The Teach Piano Today Podcast

Today we're exploring a question that Trevor and I receive almost daily... a question that weighs heavily on the minds of piano teachers and most likely plays a role in almost every piano teaching decision we make. What is the question? “How can I keep piano students from quitting?” On today's podcast we’ll tackle this question as we explore why kids quit and what we can do about it. Keep reading below and click on the podcast player at the bottom of the page to have a listen. So Why Do Piano Students Quit? Today's podcast guest is Karen King. Karen is a piano teacher who has recently completed her masters degree. The topic of her thesis was focused on why piano students drop out of lessons. She’s here today to share her research on this topic and to give us some valuable insights into how we can improve our ability to retain piano students long-term. Listen in as we discuss: The average amount of time kids spend in lessons before dropping out Surprising findings about parental involvement at home The key differences between piano students who continue and those who who quit How offering choices in repertoire can improve your student retention How piano teachers can create an environment conducive to long-term motivation Offering piano students a wide variety of repertoire choices can make a world of difference. And a great way to build a varied library of repertoire is with Teach Piano Today's PianoBookClub... where subscribers receive a new piano book every month for just $8. Click The Player Below To Listen

It’s tough to explain to piano students why they should care about fixing their flat-fingered playing position. But I know why I care about fixing it… Playing with flat fingers is unnecessarily hard and results in music that, quite simply put, doesn’t sound very good… which could very well result in piano students quitting lessons. But kids who play with flat fingers don’t necessarily care about a piano teacher’s retention rate. So, we are then presented with two challenges: How to fix flat fingers How to make kids care about fixing flat fingers In today’s post (and also the SUPER helpful posts we've included at the bottom) we’re going to attack both of these challenges. In doing so, we’ll help you eliminate one big, but often overlooked, reason kids quit piano lessons: It is too physically challenging to warrant the effort required to learn piano. How To Fix Your Piano Students' Flat Fingers To solve the flat-finger piano problem I've invited Dr. Chris Foley to join us on the Teach Piano Today Helpline. Dr. Foley is a Toronto-based pianist and teacher who spends much of his time training adjudicators for the Royal Conservatory of Music. Today's podcast is jam-packed with actionable advice including: Three things you want to correct before hands and fingers: Many of us jump straight to the hands when trying to correct flat fingers. But is this the best place to start? Maybe not! Flat fingers can be a symptom of other problems and if these aren't addressed first, you'll get nowhere. How to find a natural and rounded hand shape: After playing for eight hours straight Dr. Foley had a hand-shape epiphany that makes complete sense when you hear what it was he discovered. How to motivate kids to care about hand position: There are certainly more thrilling things in the life of a child than piano hand position... but when you explicitly draw attention to the personal benefits... they WILL care. This podcast is less than 10 minutes long, but it's packed with practical information you can use right away! Click below to listen now or visit our iTunes page where you can download this Episode (and many more) to your iPod or smartphone to take it on the go! Are Your Students Struggling With Technique? Check out our other blog posts for help with teaching technique: A Teacher's Guide To Fixing Teen Technique... Without Squelching Motivation The Piano Technique Cheat Sheet - Everything You Need To Know In One Place A Superhero Piano Printable To Solve Technique Troubles

We've all had one... a piano student who stares at his hands while mostly ignoring his music. And we've all probably engaged in a struggle to get him to view his score as a tool (not as an enemy)... And chances are, during the struggle, you've covered the keys... you covered his hands... you've make him wear dribble specks... and still the problem remained... or it got worse. So, when a teacher asked us to help her with this very same struggle, we knew for the sake of blood pressure readings in studios all over the world that we had to solve the “Won’t look at his music!” conundrum. In today's post we're exploring a world where "looking at hands" may be indicative of a learning style instead of a problem, and how you can use your understanding of this learning style to get students to actually read the notes on a page of music. How To Help Students Who Refuse To Look At Their Music Grab a pen and paper and prepare to take notes as you listen to today's podcast below. Our guest, Bradley Sowash, discusses how students who choose to look at their hands are actually employing a valuable tool that works with their personal learning style, and how teachers can use this as a springboard to note reading rather than a detriment to note reading. In this 8 minute episode we discuss: Why some students are more apt to play by ear than others What should you do with a piece that has been learned by ear How you can teach improvisation while still using a score How can you encourage students who play by ear to use their score as a tool ... and much more. Click the player below to listen, or visit our iTunes page where you can download this, plus our other 31 episodes to your iPod to take us on the go! Want more info on this topic? Bradley Sowash and Leila Viss are presenting a webinar along this same vein - Groove Your Theory is set to take place on Friday, April 22nd. This webinar will show you how to take your theory instruction to the next level including (among many other topics) the best way to create your own lead sheets and how to use backing tracks to develop improv skills. Find out how to be involved here. Read Also: How to Teach Piano Chording To Kids Teaching Piano Students To Play From Lead Sheets: Expert Step-By-Step Advice How To Teach Piano Students To Play By Ear... And Why You Might Want To  

