When you’ve organised a good studio space and put together the scores and equipment needed to start teaching, it’s time to find new students. Actually, attracting them isn’t so difficult. As you and I know, learning to play violin is a very desirable activity, and as a school principal once told me, a rather prestigious one. Selecting the right students from those who apply is another matter, the subject of a later post. Today we outline some of the more successful ways to build up class numbers until the time when word of mouth becomes the trusted primary source.
Advertising
A short advert in a weekly local newspaper for a few months will usually produce a trickle of inquiries, which I’d have to rate a limited success in our case. It has the advantages of being inexpensive and likely to draw people from the surrounding areas. We specified beginners in an age range from 3 to a maximum of 6 years old.
Two or three choices become clear when you decide to become a violin teacher: take a job, set up your own studio, or have a mix of both.
Photo courtesy of Reuben Hustler
Each choice has its own advantages, benefits and challenges. A teaching job in a school or institution has the security of a regular salary and usually a prescribed curriculum, although you may sometimes feel that you follow someone else’s agenda and conditions.
Setting up for yourself and becoming successfully self employed entails more work and has less financial certainty in the beginning, yet you gain complete control over your time and energy and have the opportunity to create a flourishing violin programme founded on your ideals and vision.
Founding your own studio practice is an attractive and exciting adventure that will take you on an enjoyable and fulfilling lifetime journey.
Take into account the time needed to assemble enough students to make it viable. During this period a part time teaching job can be a good option, allowing time to build up numbers for your own studio.
Whatever you decide, setting up for future success means putting in place the right structure and systems.
“I’m so lucky. I have a fantastic profession, which I love. My work life is fulfilling and rewarding, and I’m excited by the opportunities and creative challenges it brings me.”
How often do you hear expressions of happiness and contentment like these – about work?
They are the words of a successful violin teacher running a flourishing studio of enthusiastic students who are all making great progress.
That’s the golden goal. How do you make it become a reality?
How to Set Up and Run a Successful Violin Studio
In the new series on TSV Gold,How to Set Up and Run a Successful Violin Studio, we’ll show you how to do it. You’ll learn from our greatest successes – and from our worst mistakes.
You’ll find out the important things to set in place to make your teaching life happy and productive, providing you with a healthy income and proper holiday periods to sustain a balanced life – while your students enjoy exceptional progress.
Here’s a brief list of some of the topics we’ll cover:
Gearing up for a successful studio teaching practice;
How to set your fee structure and get paid fairly and appropriately;
How to develop and organise the Teaching Schedule;
How to attract and select new students to make your programme accelerate;
The initial phone call and qualifying newcomers;
The interview, the offer and how the process of choosing of students is critical to the success of your programme;
Important issues about accepting students who have been studying elsewhere;
Where to find and how to use the right venues for group classes and concerts;
How to keep up with the boring stuff like accounting, taxation, insurance and record keeping;
Accreditation – for you and your students.
If there’s a topic or question on setting up and running a teaching studio you’d like to ask about, let us know! Go to TSV Gold Support on the Gold Dashboard.
From the activities and enjoyment of the Play Through and Teaching Session 2, the group class is now buzzing with energy and enthusiasm. Parents and students are chatting with each other, exchanging ideas and discussing points from the sessions. It’s a good time for the teachers to take advantage of the heightened concentration to share their knowledge and experience about important areas of learning to play the violin. It’s Session 3: Welcome to The Talk!
A relatively short session of about 5 to 15 minutes, The Talk is an opportunity to engage and educate parents and students about topics such as how to implement morning and afternoon practice in order to learn new pieces quickly, infallible techniques to securely memorise the music and how to create fluent musical ability.
In the video below in this post I present my talk on the keys to daily practice. It’s particularly interesting to see how the students themselves contribute to the discussion.
Within our violin school The Talk also grew into a kind of interactive forum about how to work together successfully.
Revisiting Japan at the end of last year after a break of 8 years provided the perspective to see the broader picture of its recent times. The country we came to know and love is going through some conspicuous changes. The sadness of the Fukushima Tsunami tragedy still resonates quietly below the cheerful stoicism of public affairs. Tokyo shopping crowds are denser than ever and the economic powerhouse rumbles on relentlessly, while a drift of young people from rural and regional areas to the already overcrowded cities hints at subtle shifts in Japanese society.
View of Tokyo from Shinjuku Tower
As has been happening for many years in practically all western countries, the influence of major corporations and the multinational chains is reaching more deeply than ever into everyday life, especially noticeable in the decline of small makers, craftspeople and cottage industries. Even many traditional Japanese items and goods are now manufactured in countries with cheap labour.
Although the unrestrained expansion of private capital causes visible losses in local industry and artisan skills, the effect on community organisations, education and the arts is less obvious.
Is the robust Japanese learning style we admire so much in danger of softening and losing direction? Are the family and local community, at the heart of education, being distracted by surging consumerism and the demands of the commercial world?
In the beautiful Kiso Valley we saw our first signs of the reversal and rebuttal of these trends. We stayed in a little guest house converted from an old silk making house, lovingly refurbished by a young couple who had recently turned away from the corporate world. They were fired up with a vision of renewal in rural communities and working hard to bring it about.
Walking in the stunning autumn scenery of the mountain trails, the local residents we met and conversed with on our walks greeted and welcomed us with genuine good will and interest.
Tourism has brought discomforting changes to the lives and economies of these history-rich rustic villages, yet the spirit of friendly hospitality is as strong and fresh as ever.
With snow gently falling outside our hotel window, we watched several fascinating stories on local television featuring the dynamic rebirth of handmade artisan crafts and traditional organic farming practices. Despite seemingly overwhelming odds, a revival is well under way.
Stone Sculptures
Glass Artist Kasai
People who come to Japan to work or study quickly realise the value and power of Japanese learning style and ethic.
Qualities such as the single minded focus of perfect practice, the close attention to the finest details, the will to endure until success is attained, the tradition of ingenuity, an unselfish consideration for the welfare of other students and the strength of harmonious collaboration make the Japanese way of learning a powerful means of achieving the right kind of progress and achievement in any field of activity.
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