In June this year, The Happy Pianist organised its first ever Music Educators Bootcamp, a training specially organised to help our piano teachers build their career in full-time private piano teaching.
We had a great time with our piano teachers throughout the entire day, where we dive deep to equip our teachers with the essential skills to not only teach well, but also earn a respectable income they truly deserve for their efforts.
The bootcamp kick start with the Teaching segment, where we have Ms Phebe Yeo to share with our teachers the different teaching methodologies they can use for their own students.
Here’s an important takeaway: Students has different learning style, and its important to use the right method so that the student learn the best!
Usually teachers just use the same teaching method for all their students, kids or adults. Some students can follow, but you also realise some students get bored and find music really hard to learn.
But music can be really fun and easy to learn, only if the teacher knows the learning style of the student!
That’s the skills we want to equip our teachers with, so they can maximise the learning potential of every student.
Ms Phebe continues to share different methods and strategies to motivate and inspire a student.
This is really important because we realise more and more students are losing interests in music!
How do we know?
Because over at The Happy Pianist, we are getting such enquires everyday of kids losing interests because of their teachers!
By knowing how to motivate kids and ignite their passion in music, teachers are happy because their students can progress faster, and parents are happy too!
Their kids will be self-motivated to play and practice on the piano automatically, without nagging or pushing. Isn’t that something all teachers and parents wish to see in their kids?
In the second half of the bootcamp, the teachers take off their teaching hat, and put on their career cap.
It’s the Teaching Career segment!
They learn how to build up their teaching career, by getting more private students, and at the right fees.
Have you wonder why some teachers can fill up their entire lesson schedule with students in 3-6 months, while some teachers struggle to even get 1 student a month?
Many teachers also thought it is about charging lower to get more students.
Some charge really low, and yes they do get students. But because the fees are so low, they have to take in A LOT of students just to have a sustainable income to feed themselves.
Many teachers also thought that it is about getting higher and higher certification.
The higher their qualification is, they will get paid more. But do they really get paid more? (Hint, I have Diploma teachers earning more than Masters Degree teachers.)
Knowing how to quote the right fees is really important, because these will get them the right students, and enable them to earn a respectable income to sustain their full-time private teaching (and no need to go join a music school or do other part-time to sustain their income).
Our teachers are blown away when they finally know the secrets to charging the right fees.
Other than just learning, the teachers also know more about one another, build deeper relationships, and some even made plans for future partnerships!
This is not just a day of learning, but a day of making new friends too!
All in all, our teachers enjoyed the bootcamp, and we are happy to do our part and build up their teaching career too!
And that is just the start of a new journey.
We are continuing supporting our bootcamp teachers and we are looking forward to great results from them after the bootcamp!
There’s currently no future plans for next Music Educators Bootcamp. But if you’re keen, you can register here, and if we organize the next one, we will inform you.
In the Music Educators Bootcamp, Mark taught piano teachers the business aspects of getting more students.
Apart from relying on recommendations and Happy Pianist to get me students, Mark shared strategies that allow me to get students myself.
Mark’s “10 Quick Action Steps” helped me to get started easily. Excellent tips and guidance were given. Since my computer skills is lacking, Mark helped me a lot too. That’s a practical bonus to me.🙏🙏
And for Ms Phebe, thanks to your illustration of note values with the legos which was new to me at the bootcamp. My granddaughter had big legos and I showed her how to count the rhythm.
She’s 4 years old and understood. She taught her mum what she learnt. Her mum was surprised that legos can be used to teach music!!
The Music Educators Bootcamp is highly recommended for freelance private piano teachers in search of students. 👍👍
Hi Mark and Phebe, for the Music Educators Bootcamp, I’d give a 5/5 review. Thank you!
Thank you Mark for getting me started on my music educator’s journey with more ease! Mark is very prompt in replies and has matched numerous students to me.
I recently attended his music educator’s program and has gotten many useful insights on how to grow my career as a music educator.
Mark has been a dream to work with and I highly recommend him to anyone who is looking to learn piano or starting out to teach. THANK YOU! 🙂
Attended the Music Educator’s Bootcamp organised by The Happy Pianist and it led me to think about my teaching methods as a music educator as a whole and how i can improve on my current teaching.
There is never an end to learning, teachers have to keep learning too! It was a successful and insightful workshop and I will continue strive to become a better teacher!