Most piano teachers (myself included) teach in tidy little blocks of time. And this means that if we want to increase our teaching income... we generally have to increase our teaching time. But is this a hard and fast rule? Could there a better way? Today we have a wonderful guest on the Teach Piano Today Podcast who will be telling us all about her creative approach to structuring lessons that allows her to teach three students in a single hour... without teaching group lessons. Interested?… Read on! Smart Business Strategy Meets Smart Lesson Structure Today's podcast guest, Marie Harris, is a lesson-scheduling genius. Not only does her creative studio structure allow her to deliver a well-rounded student experience where theory, technique, and musicianship all receive equal attention, but it also allows her to earn a bigger income without a bigger time commitment. Listen below as Marie shares her wildly successful lesson set up and discusses how you too could make this work. This 10-minute podcast could change the way you teach piano lessons. Click the player below to listen, or hop over to our iTunes page to download this episode (and others!) to your iPod or smartphone. Do You Have a Creative Approach To Lesson Structure? If, like Marie, you teach piano lessons in a structure other than what I have referred to as the "tidy little box" approach, we'd love to hear all about it in the comments below...  

At some point in our teaching careers we will all be faced with it.... a "two-handed" piano student suddenly becomes a "one-handed" piano student. Whether it's a broken arm, a sprained wrist, or burned fingers... a myriad of different injuries can throw a bunch of wrenches into a typical piano lesson. So the question is... how can teachers navigate these "one-handed" weeks while still maintaining piano lesson progress? Is this even possible? This podcast is less than 10 minutes, but it's packed with info! Listen below ... How To Teach "One-Handed" Piano Lessons (Show Notes) Today on the Teach Piano Today HelpLine Podcast we're discussing this topic with Dr. Chris Foley. In the midst of a busy schedule that involves adjudicating, blogging and training Royal Conservatory examiners, Dr. Foley joins us to discuss: How it is possible to teach one-handed piano lessons Why time spent as a "one-handed" pianist can actually be a benefit Repertoire suggestions for right hand only and left hand only pieces What to do about practice during this time How to start back into lessons once the injury has healed Looking for Adaptable Lesson Activities? Dr. Foley's advice to spend the lesson time on learning activities other than playing is something that we specialize in! If you have a "one-handed" student and you're looking for lesson activities that focus on aspects such as sight reading and ear training, you'll want to check out these blog posts for ideas. How Four Mistake Busters Can Turn Students Into Sight-Reading Superstars By The End Of This Post You’ll Be Teaching Improv To Students As Young As Five 3 Ear Training Tricks That Your Piano Kids Can Use Today!

Today we're kicking off our Teach Piano Today Helpline podcast with a fabulous episode featuring everything you've always wanted to know about teaching group piano classes. And if you just thought "Oh... this is not for me, I only have one piano so I can't teach groups..." you'll want to hang around and have a listen, as you may be surprised to find out that group piano teaching can still be an option! Send us a Voicemail... This Could Be You! We received today's Helpline Voicemail from a teacher wanting to start group piano classes at her busy studio. To help us answer her question we called Dr. Christopher Fisher at his office in Ohio... in the midst of last weekend's blizzard. He shares his expertise on this subject including: How should you begin teaching group piano classes? What are alternatives to the large group classes we think of as a "piano group class"? What are the problems that arise - and how can they be prevented? How you can you meet individual needs within a group setting? What materials and methods should you use? and more! This teacher had her question answered simply by leaving us a voice mail! If you have a piano teaching question, give us a shout and your question could be featured on an upcoming Teach Piano Today Helpline episode! Getting Started With Group Piano Teaching... This episode is less than 10 minutes long but is packed with information! Click the player below to have a listen or visit our iTunes page to download it to your iPhone and take it "to go!" Want to hear more Teach Piano Today Podcasts? Here are some favorite episodes: Exploring the Cognitive Benefits of Piano Instruction with Dr. Frances Rauscher How to Teach Piano to Adult Students with Dr. Pete Jutras Chatting Contemporary Music With The One and Only Christopher Norton

