When we recently asked our community of piano teachers on Facebook where they found their newest piano student, we were thrilled and amazed that over half responded with “word of mouth referrals”.
From our experience, word of mouth referrals result in more dedicated and easier-to-manage new piano families… meaning piano teachers should go out of your way to generate word of mouth referrals whenever possible.
And one of the best ways to get people talking about your studio is a referral-generating piano summer camp… which is a little different than a regular summer piano camp… but we’ll get to that!
I put referral-generating piano camps into the “Gold Standard” category of tools for finding new piano students.
Why? Because they generate word-of-mouth referrals without you having to ask for referrals. Not that anything is wrong with asking for referrals… but the absolute best referrals are unsolicited.
In today’s post I’m going to give you four helpful tips to turn any regular summer piano camp into a referral-generating summer piano camp!
But First… What’s The Difference Between The Two Camps?
For many teachers, a regular summer piano camp is held to create a little extra piano teaching income in those lean summer months.
A referral-generating summer piano camp can do that as well, but it has the added benefit of generating word of mouth for your studio. The result? Extra summertime income, PLUS extra income all year long as you are inundated with a flood of new piano students!
How To Turn Your Summer Camp Into A Referral Generation Machine
The wonderful news is that turning a regular summer camp into a referral-generating summer camp just takes four simple tweaks…
One: Create A “Share-Worthy” Musical Item
Every summer camp should result in an impressive musical product that will be shared or talked about by parents of your piano students. The most obvious musical products to be created and shared are video and sound recordings of student performances or compositions.
Personally, we love summer composing camps. In addition to students having a blast through personal expression, summer composing camps generally result in recorded performances that can be burned onto CD and sent to friends and relatives, or emailed to parents where it will no doubt be shared on Facebook (quickly becoming word of mouth gold).
Two: Create A Share Worthy Musical Experience
The best camps are themed camps…. there’s just something about a themed experience that excites kids about learning music. And when kids are extra excited about your summer camp, their parents are extra happy… and happy parents are chatty parents! 🙂
When planning your summer camp, tie it all together with one great big creative theme. You’ll be amazed at how much easier summer camp planning becomes when you can coordinate your games, your snacks, your compositions, and your performances with a clear theme.
Three: Create Shared Experiences
Summer piano camps do not have to be just for your piano students. A great way to generate word of mouth for your piano studio is to dedicate one whole day of your piano camp as a “Bring a Friend” Day.
I can tell you… as a parent with young kids at home all summer… if a local piano teacher wanted to entertain my kids for a day, they would be looked upon very favourably in my eyes! 🙂 Kids who have not had the chance to experience the fun that piano can bring will leave pumped about music and their parents will be the first to hear about their excitement.
If you’re holding a week-long summer piano camp, put your “Bring a Friend” Day right smack in the middle. This will break up the week nicely and maintain excitement for your camp during that time when enthusiasm can start to wane.
Four: Create a Communal Gathering
Every summer camp should end with a communal experience involving the students and invited guests. You want your summer camp to end with a bang… you don’t want it to finish with a fizzle.
Having an end-of-camp goal, like a “Recital In The Park”, gives your students something to stay excited about… and this generates word of mouth on two fronts. The first: if parents see their children pumped about a summer piano camp for five days straight, they won’t be able to stop talking about you. And second: if you’re throwing a fun end-of-camp recital, you have an easy opportunity to spread your web in the community through invitations to friends and family.
What Does Your Summer Piano Camp Look Like?
We really don’t want any members of the Teach Piano Today community to miss out on the referral-generating power of a great summer camp… so if you want to help a fellow teacher out, share in the comments below one thing from a past summer camp that has worked wonders in your studio.
September Salazar says
I have done a summer piano for several years now and it always helps to get my students excited about lessons in the fall. Outdoor music games are THE best way to make it fun for the kids. However, what never ceases to amaze me is how every one is excited to go home and practice every day after camp is over! (I wish I knew how to harness that excitement throughout the whole school year!) They really love being able to show off what they worked on or the song that they composed for their families at the ends of the week. Thank you for the advice in today’s post! I never thought about using your composing curriculum for our camp! That sure would make it easier to theme and to plan! You guys are the best! Thank you thank you!
Andrea says
Glad it was helpful September! And yes, summer lessons can really renew a passion for piano – I think it’s because kids have more free time/less pressure in other areas of their life so they can just have fun with music!
CHRIS says
I would like more specific examples of your camp – you say it ran for a week, what time every day? Does this mean you are not teaching during that week? How many students come at one time? How do you structure the time spent there? I teach year round, and work full-time as well, so not sure how this would work for me. Thank you.
September Salazar says
My camp actually lasts 4 days, Mon-Thurs for 2 hours a day from 10-12. Then, on Thursday evening we have a pizza party and recital, covering what they worked on that week. During the camp, we do a mixup of instrument crafts, composing, 5 minute individual piano lessons, and lots and lots of music games. I usually have an assistant to help me when I am doing 5 min piano lessons, she helps me facilitate games, and takes a group of younger students while I am working with older students, etc. I usually have about 10 students at a time. I don’t teach at all during the months of July and August so this helps to supplement my income a bit while I still have off the majority of the summer and it makes it easier to sell the cost of camp to parents since they are not paying EXTRA for piano, just instead of lessons and it always leaves the kids excited to come back in September. I charge what I would normally charge for a month and a half of private lessons and include cost of pizza and all materials. Hope this helps.
Kate Hofherr says
Hi — This sounds just great! I’m confused about how you incorporate the cost — is it in the yearly piano tuition?
