Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Teachers Forum Average time of student retention?

pianker

Not trying to get you to toot your own horn but I'll bet you must turn away a lot of parents who want their kids to take lessons from you. How do you deal with these situations?

Also given your retention, can you say what your current average is--can it be 6,7 years?

This is a great thread.

I, like painker: My students tend to stay through mid-high school or graduation.

I think one of the keys of student retention is great communication between parents,students and teacher about expectations as well as a curriculum that combines private piano lessons and group theory/ear-training classes. This provides the students with varied approaches to the piano as well as a peer group to motivate them in their progress. No teen wants to stay with their group while everyone else is progressing and their pieces stagnate or their level doesn't change.

My experience with retention has always been fairly high. I require a lot but I really do love all my students - I think they "get" that about me, too. I'm not just in it for the $, but for the long-haul music journey.

cheers

charlene

fathertopianist, I'm just finally responding. My life interrupts my forum time!! 6-7 years is a typical time for a teacher to keep students, I think. I am sure I have faults as a piano teacher as well. I love music and especially piano. I hope I can pass that on.
We just moved, though. So, I have an overabundance of students 40 minutes away and 2 students close to home.