When you dreamed of becoming a piano teacher what did that look like? For me, it was a pristine studio with french doors, a white grand piano, and I’d be dressed in cute business-wear sitting beside perfectly behaved piano students.
Reality hit me pretty darn quickly when I actually started teaching. My “pristine studio” was the living room/playroom/basement of whomever I had driven to for lessons, my grand piano was whatever broken and out-of-tune piano they owned, and my business-wear was whatever I could afford as a starving student/piano teacher who charged just $10 per lesson. Some of my students were perfectly behaved… the others were like an exhibit in a zoo. It wasn’t quite what I had dreamed of.
And while some piano teachers certainly do enjoy the zen-like studios and the Steinway instruments and refuse to teach anything but perfectly behaved piano students, others are still soldiering on in the trenches.
If you’re one of those teachers whose reality hasn’t quite caught up to your piano teaching dreams read on! We’re sharing our Top 5 Ways to Reach Your Piano Teaching Dreams:
1. Revel in the fantasy – What does your ideal piano teaching situation look like? Write out every last detail of your fantasy piano teaching scenario. Then, put check-marks beside everything that you believe you are within 1-2 years of achieving. Circle what you feel is unrealistic. Cross off what you have already accomplished.
2. Set some goals – Let’s be honest… you may never have everything on that list! But you can get darn close. Choose 3 of the items with checkmarks and one item that was circled. These are your new goals, but let’s make them realistic goals. If you’ve dreamed of a white grand piano (like I did) then you may need to settle for a white upright Kawai (like I did!). If you’ve dreamed of a busting-at-the-seams studio, first settle for having completely full Wednesdays and Thursdays. If you’ve dreamed of being able to be choosy with students, instead decide to start holding interviews and weeding out only those who you know without a doubt are going to be a bookkeeping problem, while keeping the behavior problems (or vice versa… but I’d not suggest the vice versa!).
3. Make a plan – Beside your list of goals, write three points of how you will work to achieve them. Think in terms of baby steps. If you’d like to be choosy with whom you teach, maybe a realistic goal is to instead turn your difficult students into someone you’d likely accept 🙂 We have some ideas for how to do this!
4. Make it your priority – If piano teaching is your career of choice, then make it a priority to find job satisfaction within this choice. You and your students will do nothing but benefit from your decision to plow forward with your newly created goals plans! Some intense hard work and risk-taking pay off faster than years of slugging it out halfway to where you want to be.
5. Reach out – If you’re reading this you’re probably an active member of the online piano teaching community, but if you’re not, there’s no time like the present! The more you network with other piano teachers the more you’ll realize that others are sharing your same struggles, your same triumphs, and have the same pressing questions as do you! Subscribe to our blog to get helpful posts on everything “piano”, follow us on Facebook to take advantage of our amazing community of over 19,000 piano teachers, take a risk by using resources that are beyond your normal routine, seek out advice on online forums… there is so much that the internet has to offer piano teachers.
Our biggest passion is helping those piano teachers who are slugging it out in the trenches. We’ve been there! What helped me climb out and reach my piano teaching dream? Offering lessons to a niche market that was not only fruitful but also made my job so enjoyable! Using the WunderKeys Piano for Preschoolers method books you can teach lessons to 3-5-year-olds; filling your studio and your heart with happiness! Check them out here.
Robin Madden says
I am so glad you have this blog. I’ve been teaching for a lot of years, and find your suggestions a breath of fresh air, and occasionally, an affirmation that I’m on the right track. Thank you.
Andrea says
Thanks Robin! This means a lot to us 🙂
Jamila says
Great post as always, thanks for inspiring and sharing
Jeannie says
I too enjoy, appreciate, and ‘soak up’ the advice you give us teachers. This is my second round of careers. For years I traveled with my husband on the road. After his passing, I settled down to make spending money teaching the piano, but my studio has become a success. I owe you for the encouragement and the unique ideas. I don’t have a big pool of students to choose from — there are only 3500 people in this community but because of ‘the fun music’ concept, I have 32 to 36 students at any given time. I keep students because they have fun and learn and parents are happy with the results — latest being Muttzart! Think I am going to “The Curious Case. . . . ” as a summer camp.
Andrea says
We always enjoy your insights too Jeannie! Thanks for reading and for your very kind words 🙂 We’re so thrilled that The Curious Case… has found a happy home in your studio! Congrats on the success of your studio!
Anne says
May I just say, I think you two are fabulous! I’ve had my fair share of “suitcase” and “practice room” teaching too. I remember seeing a magical MYC studio when I was about 22 and that made the biggest impact on me at the time. Little by little I have created that magic for myself and my students. Keep doing what you do!
Andrea says
Hi Anne – I think actually the picture of your studio on your website is what my fantasy studio looked like 🙂 You even have a french door LOL! We’re so happy to have you as a reader. I just taught your “Starfish at Night” this morning and after learning how to do the glissandos the little girl sighed and said “It sounds just like a rainbow” 🙂
Kimberly Wright says
Your blogs and book have made piano teaching exciting for me! Thanks!