Do you teach from lead sheets?  Have you thought about doing so but aren’t sure where to start? Do you use them all the time but wonder if there is more you could be doing? Lead sheets have quickly become one of my “secret weapon” teaching tools. They provide the instant gratification teens crave, they […]

What is grit? How does being “gritty” translate into achievement and how can we teach our piano students to persevere over the long-term despite setbacks? If you’ve ever asked yourself these questions – or, if this subject piques your interest, then today’s TeachPianoToday podcast will fascinate you. Do You Have Gritty Piano Students? A few weeks […]

Piano teachers everywhere have students in their studio with complex needs.  Be it visual impairment, Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia… the spectrum of differences is wide. And piano teachers everywhere have questions about how to effectively meet the needs of these students. Advice From A True Expert In today’s Teach Piano Today podcast, we’re interviewing Dr. Adam Ockelford […]

The TeachPianoToday podcast is back and we’re delighted to post this exciting episode! Today’s guest, Rena Upitis, shares her insights on composing with young children and discusses the importance of introducing composition to young children. How many of you have had piano students bring in their very creatively-notated compositions? And did you know what to do with those sheets of […]

I’m always interested in ways to make piano practice more efficient and more effective for my students. I believe that the more we understand about how humans learn, the better adjustments we can make to how we teach. In a past Teach Piano Today podcast we interviewed Dr. Christine Carter who opened our eyes to […]

We expect all children to learn to read. It’s just a given. So why is it then that we don’t expect all children to be musical? This is a statement that drew me to Dr. Lisa Koops and her research and work in the field of early childhood musical development. Join us on today’s podcast […]

As a piano teacher we see first-hand every day the many positive effects that music instruction has on our students… but how much do you know about the research behind the cognitive benefits of music education? Today we’re talking with the perfect person to speak on this topic. Dr. Frances Rauscher is a Cognitive Scientist studying […]

Today on the TeachPianoToday Podcast we’re interviewing Robert Rickover; an expert in the Alexander Technique.  For those of you who just asked “What’s that?”, or for those of you who have heard of the Alexander Technique but don’t know much about it, this podcast is for you! Robert Rockover has been an Alexander Technique teacher […]

If there’s one person who knows what makes adult piano students tick… it’s Pete Jutras. As Editor of the Clavier Companion magazine, he’s no stranger to the world of piano… or the world of adult piano students. Through his uber-successful group programs at Southern Methodist University he’s had the opportunity to share his love of […]

Today on the TeachPianoToday podcast we’re chatting with Dr. Christopher Foley; an expert in the area of collaborative piano. For those of you who just thought “What is a collaborative piano?” you’re in for a treat. The potential for your piano students to find a career using their piano skills is richer and more varied now than ever […]

If you teach piano, it’s likely you teach Christopher Norton’s music on almost a daily basis. His name is synonymous with “The composer who creates the music my students always love.” To say Christopher Norton is a prolific composer is a serious understatement; his influence on not only piano repertoire, but on multi-instrumental and choral […]

How were you taught to learn something new, or to fix a mistake when you were a piano student? Your answer is likely “Drill it.  Over and over and over and over.” Do you still force yourself to sit down and play the same thing repeatedly until it is right?  If so, then you’ll want to listen […]

When I was in my 3rd year of University someone ran up to me in the hallway, breathless: “You’re a piano player, yes?”.  Uh huh.  “My keyboard guy just quit my band and we have a gig tonight. Can you fill in?” Let me see… do you play Minuet in G at any point during your […]

If there was ever a TeachPianoToday podcast that you should share… it’s this one.  Today we’re speaking with the brilliant Dr. Christopher Fisher, Associate Professor of piano at Ohio University, and we’re talking about effective parental involvement in piano education. Scroll to the bottom of this post to listen now. Listen in as Dr. Fisher […]