How to Teach Piano Lessons without Pulling Your Hair Out

I started teaching piano lessons about two years ago, and while I don't have tons of experience, I wish I would have known this information before starting.

If teaching piano is a business for you, then you must lay out to your students or your students' parents your expectations and the rules of your studio. In addition to how much your students should practice, your studio fees, contact information and the like, you need to be very specific on how and when you get paid, your inclement weather policy, and your makeup lesson policy. I have gone crazy trying to do makeup lessons for students, even when they did not give me much advance notice. You need to be clear from the beginning, and not set a precedent that allows your students to dominate your schedule. It's not that your students (or their parents) are inconsiderate and evil, but if you do one or two "unauthorized" makeups, they will get used to changing their scheduled lesson time based on their convenience.

Check out the Terms and Conditions for my studio at my website: http://charlottepiano.musicteachershelper.com/studiopoliciesandtuition.

People learn in different ways, and you have to discover what works best for your individual students. There are certain skills that I try to teach all of my students for instance, a healthful piano technique, how to read music, music theory, and ear training, but every student will have different interests and strengths. For example, there are basic principles of a healthful piano technique, but Bobby's technique will still look different than Sally's. This can be due to coordination, age, and other biological factors. Also, some students may be better at or more interested in playing by ear than reading music. It doesn't mean you should abandon reading music, but perhaps you can devote more time to ear training.

Finding out what approach to use with a particular student is a process, and may change multiple times in your tenure with that student.  If something is not working, find out why it is not working (talking to the student and the parents is a useful way to do this), and then try something else!  This advice applies to piano practice as well: don't continue to drill in bad habits; change strategies!  I recently had a student that seemed distant, unfocused, and even lazy.  I was becoming miserable because he didn't seem to remember anything.  He couldn't remember which notes were what, and he seemed to have no idea what we were trying to accomplish.  So, after beating my head against a wall for a few months, I changed him to a jazz book that was a level below his previous book.  We both became much less frustrated because he was having success and making music!  I found out later he has some minor learning disability and that my previous frustration was unnecessary.  His brain was just overloaded and he needed to take a step back and relax (as did I).

Keeping an open mind and familiarizing yourself with a variety method books, approaches, and genres of music will not only make you a better teacher, but also a more marketable teacher.

This is for your sanity and theirs.  As a young piano teacher who needs business, it's hard for me to reject someone admission into my studio.  It's feels like throwing away money (and in fact, it is), however if you find a potential student too young or too immature or just uninterested in learning piano, you should not teach them.  If you are unsure about a student, talk to the student or the parents.  Perhaps, you can set up a trial period of a few months and then re-evaluate the student's interest or maturity after that.  In addition to protecting yourself from feelings of bitterness or irritation toward the student, you are protecting the student's relationship with music as well.  An unpleasant experience with piano lessons in childhood can damage someone's relationship with music.