Unlock the Musician Within: How to Incentivize Music Practicing and Boost Your Student's Skills

Practicing, most people don’t like it. I didn’t like it all that much growing up. And I liken the idea of practicing to my adults to “working out”. We know we need to do it to get better but, you have to make time for it to truly make a difference in growth and ability to progress.

With kids, it’s a little easier, because you have the parent there to remind them to get it done. For my own child, who takes lessons from another teacher, has a reminder on our home speaker device to remind him at 3:15 to practice each day. Here are some top tips to help incentivize your students to practice more frequently.

1. Personal Incentivizing. My kid knows that he can’t go out to play with friends until he is done practicing. He has now developed the habit to practice before the reminder goes off because he really wants to go out and play. So he developed his own personal incentivizing. Talk with the parent about how they can figure out or learn what is a personal incentive to practice for their child. Could be anything from watching tv, or playing with friends. Or creating their own little sticker chart at home.

2. Sticker Charts work wonders. Not only does it allow the student to see their stickers increase over time but they are likening the idea of results-based progress. “If I do this, I get better at this.” Each year, we have a 75 Days of Practicing challenge in my studio to help incentivize consistent practicing leading up to our big spring recital.

3. Candy Bowl. It’s as simple as having a bowl with candy for your students to take a piece at the end of each lesson. But, set rules to go with it. Good lesson and practicing the week before they could take an extra piece before they leave.

4. Have the student perform regularly. You can create monthly or bi-monthly performance classes for your students to perform for each other. That way they are always working towards something to showcase, which means, if they are going to perform it, they have to practice it to be ready. If the student isn’t at a specific level of performance for a piece they can’t perform. It’s harsh but it keeps the kids at a certain level of expectance in their practice habits.

Which tip would have helped you most when you were a kid learning your instrument? Be sure to leave a comment and let me know!

Happy Teaching!

Pre-made Recital Program Canva Templates

Need help with a quick and easy recital program? I made 4 different Holiday Themed Recital Program Templates you can use using Canva.com

You must create an account to access, and be sure to save the templates to your account before you make changes so everyone can access them as they are now.

Happy Teaching!

Successful Music Studio Bookkeeping -- NOW AVAILABLE!

Ready to get your books in order, literally? I’m an organizing guru with my books for my studio and I’m sharing all my secrets and in this mini course. Get access to the same templates I’ve been using for years that are easily customizable and duplicatable, year after year and student after student.

What you get:

I walk you through how to organize your studio folder right from the get go!

Lesson Summary (What I call invoices) for single and multiple students, and how to print and send it to your students (Set for every month of the year)

Payment Receipt (with attendance log) (for every month of the year and a yearly summary)

Total Money Earned sheet so you can see in one place, how much you’re earning, gross and net each month and for the whole year across your entire studio (Along with a year by year summary to watch your business grow!)

Tax Expense report

Inventory Acquisition, Lending library, Sale log

Plus 2 bonus!

Each sheet is designed to look simple yet professional, good enough to send to any student, and to be used as official documents come tax season. All formulas included, so all you have to do is just enter in the appropriate information and it’s done.

Tutorial videos included for every sheet on how to customize, use, save and print.

Templates for both Apple iOS Numbers and Windows EXCEL.

Happy Teaching!

Halloween Week Lesson Plan

October is one of our fun months in the studio where the room decor changes/add in Halloween decorations and the magical candy bowl appears, (you can read about that here). The beginning of the month each student starts to learn a Halloween specific song that we work through over the 4 weeks, I have a collection of Halloween books and various levels of sheet music that I call “community music” where the student will borrow it and bring it back at the end of the month. I use the Inventory Acquisition, sales and loan log to keep track of who has what music.

Each year in my studio, we have what we call HALLOWEEN WEEK! Halloween week is a special week where the students are encouraged to dress up in their Halloween Costume, I wear mine as well, but we focus the lesson completely what truly makes Halloween, Halloween…THE MUSIC!

I consider it a throw away lesson where we don’t go over anything new in their lesson books but focus solely on musical examples, playing different songs either over Youtube (youtube kids has great little kid appropriate songs that are fun to listen to that aren’t scary) , the origin of Halloween music, sounds, chords, and so forth. This works great and fills in easily for my 30 minute lessons.

Students that have longer lessons we also sightread and start working through 1-2 Intermediate Halloween pieces.

For my advance 60-90 minute lessons students read through Saint-Saëns - Danse Macabre or Macdowell Witches Dance.

Each student also gets a treat to take home. This year, I’m making these Monster Rice Crispy Treats.

SECRET: Discuss with each parent ahead of October to see if they are okay with their child learning Halloween songs. Have a book with Thanksgiving themed songs just in case.

Use this template to make a flyer / poster to hand out or send your student family to remind them about Halloween Week!

Make Holidays Count In Your Studio!

Never underestimate the power of incentivizing! Mid September I had one student asking when I will start putting the Halloween candy bowl out? It’s funny, because kids remember the smallest details. And while it’s just something super small and just for a month (also December with various candy cane flavors) the students ALL LOOK FORWARD to earning that piece of candy after their lesson.

So, use the holidays to help drive incentives when you can. Make is special for the kids and they will come back each and every week excited, or have something to look forward to each and every holiday.

Don’t break the bank, just keep it super simple, but PLAN AHEAD. (It’s near October and I’m already thinking about a little something for the students for Christmas.)

Holiday treat ideas that we have in my studio:

Halloween: Candy basket, let them pick it out BEFORE lesson so that a) they don’t forget to grab it before they leave b) they have that candy staring them in the face and it helps them stay focused more during lessons.

Thanksgiving: Turkey gift, you can make little homemade treats, I make these turkey cookies. Don’t feel like you have to make a whole plate for the whole family. It can be just a single treat just for your student.

Christmas: Candy Cane plate. I also plan a Christmas gift for each student. In our house I have hidden horns and pianos on my tree and add to it year after year. I’ve started this for my students. They each get an ornament for their tree (year after year students can start collecting an assortment of ornaments for their own music themed tree) Or any gift, big or small. Remember to track all purchases for your expense report in your Bookkeeping

Valentines: Heart Cookies. I like to make a big batch of sugar cookies. And because they are easier to make as a batch, each family will get a plate of cookies.

Easter: Little mini Easter baskets, and fill with candy. Super simple and low cost.

Happy Teaching!