how to motivate teenagers
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Teach music confidently without the stress

The Real Reason Teens are Quitting Piano – Part 1

by Tim Topham

Are Your Teens Quitting Piano? Here’s how to motivate them: Is it just me or is it getting harder to stop teens quitting piano lessons? No one has any time, every after-school minute is jam-packed with activities, and despite the costs and logistics of piano lessons, practice always takes a back seat to everything else ... The Real Reason Teens are Quitting Piano – Part 1

05/08/2023 Read more

CPTP159: Inspiring and Motivating Teens with Jerald Simon

by Tim Topham

Do you have trouble motivating teens in your piano studio? I think we’ve all found this difficult from time-to-time. My guest today is an expert at reaching teen students and connecting to them with the music they love. Jerald Simon has composed a whole series of pieces designed to inspire students that are especially great ... CPTP159: Inspiring and Motivating Teens with Jerald Simon

04/26/2019 Read more

CPTP140: Getting Teen Beginners Fired-Up with Jennifer Eklund

by Tim Topham

Some teachers really find teen beginners a bit of a struggle. These students come to us from a very different place than our younger kiddos and often with pretty unreal expectations of how fast they’re going to progress. But these were some of Jennifer Eklund’s favourite students to teach. She’s on the podcast today to ... CPTP140: Getting Teen Beginners Fired-Up with Jennifer Eklund

09/21/2018 Read more

CPTP087: Top 6 Myths of Teaching Pop Piano

by Tim Topham

When it comes to teaching pop piano, I’ve heard it all. Teachers cite these six barriers for getting into pop teaching time and again. But today I’m going to bust these myths. I get why you might be reluctant to branch into this area. Especially if you’ve bought into any of these preconceptions about teaching ... CPTP087: Top 6 Myths of Teaching Pop Piano

05/12/2017 Read more

How to WAKE UP a sleepy piano student!

by Nicola Cantan

I’m super excited to share this guest post with you by Nicola Cantan. Nicola runs a thriving piano studio in Dublin, Ireland and blogs at Colourful Keys. Nicola’s blog is all about effective practice, teaching ideas and motivating students and it’s great that she’s taken the time to write this article about firing-up those sleepy, over-scheduled piano ... How to WAKE UP a sleepy piano student!

03/04/2015 Read more

Why extrinsic rewards are so bad for motivation

by Tim Topham

Do rewards motivate people? Absolutely: They motivate people to get rewards! So states Daniel Pink in his engaging book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. According to his research, extrinsic rewards, particularly “if-then” or “contingent” rewards (“if you do this, then you’ll get that”) snuff out all self motivation and creativity, regardless of ... Why extrinsic rewards are so bad for motivation

02/09/2012 Read more