The season of “missed piano lessons” is upon us… how do you prepare?
In our neck of the woods, the weather is finally starting to improve. After spending the last few months in a cold rain cloud, there is finally light at the end of the tunnel. In fact, as me and my Lexi-loo walked through the park the other day we found our first daffodil in bloom!
And while I love Spring’s little signals, I was also reminded that the season of “missed piano lessons” is upon us!
As the weather improves, people head outdoors, and new sports and activities begin. Piano lessons no longer have a nice little monopoly over the dark days of winter.
How Do Your Piano Lessons Compete?
Even if you have an iron-clad piano policy, people are still going to start missing the occasional lesson in favor of baseball, lacrosse, scouts, and soccer. And while you can certainly adopt the “Oh well, their loss!” attitude, we, of course, want our piano students attending regularly; we want our piano students to choose piano OVER baseball or soccer or scouts!
At our music school we launch all sorts of fun in April, including casual Spring concerts, Piano Parties, and one month Practice Incentive Programs to name a few. It is absolutely essential that we keep our piano students interested and engaged in these last few months so that they are eager to re-register for next year.
Now It’s Your Turn!
We’d love to hear how you ramp up piano lessons in the last few months of the year! Feel free to share your comments below…
Jessica says
Wow… gotta love west coast weather! Over here in Ontario, we just got a massive snow storm on the weekend… LOL! But, I had my first spring activity conflict already today, and am now trying to find a new spot for a student in an incredibly booked schedule :P. We have our Kiwanis Festival in April, so that’s a great way to retain students. They enter Festival at the end of january, so they CAN’T quit before they compete :). I also started a studio wide contest a month ago. It should wrap up in another 8 weeks or so. Sometimes I’ve waited to do my contest until after Festival for the months of May and June. This seems to give incentive to the students to finish out the year. This year, I’m thinking of doing an event, like a pizza party or something.
Another thing I do to help student retention in the busy spring months is regarding my policy of holding lesson times for the fall. Returning students who take the summer off have their lesson time held for them in September as long as they complete the month of June. If they discontinue lessons before the last scheduled June lesson their time is NOT held for them in September, and they have to schedule from whatever open slots we have. I’ve had students that couldn’t come to their last few lessons in June, but want the same spot in the fall, so they pay for the month, even though they already know they cannot attend. This at least guarantees that my income doesn’t fall off the rails in June!
Trevor says
Hi Jessica,
Thanks for the comment – and for sharing your idea. I agree that having a scheduled performance or festival is a great way to ensure students remain focused and committed…and a great way to motivate parents is to give them a way to ensure their timeslot stays convenient!
Happy Teaching,
Andrea
Noel Lackey says
Well being in Ireland, it never stops raining and at the moment as an extra treat it is very cold so we never have your problem 😉
Trevor says
Hi Noel – without that rain then you wouldn’t have that beautiful emerald green countryside, right!? 🙂 Perhaps you are lucky – the “happy to stay inside and play the piano” season is much longer for you! LOL
Rebecca Brown says
“I’m playing baseball [or soccer]this year” is always met with groans in our studio. I’ve even jokingly asked a student “Why would you do that?” before! LOL I don’t want to discourage students from having a well-rounded childhood, or from trying new things. But outdoor sports are the worst thing for a private lesson teacher to compete with.
I do have a strict policy for missed/rescheduled lessons. It specifically mentions in our studio policies that we are not able to reschedule lessons for sports games and practices. And it encourages students to make sure their lesson is scheduled for a time that will involve as few conflicts as possible. Out of 135 students, we actually only have one student right now who doesn’t seem to take this policy seriously, and always wants a credit when he calls an hour before his lesson to tell us he has a baseball game.
In the past, our big spring recitals have always been held in May. This year, however, we moved them up to April to avoid all of the conflicts that arise with the end of the school year. After reading this post and the comments, I’m really hoping that I haven’t shot myself in the foot by doing this. I hope we don’t see a wave of students deciding to take the month of May off. I’m already brainstorming ideas to keep them there: An entry into a drawing for a free symphony ticket or for a discount off their tuition every time they attend a lesson, etc.
I have to say, one of my proudest moments as a piano teacher (especially since I work mostly with beginning-intermediate students) is when a talented, hardworking 8-year-old announced to me that she decided not to play softball anymore so that she had more time for piano.
Trevor says
Hi Rebecca,
That is a victory! We do a happy dance at our studio too when the boys who take piano lessons on Friday nights opt out of their hockey games in favour of their piano lesson 🙂 It does happen and it’s a real sign that piano lesson CAN compete with sports for even the die-hard Canadian hockey boys!
I think brainstorming ideas to keep May and June from petering out is a good idea – maybe a studio-wide incentive program (as you mentioned) is a great thing to introduce. We’ve done World Music Themes too where a guest artist comes in to perform at that time of year – it keeps the feeling of community from dying after a big recital if your students are all coming together for something.
Thanks for commenting!