The Vibrant Music Teaching Podcast | Proven and practical tips, strategies and ideas for music teachers

To teach great piano sight-reading skills, you need to make the thought process into tangible movements and activities. These preparatory steps are essential for any beginner or intermediate student to do before sight-reading a new piece of music. Find out more about membership at vibrantmusicteaching.com.

Teaching by rote, when done right, is a great way to teach the piano. You can bring rote learning into many aspects of teaching piano, and these days, sight reading is one small part of my teaching the piano rather than the only thing. Students develop many important skills learning through rote such as: recognising patterns, developing their internal ear, and refining outstanding technique. This...

Invest in these sight-reading skills in your studio Imagine cliff diving blindfolded into unfamiliar waters without knowing what is below. Are your students feeling cliff diving like fears when asked to sight read? Sight reading can feel scary, but adding fun to the process and equipping students with skills by engaging them in sight reading games can help tackle their fears of on-the-spot playing...

Teaching sight-reading skills to piano students is not always as simple as teaching them great reading skills.  To be a great sight-reader you need more than just note names and intervals. You need to be able to translate those to movements that make sounds...quickly. The difference between reading and sight-reading is time . Or, rather, the lack thereof. When we read music that we’ve never s...

Taking apart a specific genre or traditional style of music and putting it back together is a great way to understand it. In this episode, I'll give you 2 examples of how to do that and then improvise with the elements. Find out more about membership at vibrantmusicteaching.com.

Most of us teach, perform and listen to Classical music. Many of us also teach pop songs or jazz. But do you ever break outside of these walls? And if you want to teach different types of music, how do you find it? That's the question we'll unpack in today's show. Find out more about membership at vibrantmusicteaching.com.

As music teachers, we all want teaching studios that are dynamic, full of life, and bursting with creativity. We want our students to arrive for their weekly lessons feeling motivated and excited. Yet, if we’re honest, there are times when this simply isn’t the case. In this episode, I'll give you some strategies to try when things feel stagnant in your music lessons. Find out more about membershi...

Teachers can find lessons everywhere if they look carefully enough. In this article, I want to share with you the lessons I learnt from my years of folk dancing that show up today in my music studio. I was that student growing up. You know the one that you complain to other teachers about because they’re too overscheduled to practice? Yeah, that one. The thing was, I wasn’t actually overscheduled....

What does your music studio brand say about you? Do you even have a brand? Of course, you do! Has anyone ever said to you, “I hear you’re the person to talk to about piano lessons!” Maybe you’re filling your schedule (and even a long waiting list!) through referrals alone. Or maybe you’re having a hard time getting new students and you need to advertise. What exactly are you going to advertise? Wh...

Growing is as much a part of business as breathing is a part of life. It could be the smaller (but VERY important) types of expansion such as growing as a teacher and musician, finding a supportive teacher community to join, or recruiting new students. It could also be the more major types of growth like: Going to work for someone else – an institution or music school Becoming your own boss, trans...

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If we want the music teaching industry to move forward, we need to be part of the change.  We can only have so much impact through our own teaching. Mentorship is one way to reach beyond the walls of our own studio. A few years ago I made a decision. I put an ad out online with an offer to mentor a new teacher in my studio.  I didn’t know how this project would go or if I’d even get any...

When you think about hiring your first teacher, how do you feel? 🤔 Clueless? Scared? Definitely-not-for-me? Perhaps you’re excited and ready to start ASAP. We all know hiring a great teacher is important, but hiring the right-fit teacher is vital to you and your business’ wellbeing. Here’s a step-by-step guide to getting that first, right-fit teacher onboarded. Find out more about membership at v...

Business expansion is not for every teacher. If you’re thinking about growing your music teaching business, read this article first. My job in this post is to persuade you NOT to expand your music teaching business. Why am I doing that? I’m taking on this project because everyone else seems to be taking the opposite one. Everywhere you look you might be hearing about entrepreneurialism (what a wor...

Welcome to The Vibrant Music Teaching Podcast! This is the show for you if you’re an instrumental or vocal music teacher that wants friendly, creative and accessible advice.  I’m your host Nicola Cantan. My membership site, Vibrant Music Teaching, helps teachers all over the world to include more games and creativity in their lessons, so that their students giggle their way through music theo...

As a piano teacher, life and work tend to be intermingled and mashed together – but when that balance gets off kilter, you need to readjust.

With all the emotions which come along with learning to play an instrument, meditation can be a great tool for piano students. Here's how.

What's the best method for teaching piano scales? Let's explore the various options so you can try different approaches with your students.

Have you ever stopped to question whether you teach piano scales in the best order for your students? Learn more in this article and podcast.

When is the best time for piano students to start scales? Here we'll unpack the ins and outs so you can decide yourself when to start scales.

Dazed by dorian? Muddled by mixolydian? If you don't teach piano modes in your studio, here's the lowdown so you can get started.

Even if you teach music lessons one-on-one, you can still include games and make lessons incredibly fun for your students. Here's how.

Having a lending library in your piano studio is a great way to expand the resources available to your students. Whether you’re just starting a library or extending your existing one, there are a few things you can do to make it go more smoothly.

Found a great music theory game but it’s just not quite right for your student? Here are some ideas to adapt any piano teaching game for your students.

Have you ever had a piano parent complain that you’re playing too many games in lessons? Maybe they’ve asked you to take out all the games and just spend the whole lesson time on the bench? Party poopers!