Guest Post: Back to Basics – The Realities of Running Your Own Studio

Teaching others how to hone their musical talents can be one of the most enjoyable and rewarding things you can choose to do. However, from time to time things can get frustrating and a reality check is in order. When this happens, it is time to take a step back and evaluate the basics of your operations. What follows is a brief list of things to keep in mind so that you don’t suddenly find yourself falling behind as a music teacher.

Time Management
As with most important endeavors, time is of the essence. Managing time when teaching music is especially important because lessons are usually a half-hour or less. If you find yourself constantly cutting things short, you might want to try using a timer for a while. Time your warm-ups, exercises, and practice time. Be sure and figure in time for discussions that may come up. Using the timer will keep you on your toes and moving along.

Lesson Planning
Planning out lessons ahead of time is of vital importance when teaching music, especially to beginners. The basic building blocks must be learned and properly reinforced before anything else can be accomplished, and tracking progress and planning accordingly is a big part of the process. Lesson ideas are available in many places on the web, here included. Be sure to encourage your students to practice and make adjustments accordingly.

Rapport
Rapport with students is an essential aspect of the relationship when you run your own studio. Obviously, teaching music requires discipline, practice, and hard work if budding musicians wish to become better. However, if you don’t have a good rapport with your students, they may not be your students for long anyway. Much of this is dependent upon the age of the student in question.

Communication
As with any business endeavor or teacher-student relationship, communication is very important as well. If a lesson must be moved or canceled, you must give your clients adequate advanced warning. If something isn’t working or is working especially well, you must convey that to your student, or their parents if applicable. Great communication is essential when dealing with others.

Quality
You are helping to teach a very important skill to people. As such, you are compensated; be sure that your clients are getting their money’s worth during each session. Quality and measurable progress are ways to help your business and private studio grow over the course of time.

This post was contributed by Holly McCarthy, who writes on the subject of the lists of best universities. She invites you to e-mail her your feedback.

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