travel teaching for me--I get to see the instrument a student is practicing on, where it is located in the home, and what the environment is typically like when students are practicing during the week. This makes it easy to alert a parent if the piano needs tuning, or if the student needs a higher piano bench or a piano lamp so they can see their music better.

Cons of travel teaching:

Additional travel time means less students--and potentially less income. Unfortunately, even if your students live in the same neighborhood, you will need to account for additional time between lessons to pack up your materials and drive to the next house. So you probably won’t be able to see as many students in a day of travel teaching as you would at a studio.
Cost of gas and wear and tear on your car. You’ll need reliable transportation, and you’ll need to factor in the cost of travel expenses if you are considering travel teaching.
Carrying materials with you. Do you use pencils, markers, stickers, games, and/or supplemental music and worksheets in your lessons? Then you’ll need to find a way to take those with you if you travel teach.
Sometimes less-than-ideal set-up for lessons at a student’s home. It can be frustrating to arrive for lessons and find that little brother is watching television VERY LOUDLY in the next room, or that mom is cooking dinner and your student is distracted by the smell. Many of these distractions can be minimized (I’ll be sharing tips on this in my next blog post), but sometimes you just have to expect the unexpected when you are travel teaching. I’ve encountered everything from overly friendly dogs to younger siblings streaking through the house in their birthday suits. There is never a dull moment when you travel teach!

In my next blog post, I will be sharing tips I have learned from my own experiences to make travel teaching a pleasant experience for both you and your students' families.

What do you think? Do you currently travel teach? Are you considering adding this option to your schedule for the fall? I would love to hear from you in the comments!

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My Favorite Teaching Tools: Part Three

6/5/2019

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In my last two posts about my favorite teaching tools (HERE and HERE), I shared a couple of inexpensive teaching tools that I find myself using over and over with my students.

The teaching tool I will be sharing today was an investment...but I feel it has been worth every penny--and, don't forget: teaching tools are tax deductible!

Today's teaching tool is...the iPad!

I purchased a refurbished iPad several years ago and it has changed the way I teach. As a part-time travel teacher, my iPad provides me with maximum portability for my music and games, so I no longer need to carry notebooks full of materials to my travel lessons. Incorporating technology into my lessons has also engaged my students in a different way and made our lessons more fun.

(A note: many of these activities can also be done with a phone or tablet. However, I will be focusing on the iPad, since that is what I currently use with my students and what I have found that most of my students have access to at home. If you use an alternate device for any of these activities, please feel free to chime in and let us know what you use in the comments!)

Here are a few of the ways I use my iPad in piano lessons:

1. Apps, apps, and more apps!

For the most part, apps have replaced written theory books for my students. (Shocking, I know!) While I still supplement with composition activities and the occasional theory worksheet, I find that there is an iPad app for just about everything I want to cover theory-wise with my students. Note naming, rhythm drills, identifying key signatures and intervals, sight-reading, ear training...you can find apps for all of these, and more!

I find using apps makes it easy to choose an appropriate activity for a student on the fly during our lessons. Is a student having trouble counting dotted quarter note rhythms? I pull up "Rhythm Lab" and we do some drills. Are we learning intervals and need practice telling the difference between a fifth and a sixth? "Tenuto" has a great interval recognition exercise. Does a student need a refresher on the note names in the bass clef? "Note Rush" is a favorite app for this with my students.

Since many of my students (or their parents) have iPads at home, it also works well to have my students purchase their own apps to use at home. And, I have found that most of my students are more likely to want to practice with an app than to do a written theory assignment.

