Blog by Merlin B. Thompson

As you can probably imagine, I spend a lot of time thinking about what it means to be a music studio teacher in today’s music teaching world. Something that really impresses me is how we’re going through an extraordinary transformation in teacher mindset. Unlike previous generations, today’s teache...

As music teachers, we develop our own teaching habits. We listen for the missed notes, notice the uneven rhythms, identify the technical challenges, and look for what needs to be corrected. We pay a lot of attention to our students making progress. These aspects are essential to our work, but over t...

Have you ever thought about your vision of teaching? About what you'd like to help your students achieve that lasts long past their final lesson? As music teachers, we know firsthand how much making music can enrich our lives. It’s more than notes and rhythms, melodies and harmonies. Music can ...

Music teaching is evolving. Sometimes slowly. Sometimes faster than we can even imagine. These days I’m really grateful for all the teachers who have embraced Students’ Own Repertoire Choice as a mainstay strategy. That’s not to say it was easy to get things going. Because it took trial and error. F...

Are you busy these days? Do you find it’s easy to get caught up in the immediate work of teaching: the next piece, the next page, the next technique, the next recital, the next exam. Music teachers have so much to accomplish that it can be challenging to slow down for a moment and remind ourselves o...

Over the past few weeks, I’ve received emails from several teachers with concerns. Students seem to be stuck and don’t really care about what’s going on. Lessons that once worked no longer seem to be working. And method books teachers have relied on for years suddenly feel like they’re getting in th...

I must admit - I’m someone who appreciates a certain amount of comfort and stability in my teaching. I like knowing what time my students are having lessons. How many weeks I’ll be teaching. When the concerts will be held. I settle into my comfort zone because these things give me confidence and mak...

September is a busy time of year for music teachers. New students arrive. Returning students bring spontaneous interests, remarkable experiences, unusual questions, along with surprising and delightful possibilities. After our summer break, music teachers return to teaching with renewed enthusiasm a...

As summer winds down, it’s natural for music teachers to start getting ready for September. Lesson plans. Repertoire selection. Scheduling. Goal setting. All the practical details that come with starting again. There’s a lot on the list.

But before getting over-focussed on what you’re going to teac...

As music teachers, we spend much of the year pouring ourselves into our students’ musical journeys. Often, it can feel like there’s no end to the list of tasks needing our attention—lessons to plan, emails to answer, performances to prepare for, repertoire to choose, and students to encourage. That’...

Have you noticed how lessons at this time of year have a different rhythm? Students’ routines are interrupted. Practice often takes a back seat to camps, vacations, and hot summer days. Things aren’t the same as during the school year.

Here are three simple reminders that can make summer teaching m...

Last week, the mother of two of my students sat in on her sons’ lessons. Not an usual occurrence in my studio by any means. But on this occasion, something most remarkable did take place and I was glad she was there to see it for herself. 

Over the previous few weeks, her two boys (a first-yea...

What keeps music students motivated long-term? What helps students continue making music into adulthood rather than quitting after a few years of lessons? What do music students need from today’s music teachers?

Music teachers often answer these questions with strategies designed to help students sur...

Sometimes it seems like there’s no end to the problems music teacher are required to solve. We’ve got students who need guidance from us. Students with certain problems. Students in situations that pull our attention. So what do we do? Take a look at these two solutions that may not be what first co...

Have you ever had this situation? Your student arrives with a selection they’d like to learn that’s clearly beyond their current level. They absolutely can’t wait to get started. As music teachers, we know what could happen next. On the one hand, we worry that students’ decision may result in techni...

I give a lot of presentations to university-level music majors. And over the years I’ve noticed several questions are often on their minds. They want to know - Is it possible for students to achieve advanced performance levels without being pushed? Can students achieve excellence without pressure? C...

This past week I’ve had an intertwining of questions on my mind - What makes a good assignment for our students? How can we help students take ownership of their musical journey? And how can we integrate meaningful repetition into our students’ home practice sessions? After all, good assignments can...

What if the most effective strategies in your teaching didn’t require new materials, new repertoire, or a ton of planning? What if effective strategies could come from doing things more intentionally? This article is inspired by a recent conversation with a music teacher colleague who highlighted tw...

Join a music teacher discussion group and it most likely won’t take long before someone asks the question, “How do I get students to practice?” It’s a question music teachers have grappled with for decades that carries urgency, frustration, and a genuine desire to help students succeed. Music teache...

Earlier this year, two parents contacted me about music lessons for their children. They visited my studio. We chatted. They had questions. So did I. After some time, the reassuring look on their faces told me we had arrived at an important commonality. We had zeroed in on something remarkable that ...