How to Teach Piano Lessons Effectively So Students Never Quit
This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Anna Goldthorpe, a member of TMO! As a studio owner that teaches kids as young as 3 years old, Anna has gotten engaged learning down to a science. She has created her own methods that keep kids learning piano, and loving it. Join us and listen in as we talk about strategies to keep students involved and focused, and how to keep your studio going, one day at a time.
Helpful resources from this episode
Website:
https://www.annasmusicstudio.com
Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/annasmusicstudiocda
Instagram Link: @annasmusicstudiocda
Enjoy this transcript from this podcast episode!
Carly
Welcome, Anna. Thank you for joining me today.
Anna
Thank you for having me, Carly.
Carly
Let's first talk about when you started teaching music. What inspired you to start teaching?
Anna
Well, I started teaching music about 19 years ago. I can't believe it's been that long. But 19 years ago, I first started teaching in Sydney, Australia. I moved there for college, and I took a job as a piano teacher with a mobile music bus. And I get the question, ‘What is a mobile music bus?’ all the time. But it's exactly what it sounds like. I drove a school bus around that had a keyboard setup inside. There were stools inside, too. And we had a sound system. And all the kids each had their own headphones and monitors. And when I got to the school, the kids would come onto the bus. We’d put the keyboard down. They’d all just work away at their piano, and I would help them all individually. So it was a really unique experience.
Carly
Did you come up with that idea yourself, or was there a company that hired you to drive this bus?
Anna
No. It was a company that came up with that. It was an innovative way of teaching while going to school, which was really great because Sydney has millions of people. So they were able to take music lessons on the way to and from school.
Carly
I've never heard of that. And I've heard of lots of different options for school. So that's really cool.
Anna
Yeah. It was very cool.
Carly
I'm curious about you being in Australia. What took you to college in Australia?
Anna
I went there to a Bible College. I went to Hillsong International Leadership College there in 2001, and I met my husband there as well. So that's why I stayed in Australia for as long as I did.
Carly
Oh, that's neat. And then you brought him back to the States?
Anna
Yes. And he's now a US citizen.
Carly
That's great. When did you first hear about Teach Music Online? I know you've been around for a while because I feel like you were a part of things, and then you joined the membership. So tell us a little bit about when you joined and how you heard about TMO.
Anna
I actually joined way back in the fall of 2019.
Carly
Were you one of our first-year members?
Anna
I think Carol Matz had put something about TMO on her page, and so I checked it out. And I knew I wanted to transition online because I knew that was where the trend was moving. I also wanted to get more daytime students, and I felt this would be a great way to do that. So when you put your course up, I think I was one of the first people to buy your course. I started slowly going through it right away in November of 2019. Then I was able to implement a lot of what you taught in the course before the pandemic hit, so I had already prepared all my students and families. That transition was perfectly smooth because of your course. So it was wonderful.
Carly
I love hearing that so much. I remember two years ago, I launched a Facebook group and started that first membership and course. And I remember thinking that I wanted to help teachers prepare for online, and I didn't even really know why. I just knew it was so helpful for me to have the flexibility of online lessons and to know how to do it. So I love that you got in before the pandemic.
It sounds like you were pretty set up to just move everyone over. Did you just completely ship everyone over to online in March of 2020?
Anna
Yes. And because of your course, I already had it set up. I had already tried a few online lessons with kids that were sick or out of town. So it was a pretty seamless transition. And I think because of your course, I was confident in how I walked everyone through that transition. And then all of my students’ parents, even though they were a little resistant to it and a little hesitant, they did awesome at getting their kids online. And it just worked.
Carly
Well, that's so great. So now you're in the newer membership. I'm just curious because I love getting one-on-one time with teachers that are in the membership. What are some things right now that have been helpful for you, now that you have a hybrid studio? You're incorporating a few different things. Are there any lessons or videos or events that have been helpful for you?
Anna
Yes. All of your social media help in all the ongoing classes and webinars that you guys organize on a regular basis. Then I'm really looking forward to the one coming up about hiring new teachers because I'm at the place where I do need to start looking at hiring another teacher or two. Also, having that connection with other online teachers is so nice. It’s great to have that ongoing connection and training. And I value personal development as a teacher, so that's a big benefit of your course, and that's what I really love about your membership, so thank you.
