Thinking of using your skills to teach piano to others? There are so many online tools to help you along the way! Here are some of the best piano teacher resources, as recommended by New Paltz, NY teacher Cheryl E...
Whether you’re in your first year teaching piano students or your 50th year, here are seven great tools and resources that every piano teacher needs to keep new students rolling in and sticking around for the long haul!
1. This worksheet bundle. Have your students learning to read music in 21 days? Um, yes please! These packets are awesome and skip the acronyms (Every Good Boy, etc., ) and get right to being able to read music. Perfect for all ages!
2. This quiz and game website. Check out this site that a music teacher created. It offers free interactive games and quizzes AND access to the software links where you can build your own to cater to your students. Very cool.
3. This metronome app. Besides using this as a standard metronome, I also use it to see how well my student gauges tempo (you can tap along with the student to find out the tempo at which they are playing). As a composer, I use this app all the time for quick references of ideas in my head.
4. This podcast for jazz piano. Paul’s voice is the bomb. I mean, he’s from London, so that helps. And he talks through his piano chops seamlessly. Great for teachers and students wanting to explore jazz.
5. YouTube on your iPad (or phone or laptop). YouTube is the place to be pulling examples from when teaching your students. Bring an iPad loaded with awesome videos of mash-ups, inspiring performances of a piece your student is working on, or alternate ways of performing a passage. Not only will you look oh-so-cool, but you’ll break up the lesson and show your student that music exists out in the world in lots of neat ways.
6. This note-reading app. This is great for your teen who won’t practice or the kid who’s glued to the iPad. It treats reading music like a game but is also sleek and simple.
7. This career coach. Oh hey, that’s me! Here’s the thing: One-on-one coaching is the most effective way to bust through career plateaus. Coaches provide two things: new ideas and accountability. If you do not get new ideas, growth is impossible. And if you don’t have someone holding you accountable, you will go back to you default ways of working, which also does not allow for growth. What is cool about my coaching is that I also work with you on your branding and marketing — your website, the content of the site, your pricing structures, and new ways to get and keep new students.
8. TakeLessons.com. I’m listed as a TakeLessons teacher, and it’s probably the best teacher tool on the internet for getting found. The easy user interface makes it easy to manage your teaching calendar, payments, and canceled lessons in addition to gathering testimonials and increasing the chance that prospective students will find you. Both parties have the security of the TakeLessons cancellation policy, so there’s no need to badger my students for payments. Very convenient!
So try some or all of these out and see how many of the great piano teacher resources you will find yourself unable to live without!
Cheryl is a film and TV commercial composer and singer/songwriter with multiple tours, records, and TV placements under her belt. If you turned on your television this year, you’ve definitely heard her music. She teaches piano and voice in addition to composition and arrangement in New Paltz, NY. Learn more about Cheryl here!
Photo by Kirsten Jennings
Suzy S.