2. Watching YouTube videos.

The iPad is the perfect size for watching videos since it has a larger screen and fits nicely on the music rack of the piano. YouTube offers a wealth of material for activities such as:

Comparing performances of repertoire pieces. This is a great opportunity to teach your students about musical interpretation and to point out the range of quality you will find in recordings on YouTube.
Listening to songs for ear training. YouTube is a great place to look for recordings of your students' favorite pop songs for ear training purposes. You can do everything from analyzing the form and identifying the time signature of a song, to identifying the key and playing the melody by ear. Look for videos marked "official" or those offered on a "Vevo" channel to be sure you are getting a version of a song in the original key.
Playing along with recordings of duet pieces. Pro tip: you can slow down the speed of a video in the YouTube app by clicking on the three dots in the corner of the screen and selecting "playback speed." This is great for play-along practice!
Watching video tutorials for rote pieces. From computer-generated videos using software like Synthesia and Jellynote, to tutorials created by live people using overhead cameras--there is a wealth of tutorial materials on YouTube. If you choose material carefully and use it in moderation, these materials can definitely enhance piano lessons and get your students excited about learning piano in a different way. So don't be afraid to explore these options with your students!

3. Playing backing tracks.

Backing tracks are so much fun and can add a new dimension to your lessons! I wrote a three-part series on backing tracks and how I use them with my students: Part One, Part Two, Part Three.

In a nutshell, the iPad makes it super-easy to access and play backing tracks in your lessons. I store my backing tracks in Google Drive, then access them via my iPad and play them by connecting to a wireless Bluetooth speaker in my studio. I also use the app Audiostretch to slow down backing tracks as needed.

4. Storing digital sheet music.

Thanks to the iPad (and similar tablets) it is possible to digitize your sheet music collection and take it with you! This is so convenient for travel teachers, or for those of us who accompany or play gigs. Carrying one iPad or tablet is much easier (and lighter!) than lugging 10 or 15 large books around!

Full disclosure: I recently upgraded from my 9.5 inch iPad to a 12.3 inch Microsoft Surface Pro just for the purpose of storing and playing my digital sheet music for my own use. The larger screen size, coupled with the fact that the Surface Pro doubles as a laptop and is compatible with the Microsoft products I use on my PC, convinced me to take the plunge. So, while I still use my iPad in lessons with my students, I now use my Surface Pro, the MobileSheets app, and a PageFlip bluetooth pedal for my own personal use when I accompany or play gigs.

What do you think? Do you use an iPad, tablet, or other device in your lessons? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments!

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My Favorite Teaching Tools: Part Two

4/19/2019

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Click HERE to read "My Favorite Teaching Tools: Part One."

Today I am sharing another inexpensive teaching tool that I find myself using again and again with my students--mini erasers! I found my lucky cat Iwako puzzle erasers (pictured on the left) on Amazon, but any small eraser will work. It just needs to be a good size to fit on the piano keys. And cuteness is always a plus!

I have found these erasers to be helpful for a variety of activities--from theory, to technique, to practice skills. I have used these with my youngest students, and even my middle- and high school students love them. So, without further ado, here are a few ways you can use these erasers with your students!

Mini erasers are the perfect size for identifying patterns on the keyboard. Place them on the piano keys to practice:

Identifying key names, landmark notes, and high or low notes
Finding half steps and whole steps
Building intervals
Building major and minor scales and chords
Inversions of chords

Erasers make working on technique fun! Try the following technique activities with your students:

Imagine making a “house” for the eraser to work on a rounded hand shape.
“Ride” the eraser across the keys on the back of the hand to play a smooth legato.
Bounce the eraser off the hand when playing staccato notes.
Roll the eraser forward off the front of the hand when lifting the wrist to finish a phrase.

Erasers make great practice buddies! These tiny tools can be used to help students practice in a variety of ways. For example:

Line up the erasers on one side of the music. Each time your student plays a line correctly, they can move the eraser to the other side of the music.
As a student plays a piece, have the erasers "act out" the correct articulation, dynamics, and/or tempo for the piece.
Have the eraser come to “investigate” when a problem arises as a student is playing a piece (wrong notes, poor hand position, etc). Ask students if they know what their tiny practice buddy spotted!
Use the puzzle erasers to redirect students who have trouble listening and following directions. Line up 3 erasers on the piano at the start of the lesson. Each time a student shows that they aren’t listening and following directions, remove one eraser. At the end of the lesson, offer a reward for the erasers that are left on the piano.

What do you think? Do you use puzzle erasers with your students? What are your favorite ways to use them in your lessons? I would love to hear your ideas in the comments!

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On Travel Teaching, Part One

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