by Rachel | Uncategorized
This is what I came home to on the first day of my studio renovation. Eek! A hole in the wall! But that meant I was one step closer to a beautiful new waiting room, even though it’s not looking quite so beautiful in this picture.
By the end of the very next day, our contractors had installed the door leading to the garage, where students and their families will enter and exit through the “people door” you can see above. They had also ripped up the old carpet to get ready for the new flooring, which left the room looking like this (click to enlarge pictures):
Here’s a view of the door from the garage. You can see how close the new door is to the existing door through which everyone will enter from outside. We’re planning to partition off the rest of the garage from this little alcove:
The trim and step still need to be painted, but the hard work is done. What I like about this renovation is that we didn’t have to add another exterior door to the house, which might have affected the resale value if/when we decide to move. And this new entryway can easily be reversed if a buyer does not want it.
The contractors have also begun framing in the door that will separate the studio “wing” from the rest of the house. I thought it was hilarious when last Friday, after one of my students’ parents used the restroom, she came back and asked, “Did Sadie rip up the trim in the hallway?” A valid question, since I hadn’t yet explained the renovation :) Here’s how the doorway was looking a few days ago:
It’s further along now, since the guys have been back every day to mud the drywall. (Don’t I sound like I know what I’m talking about?) But it’s definitely still looking rough, and I’m very anxious for this part to be completed since it’s visible to everyone who comes in the house.
The room that will become my new studio is still fairly untouched, aside from housing the other room’s closet doors and a couple pieces of furniture. But soon they’ll be repainting and recarpeting, at which point I can start decorating — the most fun part of any renovation.
So that’s where we’re at right now. A lot of thumb-twiddling as we wait for the new flooring to come in, which won’t be for another couple of weeks. This process is most definitely a lesson in patience!
by Rachel | Uncategorized
Yesterday, I came home to a giant hole in my house. That may sound like a bad thing, but I promise…it’s not! Renovations for my new studio are now officially underway, so I thought I’d better share some “before” snapshots of the space in its original condition. Note: click to enlarge pictures.
My dog Sadie decided that she wanted to get in on the picture-taking action :) Here she is, posing in the hallway that will soon be separated from the rest of the house with a door. To the right is the bathroom, straight ahead is my new office/studio, next to that is a closet, and on the far left (which you can’t see in this picture) will be the waiting room.
Here’s the bathroom. We aren’t going to be making any changes to it, but hey, I just thought I’d throw it in with the rest of the pictures since it will technically be included in the new space.
Here’s the view of my future office/studio from the hallway. (It was formerly used as a guest room.) Both the flooring and wall color will be different.
Here’s another view of the room. I’m thinking the piano will go on the wall where the baker’s rack is right now. Oh, and you might see that baker’s rack again later, only looking a little different :)
This closet actually extends across the entire wall inside. My current studio does not have a closet…I’m so excited to have the storage space for materials I don’t necessarily want out in plain sight.
Here’s the future waiting room! Right now, this room is completely wasted, so it will be nice when it actually serves a purpose. The wall color will stay the same, but the floor will be different. To the right of the closet, there will be a door for entering/exiting from outside.
Another view of the room. Those chairs are extras that go with our kitchen table, so they will not be in the new waiting room. I’m already in search of furniture…any ideas?
One last view from the opposite corner. I’m thinking I’ll use part of the closet for coats, but I’m not sure what else. I’m also toying with the idea of leaving the keyboard and bench in the waiting room so that students can practice before their lesson (with headphones, of course).
The contractors worked from 8 am to 6:30 pm yesterday, and their progress is pretty phenomenal. I’ll be sharing more pictures of the process in the coming days and weeks, and look forward to your feedback and decorating ideas!
by Rachel | Uncategorized
This week not only marks the beginning of spring, but also the beginning of a BIG project at my house. I’ve hinted at this in my newsletter, but now the cat is coming out of the bag: my studio is moving!
Yep, that’s right…my home studio and private practice is moving from its current location (pictured above) all the way to the other side of my house. I’m sure going to miss this beautiful room full of windows, but it will make a nice nursery someday.
So why in the world would I decide to move when I have such a great setup now? A couple reasons, actually. First of all, my living room doubles as the waiting room for my students and their families. And since I work up until 7 pm and later some nights, my poor husband and puppy are banished until my last student has left. Second, I wanted a more dedicated studio space with a separate entrance. Currently, everyone enters and exits through the front door and has full access to my home. However, that will change once the move is complete.
The contractor is coming tomorrow to start the renovation of my new studio space, and I can’t wait. The flooring has been ordered, paint colors chosen, and my head is full of decorating schemes. I’ll be documenting the entire renovation and moving process, of course — stay tuned for one last tour of my current studio, and before pictures of the new space!
by Rachel | Uncategorized
Earlier this week, I received an email from a reader with a few questions regarding the business and practical aspects of running a music therapy and teaching studio.
Thank you for all you do for music therapy advocacy and encouraging music therapists with ideas. Your energy and ideas inspire me to be more creative in my own practice. I’ve been following your blog for about 6 months now and love it, especially for the practical ideas it gives me for interventions. I’m a music therapy contractor working with hospice patients and preschool children at this time. I have only contracted with facilities until now, at which point I have an opportunity to possibly be the music therapist at a new “alternative” music academy. My understanding is that it is geared toward adaptive music lessons for kids with special needs, and they also want music therapy to be offered.