Carly
I love that you touched on personal development and professional development. It’s good to see that you have a full studio. You're not starting from the beginning. You didn't join the course because you need help with the setup. You've done all that. It's more about community, ongoing training, and social media because things are always changing for our businesses. And so it sounds to me like it's your professional place.
Anna
Yes, exactly. It is. And it's a great way to be able to find very professional development courses because you guys do top-notch courses all the time.
Carly
Thank you. You just posted recently that your highlight of the week was having a full studio and a waitlist. I would love to hear, how long have you had that waitlist? And how did you get to the point where your studio is full?
Anna
So I've had a waitlist for the last six years. It's kind of funny, because I was at a time where I was done with music teaching, and I was actually going back to school to change careers. That year, I graduated with my degree in psychology and there were a lot of other things going on. I was going to change careers, it was the year I graduated. I had just taken a refresher course about being able to fine-tune your teaching, and realizing that you don't have to do it all as a music teacher.
Once I implemented some of those things, I enjoyed teaching again. And my studio just exploded, within a few weeks of graduating with another degree. But I think I just finally figured out who I was as a teacher. I found my niche in teaching students three to twelve years old. I, of course, love teaching all ages. But I found that those are the students that I connect best with. So that's who I marketed to. I even changed the method I use. I use Wonder Keys, and it's very game-based. Even if I don't use Wonder keys with the student, I still make their lesson game-based. My students get to have fun. They love coming to lessons each week, and that's my goal. I want to make sure that they leave wanting more and being like, oh, man, our 30 minutes is up already. That's my goal every week. Of course, it's not always like that, but that's my goal, that's what I aim for.
So I think because of that, word-of-mouth has been my main cause of a big student base. And my current students have younger siblings that start coming into lessons because they see how much fun their older siblings are having. So it's just been years of communicating with the parents, making sure my lessons are fun and engaging. I developed that relationship with each family. And because of that, my studio has become full. I have about ten students on my waiting list right now, and every year it's been similar. And then occasionally I can fill spots with those students.
Carly
Right. I love hearing your transition story, from a burnt-out teacher, not enjoying your job, to a complete rebrand. You rethought everything. And I know there are teachers who will listen to this who are in that right now. Where they’re thinking, maybe I should go back to school or maybe this is not my thing. Maybe they can't keep students enrolled, and that's going to be so encouraging for them to hear that because you made those changes and shifts. And it sounds like you really love it now compared to where you were before.
Anna
Yeah, I think the key is that phrase, ‘You don’t have to do it all’, that really hit home with me, because I think sometimes we feel like a lone wolf, and we have to do it all in order to keep students coming to our studios. And we really don't. You can be successful with just finding your niche, and then being confident in it, and it can change everything around.
Carly
That’s great advice. I hear teachers say they teach ages 5 to 70. And while that's really fun for the teacher, it’s actually more work, because you have to be really good at a lot of different things. So thank you for sharing. You don't have to do it all. Tell us about your studio-wide incentives. I know you mentioned getting everyone involved and that it's something you're really passionate about. Can you choose a few incentives that you've done that you want to share?
Anna
Absolutely. Well, every year, I think a lot of music teachers do this, but I do the 30 piece challenge. The difference is I change it up a little bit, so that every ten songs, my students get a reward of some sort. So they're working towards a prize of some sort, but have a long-term goal for the whole year. And then actually, this year, I have incorporated Jennifer Foxx's Music-Athlon, with the Olympic-themed incentive, because it was an Olympic year. So I'm incorporating that with the 30 piece challenge. It's kind of a nice system where all the students come in each week and they compete in different musical games to win awards. Then I'll put their trophies up on my wall, with their names on them. And all my students are involved in this, from the little ones all the way up to the adults, and I gear the games towards their level. Then they can win a gold, silver or bronze medal, and then the students that complete the 30 piece challenge, get a gold trophy and a gold medal at the end-of-year recital. I value the incentives, and that's just one of them. I change it up every year and we do something different, but it's always based around the 30 piece challenge so that they're always learning lots of songs.