Thanks for any clarification:)
Kate H.
September Salazar says
I separate my year into 3 semesters and the camp. They pay each semester and camp as a separate entity.
Andria says
Great reply. Thanks for the details.
Miriam says
I agree, I would also love to get more details about a summer piano camp as I had never thought about running one! Thank you Andrea for your practical, super fun ideas. My lessons would be so boring if it weren’t for you and Trevor!
Andrea says
You’re so kind Miriam! Happy to help take away the “boring” 🙂
Christi says
I love the idea of a summer piano camp! It won’t be an option this year – I’m taking the summer off because I’m expecting a baby in July – but in the future I would love to be able to stop teaching regular lessons for the summer and still have an event (or events) to keep my students involved in piano.
I’m wondering exactly what ideas people have for actually facilitating the camp itself. I don’t have a location specifically dedicated to my studio – I teach in the living room of my single wide trailer, and so obviously I don’t have like a keyboard lab that several students can use at once. I have a very big, nice yard, though, which would facilitate outdoor games nicely.
What kind of active outdoor – maybe even specifically water – game ideas do you have for piano camp?
Jennifer Foxx says
I’ve used The Curious Case… many times in my camps. It works well! My favorite referral summer camp is doing an intro to piano camp. It’s a perfect way to jumpstart lessons. The nice thing about it is when we do end up starting lessons, they have already learned a big portion of the basics. So it literally is a jump start.
Amy Reiff says
Jennifer, do you use it as a camp – on its own? How many days; how many hours per day? Thanks.
Jennifer Foxx says
Amy, I’m assuming your question is in regards to the Curious Case of Muzzart… I have done both. I’ve used it in a composition camp as well as used it along with a supplementary activity at summer camp. It works well both ways.
I think when I did it as composition camp I did it more as a workshop so it might have been 4 hours total, but I could be remembering wrong and it might have been 8 hours. (I give different session options that divide those hours up). Either would work. 🙂
Stephanie Northcutt says
Jennifer,
Would you be willing to share more info about how you incorporated Curious Case of Muzzart… into a camp? You said 4 or 8 hours above. Is that 2 hours a day for 4 days? You said you supplemented with the Curious Case of Muzzart… What else did you do? Thanks!
Diane Plaster says
Yes, more examples of outdoor music games please!
Pam says
I’m planning a fun “pass the wet sponge” relay race. As a team they will chant “quarter, quarter, quarter, quarter” as they quickly pass the wet sponge over top of their heads. Then they’ll say “half note, half note” and progress up to “whole note hold down”. I think there will be lots of giggles as the sponge drips on them for 4 whole beats. 🙂
September Salazar says
We have played anything from badminton to twister to water balloon fights or my personal favorite now is elephant March game with water bottles, if you haven’t paid it, Google it, it’s a riot! Anyways, all I do is use music questions relating to what we are learning about and if they answer the questions they get a turn or get double points if they answer the question correctly and make a point for their team, etc. It’s kind of whatever works, just use your imagination 🙂
Andria says
Ah! Not actual “music” games but regular games with music questions. That helps!
Tara says
I already have a summer camp set up for June where the kids will learn about music history and a few different composers. I had also been thinking about using The Curious Case as a camp but I’m afraid some of the kids wouldn’t be ready for it. I might just have to use it in a camp in August!
Paula says
I love reading all these comments. I belong to Andrea’s Piano Game Club which gives great activity ideas for summer camps. I’ve been doing camps for about 20 yrs now. It gives me a break for the summer, takes the pressure off of earning a summer income, and it’s just so much fun!
Any outdoor game can transfer to music. For instance: laminate a set of note staff cards. Throw them in the middle of the sprinkler. Line the kids up in two teams. Show a musical letter. Students run into the sprinkler to find the correct note and return it to their team.
Summer Piano Camps literally saved me from having to get a summer job. My parents start asking in March when camps are so they can plan their summer vacation around them.
I love the “Bring a Friend” idea, Andrea! You are always so inspiring. Thank you!!
Nancy Dudley says
Paula, I love that idea! Not being as creative, can you please share more outdoor summer camp activities?
Elizabeth says
Please also address some of the logistical issues of running a camp!!! I love the idea of running a camp, but as a former public school teacher, I have a lot of C.Y.A. legal concerns. If you work out of a home studio, are there day-care laws or local statutes you could run into? If so, how do you deal with those? What hours to your run the camp and do you include a lunch or snack time? Do you have a fancy registration form or legal disclaimer?
Toni says
Thanks for the advice everyone! Helped to understand how to do a one week camp and how to better advertise by word of mouth!
Kat B says
Hi! I know that this is an old post but I just had to say that I loved the ideas for boosting your number of students in a studio through a summer camp. I just opened my own studio and I’m about to offer the second summer camp, but I think that I have a different concept of a summer camp. In my country, the common summer camp lasts four weeks. So it’s really difficult for me to think about just one week…like you teach your current students? Or you receive new students? And if so, how do you manage to teach them in such short time?
Andrea says
Hi Kat! In Canada and the US, parents are used to selecting various “1 week” camps for their children throughout the summer. If you offer a piano camp then students would come every day for 5 days (for mornings only or for a full day depending on how you structured it – not overnight usually). Some teachers even hold camps for just 2-3 days. Yes, typically it’s open to current students and teachers focus on a certain skill or theme for the camp. Some teachers hold a “new to piano” camp where each day is focused on those important beginning skills and music knowledge. It’s really fun – hope you give it a try 🙂