Five Things You Can Do For Your Private Music Studio During the Summer Slump
Ah, the dreaded summer slump. To most private music teachers I know, this time of year feels very uncertain. As some students travel for vacations with family and camp with friends, other students say a permanent farewell because of they’re moving over the summer, changing instruments or just plain tired. While the topic of summer retention is best saved for another day, most teachers know that some degree of a summer slump in terms of education and income is unavoidable in a private music studio. Luckily by recognizing this change in schedule ahead of time we can strategically plan some activities that will boost our studio business and improve the experience of our students once school is back in session and everyone settles into the steady school year routine.
Here are some of my favorite ways to fill the gaps of summer that improve my private music studio!
1. Plan some studio events!
Summer is a great time to schedule some extra activities on your studio calendar. Whether you coordinate a special studio meet up for a summer concert being held at the park or schedule some bonus group lessons, this is a great opportunity to build some community and memories with your students! For example, my local city park hosts a free concert with the Hagerstown Municipal Band every Sunday evening during the summers, as well as frequent concerts on Saturday evenings as well. Many other towns offer similar events and often all you need are folding chairs or blankets to get together with your students and their families!
In addition to summer specific plans, this is also the perfect time to start planning programs for the fall and spring. Will you offer group classes in the fall? Where will you do it? What space will you use? Or maybe you’ll plan some studio field trips for during the school year! For my own studio, I nail down what Maryland Symphony Orchestra concerts we’ll attend together over the summer and get dates out as soon as possible. Parents appreciate the advance notice and this gives you time to hype up the event.
Some other ideas to keep in mind as you’re looking ahead to your school year calendar and starting to plan events are:
· Your local Solo and Ensemble festivals
· Coordinating student performances at local nursing homes, retirements centers, community events and more
· Studio Parties (Holiday, chamber music, sight reading party… Options are endless here!)
· Recurring any gigs you regularly take for the holidays
· Professional Training and Development opportunities
I find the more I outline my studio schedule in advance and include some of my other professional obligations, the less chance I have of becoming over booked and stretched thin. I try to anticipate how all these factors might impact my ability to teach and interact with my students so that it all comes together for me to be the best teacher I can be.
2. Review Your Studio Policy
For my own sanity I try to review my studio policy twice a year. Once before the new year hits and once over the summer. I’ve settled into this routine out of practicality; Most new students enroll in September or January in my experience. Luckily I’ve refined my policy enough over the years and I feel it clearly outlines expectations and procedures for my studio, so this process happens quickly and relatively painlessly. It is still a good idea to go back and check your wording since things do change in a studio. Where you once were able to manage make up lessons, your schedule may not allow for such liberal availability now. My most recent update to my policy outlined the addition of online lessons for days with inclement weather over the winter. Other common updates are changes to your payment schedule or rate increases, which are good to review a couple times ayear as well.
These are all things to consider when you review your studio policy. And of course, if you don’t have your own individualized studio policy, now is a great time to tackle that project! Even if you teach under a music school or store’s policies, I find it is best to maintain your own custom policy to distribute to students and their families. This provides a personalized touch, respects the individuality of your private studio and can often be more detailed than the generic policy generated by a music store or school with many teachers.
3. Coordinate a summer camp (or five!)
I admit it. This is the most time consuming suggestion on this list BUT it may also have the most impact on your studio if you are concerned about lost income during the summer months. That being said this addition to your summer has the huge advantage of incredible flexibility according to your interests, particular skills and studio. Do you enjoy introducing students to chamber music? You can schedule a chamber music camp for your area at a local school or church. Would you like to provide an opportunity for students to learn more music history and the progression of music? Then why don’t you host a music history or composer camp! A great resource for this idea could come from Joy Morin’s lap book series for composers, which you can find here. Students in middle school and older might love a music theory camp, where they can learn more about the structure of their music and how it influences their performance of that music. The possibilities are endless when you realize there is potential for any area students might be more interested in diving deeper for a short amount of time. You could design your own curriculum, search for more resources like the composer lap books on Pinterest or do a combination of the two.
A final plus about summer camps would the further engagement and visibility your studio could receive as a result. Encourage your students to invite their friends from their school orchestra or other family members who are also musical! This could be a great way to get exposure to some potential students and studio families.
4. Attend teacher training or conferences.
Over the summer there are options galore for a teacher to receive professional or personal development! As a member of the Suzuki Association, an obvious choice for me would be one of the dozens of summer institutes held for students and teachers alike. These week long institutes offer teachers like myself the opportunity to observe other teachers in their teaching techniques, recommendations to parents at home, watch group rehearsals for chamber groups and orchestras… There are many opportunities to gain new ideas to bring back to your studio. Other organizations that hold similar events include the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), American String Teachers Association (ASTA) and more. Consider conferences held throughout the summer for your specific instrument or content area as well. If you already know your enrollment will be down over the summer, you will take less of a hit on your income if you prioritize attending summer training instead of during the school year.
5. Take some time for yourself!
My last suggestion is to relax yourself! Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day and teachers are just as likely to have projects, hobbies and passions outside of their field of work that get neglected during busy seasons. I try to allow myself to indulge in these areas more over the summer than during the school year to ease the anxiety of lower income and address other areas. For me it looks like focusing on my flower and vegetable garden, practicing more piano or guitar and hopefully fitting in a week at the beach. This year in particular I’m gearing up to tackle some home improvement projects around the house and creating more online resources for students, their families and teachers. As you can see, its hard for me to completely remove myself from teaching, too! But taking some time to develop these other areas of who you are is really important. Instead of worrying about the sudden holes in your day, do your best to consolidate as much of your teaching time as possible so you can have as much consecutive free time as possible. You’ll be a more relaxed, well rounded person and teacher for embracing this time to do some of what you love.
I hope as you read through this list you gained some ideas about what you could do this summer during this infamous summer slump to improve your private music studio, as well as your own life. The more we embrace this time of year as something we expect in our business and life, the more we can use this time efficiently without the panic attacks. Are there tasks you regularly do in the summer for your own studio? I’d love to get even more ideas in the comments below or on Instagram @shawstrings!