She then proceeded to list her questions, which I answered at length via email. After all that typing, I decided that since I get these kind of questions so often, I’d just share my answers here on the blog. So here they are!
Should I bill each student and have them pay for the upcoming month at the beginning of the month, to reduce chronic late payers?
Honestly, I prefer weekly billing. My students’ parents know that I expect payment every week at the lesson or session, and if for some reason they forget, they just double up the following week or mail me a check. However, I’ve been using (and 100% recommend) the online studio management software Music Teacher’s Helper and this makes monthly billing a snap. You should also take into account whether or not you have time for make-up lessons and sessions; at this time, I do not, which is why I lean toward weekly billing.
What should the consequences be if a payment is late?
I currently do not have a late payment penalty in place. Maybe I’m lucky compared to most, but I almost never have to deal with late payments. I think this has to do with the fact that my students pay weekly. If you do choose to bill monthly and want to have a late payment penalty in place, you could decide on a flat fee or maybe charge the cost of a lesson.
What should the expectations be for behavior in the studio?
I make my expectations very clear in the form of a letter to families when they join my studio. I outline my policy for parking, entering (don’t knock or ring the doorbell, take your shoes off), and waiting (use the living room, you may watch tv, where the restroom is located), as well as how I expect students to behave in their lessons or sessions.
The #1 expectation is respect — not only of me, but of my instruments, equipment, and the studio as a whole. It’s important to establish this early on, and to enforce it regularly. I’m laid-back in many ways as a teacher and therapist, but not when it comes to the treatment of my materials and myself. I also have a NO WHINING/I CAN’T policy that is repeated far more frequently than I’d like :)
What forms should a parent/student sign?
At the start of the summer session (when I commonly take on new students in larger batches), I give out an annual survey to all of my existing students’ AND new students’ families. It asks for all the typical contact information, in addition to diagnosis (if applicable), current goals, expectations, concerns, allergies, and anything else I might need to know as an instructor and music therapist. This keeps me up to date with my current students, and helps me get to know the new ones.
Do you send students home with “practicing” homework each week?
For both my mainstream and adapted piano, voice and guitar students, I fill out an assignment sheet and progress note at each lesson so that the parents and students know what is expected at the next lesson. There is a space to log practice/work time, and both the parent and student sign it. I’ve been doing this for the past couple of years, but will be moving to an electronic system (again, using Music Teacher’s Helper) this summer.
If so, what do you assign?
My students work out of a combination of method books, worksheets, sheet music, and other materials that I provide. I have each of them bring a 3-ring binder to their lessons every week, and that is where we keep their loose papers, progress notes, assignment sheets, and monthly calendars.
Assignments usually include whichever piece(s) of music they are currently working on, a written assignment from their theory book, and sometimes memorization work (i.e. scales, chords, reading notes on the staff).
Please note that the above applies to students who take mainstream and adapted lessons. In most cases, I don’t assign take-home work to my music therapy students, though I do send them home with CDs and materials from our sessions to supplement our work together.
How do you monitor and reward their progress?
Each week, we take out the assignment sheet from the previous week. We talk about the things they were to work on, and address any difficulty they might still be having. I’ll look over any written assignments, and then have them play their piece(s) and/or exercises for me. This is the point at which I fill out progress notes for parents to see after the lesson.
My younger students have the opportunity to choose a sticker from my vast collection (I have a sticker-buying addiction!) and place it on that day of the calendar if they have finished their work and played to the best of their ability. This is almost always the case. I don’t have a reward system for my older students, aside from verbal and written praise on their progress notes.
If you have additional questions about running a private practice and/or studio, feel free to leave them in the comments. It’s a topic that is very much on my brain these days since I’m busy getting things in place for the summer session, which will be here before we know it!
by Rachel | Uncategorized
My insurance agent isn’t a music therapist; he doesn’t work with children, or even play an instrument. But he did teach me a lesson that has been extremely valuable to my private music therapy practice and teaching studio.
The fact that my insurance agent is also my husband has no bearing on this particular story…I promise! But it does come in handy when I need business advice, considering Zach has earned the title “Agent of the Year” in his multi-state region for the past two years. He knows his stuff, and I know where he lives :)
Anyway, back to that valuable lesson. Not so long ago, I asked my husband/agent what sets him apart from his colleagues when it comes to sales performance. His answer? “I ask for referrals.”
It’s that simple. Simple, yet often overlooked as a business strategy. Zach doesn’t assume that people will decide to call him instead of the other hundreds of insurance agents in Illinois, and he doesn’t spend any time cold-calling prospective clients. Instead, he asks his existing customers, those whose trust he has already earned through exceptional service, to refer their family and friends to him.
I’m no stranger to word-of-mouth marketing. However, I’d never thought to directly ask the families with which I work to send new referrals my way. So in preparation for my upcoming summer session, during which I’m hoping to add 20 or so new students, I took a cue from Zach and did just that.
My families jumped at the chance, and even said that they’d been hesitant to do so in the past because they knew how booked up I already was. Now, less than a month later, I have an active waiting list of 15 (and counting) new students who are willing to wait until June to begin receiving my services. Word of mouth is a powerful thing — especially when those mouths belong to loyal and satisfied clients!
The next time I receive an email from a fellow music therapist asking how I “advertise” my services, I’m going to respond with a link to this blog post. Sometimes it’s the simplest things that make the biggest impact, and I have my husband (the star insurance agent) to thank for reminding me of that.
