Posted by: clariniano on: June 2, 2009
There has been an alarming trend in the past few years for private music teachers to charge low fees for lessons. In some parts the fees for private music lessons, especially piano and guitar lessons, have become so low that babysitters and housecleaners are charging more money than private music teachers, without requiring study at [...]
Posted by: clariniano on: April 28, 2009
There are many musicians, especially advanced ones, who resist the idea of learning music to the point of mastery. A typical response often runs along the lines of “I have so much material to work on, how do you expect me to master it all?” Another common response is “if I were to learn all [...]
Posted by: clariniano on: April 28, 2009
Rules of advertising: You have probably heard of the saying, “out of sight, out of mind.” Therefore, “S/he who advertises is more likely to get the students” . Why? Because someone else might beat you to making the decision to start advertising themselves as a teacher of a particular instrument. Besides, how are people supposed [...]
Posted by: clariniano on: April 6, 2009
Besides the cost of lessons and the teacher’s location, one of the most frequent questions piano teachers are asked by prospective parents of students is if the student may start learning the piano on a keyboard. While there are some piano teachers who insist on using a piano from the very beginning, and do not [...]
Posted by: clariniano on: April 6, 2009
When I was a teenager and young adult, I was a self-taught pianist and clarinetist, I had no choice but to go this route (due to limited financial means and lack of support from family). However, I do not advocate the self-study for most people, especially beginners in their first two to three years of [...]
Posted by: clariniano on: March 23, 2009
Most music schools pay their teachers poorly. What you pay in lesson fees to music schools, individual teachers only get 40-60% of the lesson fee the school charges. Yet, many music schools spend hundreds, even thousands, on mass marketing and slick advertising to recruit students. Because most music schools pay their teachers poorly, many [...]
Posted by: clariniano on: March 21, 2009
Many people who own acoustic pianos, especially parents of young piano students and in schools, but even in some music studios, do not tune their instruments often enough; often 2-5 years go by before some instruments are tuned. However, there are four important reasons to keep a piano in tune: it is difficult to play [...]
