5 Tips for Being an Effective Private Piano Teacher

Piano teachers are a dime a dozen. But to truly differentiate yourself from the masses, you need to become effective in your teachings. Music is your passion; that is why you decided to go into the sacred world of teaching. You need to connect that passion to your daily work. Here are 5 tips on how to do it:

Personalize It

Even if you decided to only focus on a particular age group, your students are still all individuals. For example, your first student of the day’s concentration span might be smaller than the second student.

Or you might take 10 minutes teaching a new technique to one student, whereas it takes the whole lesson for the next student to grasp it. Personalize your planning to fit with each student’s strengths and weaknesses. The cookie-cutter lesson plans are for mediocre teachers, not effective ones.

Embrace the Challenges

Quitting when things are tough is the easiest choice, especially for young children. Learning something new, even the piano, is not always smooth sailing. There will be challenges all students will face. If it’s a specific part of the sheet music they get wrong for the twentieth time or finding it challenging to keep the tempo. 

Frustration will build not just for you but for your students too. You need to embrace the challenges with a smile and determination that will rub off on your student. Do not sigh, get agitated or leave the room in a huff. Hold it together, and try different angles.

Love What You Do

The saying “Do what you love and love what you do” is very apt to become an effective piano teacher. Breaking it down, you have to love the piano. Do you still get goosebumps when your fingers run over the keyboard? If not, seriously consider teaching something else. 

Do you love teaching? You need to like being around people, talking, and expressing yourself to be a teacher. If you don’t love teaching the piano, it will show during your lessons. Your students will not get the optimal development and mentorship they require. 

Be Flexible

Face-to-face piano lessons are not a fit-all option anymore. Although there are still students who would prefer the face-to-face lesson, times have changed, and more students are becoming prone to doing virtual lessons.

In addition, during the pandemic, teaching online was the only way for students to still keep on track with their lessons and piano teachers to make an income still. Therefore, you need to adapt and know how to teach music online

Stay a Student

Continuous improvement is imperative for you to become efficient. No one knows everything because there are always new techniques being developed. You must stay a student in the sense that you are continually looking for more knowledge in your passion.

Or you can brush up on your old study books. Do not become complacent just because you already got your degree or that you are only teaching beginners. 

There is a reason why you decided to up your game and want to be an efficient piano teacher. Write out the “why” and stick it in your diary or on your bathroom mirror. There will be numerous times during your teaching career when you need to be reminded of the “why.”