Carly
That sounds so fun. I love that you incorporate that for young students all the way to adults and that you change it up depending on what age they are. How do you involve your online students with incentives? Are you able to, and if you are, how do you make that happen?
Anna
Yes, absolutely. So the cool thing with Jennifer Foxx's Music-Athlon is that I got digital versions of everything so I can easily share the student workbook online. And if I know they're online, I’ll print things out and send them a package of all the materials they’re going to need for the year. So my prep work in summertime is a bit intense, but it's worth it, because then they can fill out the student workbook with me. I send them a 30 piece challenge chart, but there's also a digital version, so I keep track of those and I keep them in my students’ folders online. So the students all have a Google Drive folder, and then I share those with the parents or the students themselves, and they can always access all those things. I put everything that we do incentive-wise in their folder. They can access it at any time, and I show them the actual 30 piece challenge chart with my video camera so they'll see the physical one on the wall, so they feel like they’re part of it. And then because I use Tonara, I give them awards there where they can purchase stickers and other things like that for the app. And I will send them awards, like $5 Amazon gift cards or something simple like that. So I still engage them in the incentive process online.
Carly
You're making learning so much fun with all of these tools! It's not a traditional lesson where they go and have a paper with their songs and go practice. I try to encourage teachers to not be as traditional anymore, because kids are changing, and it's just the world of social media and apps where their attention span is so different now.
Anna
Yes, definitely.
Carly
I want to hear about what a 30-minute lesson looks like with you. Let's say, for a first year student, someone who's in their first year of piano.
Anna
Okay. So my 30-minute lesson always starts with a fun improv together. I use a lot of different improv resources, but I've used a lot of Teach Piano Today's improv resources that are so great because they have these rhythm cards printed out. And so I will have a fun little song I'll play on the piano, and just a few chords with a different rhythm. And then the piano. And then the student will have those little rhythm cards that have a saying on them, like back to school or running for the bus or something like that. So they will use those rhythm cards and create their own melody on the piano. I'll tell them which position to put their hands in, and they’ll put it in middle C, for a first year student, and then they create a melody using those rhythms. And then we play those together. So we always start our lesson with something fun like that.
Carly
I want to comment on that, because something I teach teachers is to include activities with your young students. What you've done is you've created an activity, but not just a separate thing. They're learning so many skills with those improv activities. But to them, it's a little bit like a game, which is great.
Anna
Exactly. And they just love it. If we miss it by accident or something, they will always ask, ‘Can we do improv too? It's fun.’ They just love making up all the little sounds and that part makes it fun. Then from there, we will go listen to what they've been working on, and we’ll play them together if the song needs it. I always play with my young beginner students. And then, of course, I always let them play by themselves because they are definitely insistent sometimes, that they want to play on their own, so there's a lot of that.
Then from there, we go on to our next lesson and play a game with them that helps reiterate the new technique. So, say they're learning about whole notes or half notes or anything like that. We'll play a game that helps them recognize the difference between the notes. So whatever new technique I'm introducing to them, I always play a game with them to help them reinforce and understand that concept.
And of course, Wonder Keys. That method really incorporates well, which makes that part really easy and helpful. Then from there, we play the game and we'll play some of the new songs they're learning. We’ll even do some note-printing activities where I have them write out notes and we’ll write, and even do some of their own composing. So I feel like with young first-year students, if they can write out the music, even if they're just copying it, it helps them with sight-reading and makes them really strong sight-readers. So yeah, I think that's about all that I incorporate into a 30-minute lesson.
Carly
You pack all of those things into a 30-minute lesson?
Anna
Yeah.
Carly
I know it's not easy sometimes with a 30-minute lesson. I had the thought, when those cute little ones turn into the harsh 10-11 year old age, do you have any magic tricks to keep them in lessons?
Anna
Well, actually, yes. I have my digital Yamaha piano with a bunch of different rhythms and sounds. And the older kids really like to have a backing track to play along with, so I'll just come up with some fun backing track or a fun rhythm or a different sound and just let them use the different sounds for their piano pieces. I know in older days, my piano teacher would have insisted that I only play on the piano, but I just figured that older kids want to play around with the sounds and the rhythms and things, so I just let them do it and they enjoy it. I try to find songs that they really love, and I teach them how to play chords along with site reading. So I always teach some of my older kids how to play chords so that we can teach them how to play pop songs. I try to incorporate the songs they really love, and that really helps keep them engaged.
