“Do you teach advanced piano students?” asks a prospective student. “I’ve just moved into town, and I’m looking for a teacher to help me prepare a piece for an audition.”
You hesitate; you don’t tend to… but could you? You feel you’d be able to, but it’s not something you’ve ever considered.
Should you?
“Do you teach advanced piano students?” asks a prospective student. “I’ve just moved into town, and I’m looking for a teacher to help me prepare a piece for an audition.”
You hesitate; you don’t tend to… but could you? You feel you’d be able to, but it’s not something you’ve ever considered.
Should you?
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Sourcing and teaching advanced repertoire would be an exciting new adventure for you.
You love teaching Mary Had A Little Lamb and seeing your beginner students’ faces light up. Starting a student off on their musical journey still fills you with excitement and joy.
However, an advanced student would bring complex and profound music. They’d bring advanced repertoire you haven’t taught before because you’ve never had the chance. That would be a new level of excitement.
You can help them explore the depths of musical expression and interpretation. Ooh, just thinking about that gets your mind racing. It’d be an opportunity to dive into the beauty of compositions by great composers. You play the pieces to your beginners and teach them all about composers like Mozart and Beethoven. Imagine delving into the pieces and helping someone master them.
If you were to teach advanced piano students, you would feel a sense of achievement you haven’t experienced before.
Related: Can You Teach Advanced Students?
Advanced students require you to call upon a different teaching skill set. They don’t need help with note reading. Finding middle C is not a problem. They’re not going to forget the F sharps.
Teaching advanced piano students will challenge your teaching skills and broaden your musical knowledge. Sure, you can play that Bach prelude, but helping someone else play it to the best of their abilities and helping them understand the inner workings of the piece? You’ll be switching on a different part of your musical brain.
Rather than instructing your students to “find all the ‘C’s” or “clap the rhythm of bar one three times” (all things you love doing, by the way), you’ll be helping them shape the different voices to bring out the melody line.
You’ll be identifying the chord progressions and finding the scale patterns…Things you’re more than capable of doing but that you’ve never helped a student do before.
I can see the cogs turning as you think about getting another copy of the piece and pulling out your colored pencils, ready to analyze the different sections.
As a piano teacher, you’re lucky enough to be able to introduce students to the world of music. Advanced students are already immersed in this world.
Your privilege now comes in guiding them to become exceptional pianists. You’ll be shaping the musicians of the future, helping them reach their full potential.
When they’re performing in front of hundreds of people, you’re the teacher (or one of several teachers) who got them there.
Imagine how you’d feel sitting in the audience watching them. Or learning that they passed their university audition. Or hearing about the first piano lesson they give after being inspired by you.
Now, that’s a feeling, not many people can experience. But you could, if you started to teach advanced piano students…
Related: 3 Myths of Teaching Advanced Students
Once you’ve successfully taught a couple of advanced piano students, that could be your new “thing.” Your selling point. Your point of difference.
It’ll help you become known as the piano teacher who guides and nurtures advanced students, and they’ll come to you specifically for your expertise and knowledge.
Of course, you’ll still teach beginners (if that’s what you want), but attracting more serious and dedicated students to your studio would be nice.
Being a piano teacher is a very fulfilling job. Watching your beginner students perform Jingle Bells at their first-ever concert and seeing the pride on their parents’ faces never gets old. (Okay, hearing Jingle Bells is something that gets old…)
Witnessing your advanced students‘ progress and mastery of advanced repertoire feels different. And until you experience that, it’s a feeling that’s hard to describe.
As a teacher, you share in your students’ joy and pride, knowing you played a significant role in their musical journey.
This sense of accomplishment is a powerful motivator for you and your students.
Teaching advanced piano students may come with challenges. But the personal and professional rewards make it a valuable and enriching experience.
Teaching the piano can be lonely, but at TopMusic, we have your back.
Janna Williamson has created the “Advancing Pianists” course to get you started on your advanced teaching journey.
This is an absolute goldmine of inspiration, covering…
This course is available to Studio and Evolution members of TopMusicPro (and is an enjoyable watch even if you don’t have advanced students!)
