Several of my student’s moms commented on how much they liked the timeline that I used for our listening activity last week. This is one of the best timelines I’ve found! I love that it incorporates not only music history, but also little glimpses into other things going on in the world. Surprisingly, the timeline actually came from the back of the Hal Leonard Student Journal. I just tore out the pages and glued them together chronologically, then laminated it for durability. It has served me well for many years!

One thing that I highly value is organization. I don’t function very well when things are cluttered, so I am always looking for better and more efficient systems that will help maintain order with minimal effort. An area where I have not developed a good system is with the variety of flashcards and small paper and game pieces that I use for games and activities. I’m constantly sifting through a stack of flashcards to pull out all the treble clef notes in a certain range, or to separate the sharp from the flat key signatures, etc. So I was absolutely thrilled to come across this brilliant idea in Laura Lowe’s post, 5 Tips for Studio Organization: Storage Pockets! Now why didn’t I ever think of that? That is definitely going on my list for my next studio re-organization day.

Most of us teach because we love playing music, we love working with students, and/or we just love teaching. Few of us run studios because we just love doing recordkeeping, filing taxes, and handling other aspects on the business-side of things. I will confess, however, that I love the challenge of strategizing and coming up with good systems to set in place to streamline business operations. If you have a good system in place, staying organized is easy! Here are a few organizational systems that help me maintain some semblance of sanity.

1. Music Teacher’s Helper – If you’ve been reading here for any length of time at all, you know that I am a HUGE fan of Music Teacher’s Helper! Even though I haven’t even tapped into every feature that it offers, this has streamlined my bookkeeping and makes it a breeze. I love the way it keeps my finances organized and presents a professional image for my families since each of them have an account to receive automatic invoices, check records, pay on-line, and more. I’m in the highest cost bracket at $24.95/month, but it is so worth it for me!

2. Managing Receipts – This is a very simple binder system, but it’s essential for record-keeping and tax time! I have one binder for each of my businesses that serves to collect the receipts for the whole year according to the month in which the purchase was made. And then I archive the receipts for three years, so I have two other binders (again, one for each business) that each contain the monthly sheet protectors filled with receipts from the previous three years.

3. Student Worksheets – There are so many great resources on-line, but I needed a way to have just the right worksheet available at the tip of my fingers when I ascertained that it would be beneficial to a particular student. This binder system is what I developed for that purpose and it has served me well for several years now. I have a similar, but separate, binder set-up just for the sight-reading drills that we’re using this year.

4. Printed Music – When it comes to music books and sheet music, we’re all familiar with the Overflowing Piano Bench Syndrome and the impossible-to-keep-organized bookshelves, right? These file cabinets have been incredible for keeping music organized! Plus, with items like this that students will be accessing, it’s important to have a system in place that makes sense to them and is easy for them to utilize as well.

Those are some of the key areas that I’ve worked on over the past several years. This year, I’m hoping to come up with a better system for listing music books that I need to purchase for students and a way to keep track of what books/pieces students have used/learned. Any suggestions?

Most of us music teachers have advanced well beyond the stage of OPBS (Overflowing Piano Bench Syndrome) into OBSS (Overflowing Book Shelf Syndrome). Books and sheet music are piled onto shelf after shelf, and it is a well-kept secret as to which book or piece is in which stack. I just received an e-mail this week from a teacher wanting suggestions on how to organize all that music in a more efficient manner. So, I thought I would post some pictures of one way that I’ve come up with of organizing music. All you need is a file cabinet, or perhaps I should say several file cabinets if you have as much music as I’ve managed to accumulate!

FILE CABINET ONE – a wonderful 4-drawer lateral file that I couldn’t live without!

Drawer One (Top)

Method Books arranged by level – Primer Off-Staff, Primer On-Staff, Level One, Level Two, etc.; Supplemental Technique Books; Supplemental Theory Books; Sight-reading resources.

