Teach Musically's Podcast

Running a music studio involves so much more than just our pedagogical skills - it’s a business built on relationships. The way we nurture and manage our relationships with both students and parents can often be more challenging than the teaching itself. No matter how professional you are and how detailed your studio policy is, you will run into conflict with a client at some point. Learning how to work through these conflicts in a calm and professional way can help you maintain peace and comfort in your professional life. In this podcast we discuss the most common issues that arise in our business and how we can handle them.

“He plays with so much emotion!” “Put more feeling into it!”. As teachers we are all familiar with these phrases and what they mean: an abundance or lack of musicality. Musicality is what transforms notes on the pages into a captivating performance. Teaching our students to be musical is a long journey, but not an impossible one. Listen to hear about our favourite ways to develop musicality in students of all ages and levels.

 Critiquing our students is a fine balance of honesty, kindness and effective wording. When done correctly, we can yield results from our students while also building confidence and problem solving skills. On the other hand, critiques that are delivered too harshly can cause frustration, stress and strain the relationship between student and teacher. Even worse, it can cause resentment towards music learning. In this podcast we discuss our approaches to effectively deliver critique to all personality types.

A detailed and well written studio policy can alleviate so much stress from a music teacher’s life. It is a great way to set boundaries and expectations for all of your clients. However, with the close connection we create with our students and their families comes nuance. At times, it can be the right move to make exceptions and break our policy rules in order to reward our most loyal clients. So when should we say yes and when should we stay firm? Listen to find out!

As a new music grad ready to start their studio you likely have lots of energy, excitement and great ideas about teaching! You can’t wait to start sharing your passion with the next generation of young musicians. But as you gain more experience and overcome challenges, you will learn even more about teaching and your philosophy will change and evolve with time. In this podcast we reflect on our first few years of teaching and discuss what we’ve learned, what we’ve changed and what has stayed the same. We cover studio policies, teaching methods and teacher burn out. Take a listen!

When it comes to music lessons it takes the collaboration of three people to find success: the student, the teacher and the parent. So often we overlook the importance of the parent's role in motivating and nurturing their child to do their best. With experience you will find that there is a lot of variety in the way that parents approach piano lessons. We’ve come up with the six most common parent personalities and break down their characteristics and the pros and cons of each approach. We also share some of our personal stories of parent interactions both good and bad.

In 2020 the world changed and along with it so did our teaching. Music teachers all over the world quickly moved their studios online out of necessity and were forced to quickly adapt to this new style of teaching. After two years, many teachers have made online teaching a permanent part of their studios. In this episode we reflect on our online teaching experiences - the pros and cons and how we will use online teaching going forward.

Memorization of music became common practice during the romantic era with the rise of the virtuoso performer. Today, it is common practice for musicians of all levels to perform from memory. This is a skill that requires work, discipline and dedication. In this podcast we share our personal stories of memory lapses and our approaches to memorization within our own studios. We also share our tips and tricks for secure memorizing. 

Preparing your students for RCM exams can be overwhelming! It is important that teachers have a concrete plan of how to prepare their students step by step so they can thrive in their exam! In this podcast we go through each element of the RCM exam and discuss in detail how to best prepare our students. Leanne also gives insight into some common issues she sees in the exam room and how we can best prepare our students to avoid them.

Exams are a big part of music education in North America. As teachers, it is an asset to offer exam preparation to our students. That means it’s our job to know the system inside and out so we can best serve our students. In this podcast Leanne shares her experiences as an examiner with some tips and ticks that may surprise you!