Introduction

Well done!  You made it to F Sharks and Cannonballs.  I’m Justine and I’m the Captain of SS Music Teacher.  My aim is to lead you through the murky waters of music teaching.  To circumnavigate the seas of - actually, I might ditch that analogy…

F Sharks is aimed at musicians who want to pursue studio teaching (as opposed to classroom teaching).  This may be your full time income earner.  It may be teaching at the local Saturday morning classes or your neighbour’s kids who want to play an instrument.

I’ve been teaching music for 20 years. I know.  Possibly longer than you’ve been alive.   Mostly I teach flute, but over the years I have also taught ukulele, guitar, violin, piano, recorder and music theory.  Currently, in addition to flute, I’m also teaching clarinet, saxophone and Japanese taiko drumming. 

Everything in the blog will lead back to the theme of being an “effective teacher” – something that’s different for everyone.  What’s effective for me, my personality, my instrument, my beliefs may not be effective for someone else.  To start off we’ll be looking at your musical and educational history – what and who has influenced you in your musical journey.

We’ll be looking at what to teach.  What’s the best order for teaching particular aspects of music?  What do you teach?  What do you not teach?  Do you follow a particular method?  Where do you find resources? How do you know if a resource is good or not?  What place does technology have in the music studio?

We’ll examine the concept of the music studio.  Where to teach?  How to set up a studio.  Where to find students.  How to handle money.  How to handle parents.  Communication for effective music teaching.

One aspect I’m asked about all the time is classroom management.  What to do with naughty kids?  What if they don’t practice?  Group lessons vs 1-1.  How to cope with differing abilities in the same group.

I’ll also cover coaching ensembles and loads more.

Feel free to jump around the different posts to topics that suits you.  Initially, until I get more posts up, I’ll be writing roughly in this order, but if you have an issue you’d like to me address immediately, I’ll have a go!

So, what about you?  I’d love to get to know you. Please introduce yourself in the comments below – who are you, where are you from, what instrument do you play/teach?