Carly
Are you using Tonara as a big part of your incentives for practice during the week? Do they use the practice tracker in Tonara?
Anna
Yes, absolutely. I make that a big part of lessons, and even teach the parents how to use it so that they understand how it works. So yes, almost every single student is using Tonara. A few don't, because they don't want to use the technology side of things, but almost every student does. And that part they love. They love that whole idea of making the practice part into a game. And I love it too, because I can send them extra help, I can send them extra resources, I can send them backing tracks, YouTube links, links to the song that someone else is playing that they can watch. And so for me, I love it, and the students also engage really well with the practice app.
Carly
So great. So many tools that you're using to keep them engaged, to keep them incentivized and
practicing. And while those listening might feel like that's a lot going on, I can imagine that you've been implementing some things here and there over time. Does that sound about right, that you're kind of continually changing and modifying?
Anna
Yes. Exactly. And what I do might not work well for another teacher right now, but yes, every year I slowly added something different. So every year, I will try to add something new that I didn't do the year before. And I think that's the key, just adding one thing at a time and not making it overwhelming for yourself. And I slowly built up to where I'm at now. And since I've used one for a couple of years, I've been able to have a backlog of assignments.
Carly
Oh, that's great!
Anna
So I saved them, and now that Tonara has those labels you can put in, I can save all the assignments for every book that I'm teaching out of. And that makes assigning them so fast and easy.
Carly
And that way, you're not using lesson time to write notes in the book. You just click on the little lesson and add it to their assignment. That's great. How do you communicate with parents? They're not always at the lesson with the student, and we always talk in the membership about communication tactics and ways to get parents involved. Do you have any favorite ways of including them with the students’ progress?
Anna
Yes. And again, this might be something that other teachers might like, because it is quite a bit of extra time. But at the end of every teaching day, I will take ten minutes before I leave my studio to go text every parent. And if I didn't get to connect with them after the lesson, I will text them a picture or a video that I took from the student’s lesson. Or just a quick text saying, ‘Your son did fantastic today, and he beat me at a piano game’ or something like that. It doesn’t necessarily have to be long, but I will take ten minutes and text every parent from that day. I don't do it all the time, but I try to do it at least twice a month. And I will really try to engage my parents that way. I'll send them cute pictures from their lesson or a little video of them playing their songs. And as parents, I think really appreciate that they love that and why they're not leaving.
Carly
That's why you are so important to them.
Anna
Well, you're a parent, too, so you know what they’re wanting. I feel like that involvement is important because as a parent myself, I appreciate it when a teacher takes that extra time to send me something about my child when they can. So that's what I try to do for my parents as well.
Carly
That's a great takeaway. I always tell myself and others that if you're hearing from a parent or they're asking you how their child is doing in lessons, it's too late. You're too late. Because we shouldn't have to wait for them to ask. It should be an ongoing part of what we do already.
Anna
Yes, definitely.
Carly
Well, this has been so fun. I think we could talk all day long about all the things that you are
incorporating and using. I just want to ask, to finish up, why do you teach? Why have you continued teaching? I know you almost shifted careers a few years ago.
Anna
I have continued teaching because I find it challenging, engaging, motivational, and inspirational. And I know those terms seem kind of nuanced, but I love being able to see my students grow in leaps and bounds, especially because I found a method that I really connect with them that I really love using. I get to see their faces light up when they can play their favorite Disney song and then see the look on the parents’ faces. And then at the recital, seeing tears come down the parents’ faces as they're watching their child play music. We all know that maybe that student isn’t going to be there the next day, but that their progress is so beautiful to me and to their parents. Just seeing the beaming faces of proud dads, proud moms, or even husbands proud of their wives, is the most rewarding experience. Then the fact that my children are part of it is so fun. Even though they might not be in the lessons with me, they actually learn all the songs, so when my students leave, my kids will be singing the songs from the lessons. So to me, that is the reward, getting to have music as a part of my kids’ lives on an everyday basis. That's the ultimate reward.
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