Drawer Two

Repertoire arranged according to Time Period – Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Late Romantic/Impressionistic, 20th Century. Within each of the categories, the books and sheets are placed alphabetically according to the last name of the composer. Following the chronologically arranged files are anthologies according to level – intermediate, advanced (I just had to move the elementary level anthologies to the next drawer down because this one was getting too full).

Drawer Three

Supplemental books and sheets arranged according to level – beginner, elementary, late elementary, early intermediate, intermediate, late intermediate, advanced. Each category contains file folders with sheet music first followed by file folders with books. Following those are folders for Arrangements & Transcriptions, Concertos, and Elementary Classical Repertoire Anthologies.

Drawer Four

Miscellaneous categories – seasonal music (mostly patriotic music), movie music, wedding music, songs; I also have a section for my Duds – books or sheets I don’t want anymore and want to send on the next time I receive the Duds Box.

FILE CABINET TWO – a 5-drawer standard sized cabinet (just make sure you get the kind where the drawers pull all the way out!)

Drawer One and Two – still empty, or just a storage for some hymnals, old studio assignment books, etc.

Drawer Three

Duet and Ensemble Music – Elementary 1P4H, Intermediate 1P4H, Advanced 1P4H, Teacher/Student Duets, 1P6H, 2P4H, 2P8H, Other Ensemble (P=Piano, H=Hand)

Drawer Four

Christmas Music – Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced, Piano Duet, Piano Trio, Other Ensemble

Drawer Five

Sacred Music – Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced, Piano Duet, Other Ensemble

This has proved to be an easy-to-maintain system for my studio. Not only can I find and pull any given piece of music in a matter of seconds, but my students also know where to look for certain music. All of my music is a part of the studio lending library. Students are permitted to look through the file cabinets at any time and check out music to take home with them. And now that I use the handy Lending Library feature on Music Teacher’s Helper, I’m much less likely to permanently lose books and pieces of sheet music!

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I’ve instituted a rather informal computer lab option in my studio this semester. Students can opt to sign up for an additional 15 minutes in the computer lab either before or after their lesson time. This is a simple, generic form I created for the students to sign up on at our kick-off event for the year. You can download and use it in your studio by clicking the image below.

Several years ago I realized that 30-minute lessons were not enough for most of the students in my studio. We were always running out of time, things felt rushed, and the students would lose motivation because a piece they had worked on really hard to play for me would get a little star beside it to remind me to listen to it first the next week since we were out of time this week. I knew it would be incredibly beneficial to increase the lesson length to 45-minutes, but I wasn’t sure if parents would be willing to make the transition (since it would cost half again as much as 30-minute lessons). So, on the Year-End Parent Questionnaire that year I included this question:

“If recommended, would you be willing to transition to a 45-minute lesson slot in the Fall?” The response options were: Yes, No, Unsure

Then, as I worked through the Student Evaluations in preparation for our Year-End Evaluations, I analyzed how each student’s lesson was playing out from week to week and whether it would be beneficial for them to switch to the longer lesson time. For all but a few, I made the recommendation that they transition to 45-minute lessons in the fall.

As the parents and I discussed their child’s progress for the year, goals for the following year and my recommendations, I was thrilled to discover that most of the parents already realized that their child would benefit from longer lessons and were more than willing to make the transition. Only one parent decided to wait until the following year before making the transition.

Now I only offer 45-minute lessons to new students and love, love, love having a longer lesson time across the board in my studio! It has made a huge difference in the amount of material we are able to cover in the lesson, the fun extras that we can do each week, the progress that the students make throughout the year…and the sanity of the teacher!

In my Get Organized! and Storing Music posts, I alluded to a system I use to help stay organized when teaching lessons to 30+ students each week. It’s nothing fancy, but it helps me keep track of what materials need to go to what student and keeps my most frequently used teaching tools readily available. Here’s a snapshot of my weekly lesson organizer:

I have a hanging file for each day of the week that I teach. If I get a new book for a student, I just drop it in the file for the appropriate day. If a student accidentally forgets a book in the studio, I drop it in their lesson day file. Same goes for worksheets I want to remember to give to a specific student.

