Do you have many teen students in your teaching studio? Do you find teenage students sometimes mysteriously quit or lose interest? It might be time to start taking repertoire requests a little more often.
You can take requests from all your students, not just the teenagers. This is key to keeping more of your teens in music lessons though.
Teenagers are starting to “find themselves” (as cheesy as that sounds). They’re identity is wrapped up in their friends and interests, and music plays a big role in that. You need to be teaching them music they think is cool. And you won’t know what they think is cool unless you ask them.
So ask all your students today (especially the teens) if they have any special repertoire requests.
Vibrant Music Teaching members, you can access this resource inside the VMT library. Not a member yet? Find out more about becoming a member here.
The To-Play-List
Ditch the name if you’re not a fan of wordplay and puns, just keep the concept. Start a list in your student’s folders or notebooks with the repertoire requests they give you.
Some of these will be within reach, and some will be more long term goals. Making a note of them in your student’s folder lets them know you haven’t forgotten what they want to learn.
Teen students aren’t going to keep studying and practicing music because they should, or because their parents want them to. They need to be invested in their own musical progress. Give them a reason to be.
Action Steps
- Ask your students for repertoire requests.
- Source the ones they can start right away.
- Make a note of the ones they need to work towards.
- Keep revisiting the To-Play-List and encourage them to add to it too.
What’s the most common repertoire request you get?
Is it one of the old favourites or something more unusual? Do you encourage your students to come to you with requests for pieces regularly?
Let us know what you think and what requests you get back today in the Vibrant Music Studio Teachers group on Facebook.
Did you miss any of the posts in the 30 Day Studio Refresh? Check them out by clicking here.