Here’s a closer look at some of the other items I keep in the organizer:

This handy notepad is where I keep track of all the music I need to look for or purchase the next time I make a trip to the music store.

I love these music flashcards! The ones I use the most are the notes on the staff. I like that each card has the full staff, regardless of whether the note is in the treble or bass clef. And I really like the second and third sections on each card that contain short patterns incorporating the specific note so that students can practice identifying and playing the note in a context similar to what they would find in a piece of music.

A collection of dice and pawns that can be used for various games at the keyboard. Very handy!

An assortment of magnets that I use with a magnetic white board. I use these for melodic dictation or I draw a quick staff on the board and use the magnets for note or interval identification.

The white board and markers get used every day in my studio! I can’t imagine functioning without them. Whether it’s something simple like writing out the Major scale pattern or practicing drawing treble clefs to fine-tuning notation skills or writing answers for listening activities, this board is well-used (obviously, since it’s falling apart!). Using a white board and markers provides an easy way to incorporate activities that address all three major learning styles – aural, visual and kinesthetic.

I’d love to know if you have tips for staying organized in your studio! I’m constantly looking for ways to run things more efficiently and love to know what’s working well for other teachers!

Following is the third installment of the Survey Question idea I’m using in my studio this Spring.

If you could automatically improve one area of your piano skills, what would it be?

* Increasing my piano level.
* Learning hard pieces.
* Sight-reading.
* Lesson work.
* Romantic sounding pieces.
* Sight-reading.
* Sight-reading.
* Sight-reading (understanding chord structures, etc.).
* Curving fingers.
* Scales.
* Staying on beat.
* Improving my piano skills faster.
* Sight-reading.
* Playing really hard notes.
* Keeping fingers curved.
* Play all the songs in the world.
* Everything! (Learn more difficult pieces faster)
* Listening and playing big compositions by ear.
* Not having pauses.

My students seem to really be enjoying the survey questions! Here’s the second question I asked, followed by all the responses I received:
What’s the most helpful technique you’ve learned in piano lessons?
* Playing one hand at a time.
* Putting your weight into the keys instead of playing all with your fingers.
* Keeping my hands up, not flat.
* Learning chord progressions.
* Piano games.
* Emphasizing notes.
* Using the metronome!
* To have a good thumb.
* Counting.
* Curved fingers.
* Fingers curved.
* Scales.
* Dynamics.
* Playing slow.
* To relax my arms!
* Scales.

Several weeks ago I started posting a weekly survey question on a white board outside my studio. At the end of each week I draw a paper from the jar with all the entries and the winner receives a prize. So far I’ve been letting the winner choose a piece of sheet music from my overflowing collection that’s accumulated as a result of receiving New Release packages from various publishers. The students have really enjoyed it and their answers to the questions have been rather enlightening! I’ll try to keep up with posting our studio questions and answers here each week. Here’s the question from the first week, “What is your favorite thing about piano lessons?”

Here’s my student Addi filling out her answer…

Here she is dropping it into the entry jar…

Here’s a list of the answers I received. (BTW, I’m tracking all these in a spreadsheet for easy reference in the future.)
* Playing at recitals. I also like how Natalie treats and helps me through difficulties and other things just the same as others even though I have a handicap.
* A nice teacher to teach me.
* Playing the games.
* Time with Natalie and making up songs.
* New songs.
* You don’t let me get lazy! I love the accountability.
* Piano games.
* Miss Natalie.
* Adding up points at the end.
* Points.
* I like everything.
* Playing songs.
* Pentascales.
* The interesting songs I get to learn.
* Reading music.
* I like learning new techniques to make the motion of a piece better (like wrist motion, etc.).
* The end. Practicing the songs.
* The help I get.
* Getting points.
* Learning to play fun and difficult pieces.
* Playing.