Letter No. 21 [establishing your music studio: interview]
Dear Friend,
So you’ve got your core beliefs and studio policy written out—it’s time to work out your interview questions. Why conduct an interview?
-you find out whether you work well with that student and his/her parents
-you see the student’s learning environment and can find out how much time the student is willing to commit to practicing music
-you can work out any questions or concerns that parents might have, thus avoiding misunderstanding later on
-you can assess the student’s skill and musical ability, helping you get an idea for the level of and type of method books you’d like to start him/her on
Just as the interview process in other businesses vets and introduces individuals to one another, so does the interview process for music lessons. The three aspects I’ll cover are:
creating an interview questionnaire
conducting an interview
the next step
Number One: Creating an interview questionnaire
This is one of the papers you bring to the interview, and you can use it to guide your assessment. Ask yourself, “What are the essential things I need to know about this student and parent before I will feel comfortable taking them on?” The following considerations are what I have on my questionnaire:
For the Student:
-personal questions (name, age, grade, birthday, and a few questions that help you learn about the student, such as what they want to be when they grow up, or what their favorite thing to do in their free time is)
-music assessment questions (technique, theory, sight reading, musicality, and ear training are facets I gauge and ask about…I’ll go into more detail later about how to go about this during your interview)
For the Parent:
-studio policy questions (run through your policy, ask if they have any questions, ask if they are on board with the practice guidelines and lesson/payment requirements you’ve established)
-any additional questions or concerns
-contact information (name, email, number)
-preferred lesson day/time
Number Two: Conducting your interview
How you conduct your interview is just as important as what your interview is about. Prospective students usually contact me by word of mouth, or by email through my website.
If I don’t already know the family, I like to set up the interview time and date on the phone so the parent can hear my voice. I also ask students (if they have already been taking lessons) to prepare 1-2 pieces. Any interaction with parents or your students should be friendly and professional. Remember that you’re running a business, and act accordingly.
Interview Location:
The interview can either be conducted at your studio or the student’s home. Because I’m only teaching locally right now, I prefer to go to a prospective student’s home to see the piano and practice environment.
Prep:
Print your interview sheet (make sure to leave enough blank space after each question) and studio policy and have your business card, pens/pencils, and method books ready before-hand (I always bring a selection of method books to show parents and to use during my assessment).
Make sure you’re punctual and dressed nicely—everything you do reflects on you as a person and the kind of studio you run. Parents are trusting you with their child’s education, and you want to show them that you will be a caring and responsible teacher.
If you don’t feel confident about conducting an interview, consider asking a family member or friend to run through a scenario with you, and go through the entire process (introduction, personal questions with the child and musical assessment, questions with the parents, and moving to the next step).
Musical Assessment:
After the student plays his/her pieces for me, I work on a few things in the pieces before moving on to assess the student’s technique, sight reading, theory, and ear training skills. The range of abilities in each of these areas is too broad to cover thoroughly here, so I’ll just touch on a few skills for each to give you a start on deciding what you want to look for/assess:
-technique: five-finger patterns and scales, hand position, finger shape
-sight reading: accuracy, tempo, speed, attention to detail
-theory: knowledge of piano (upper/lower registers, landmark notes), chords, note/rest values, time signatures, tempos, dynamic markings
-ear training: rhythm (tapping on the keyboard lid), memory and pitch (repeating a phrase you sing)
Number Three: The next step
After finishing your interview and assessment, you should have a good idea of whether or not you’d like to teach this student and whether or not the student and family will be a good fit for your studio.
If you don’t think they’ll be a good fit:
There are many reasons why a student might not be a good fit. While some reasons are easier to explain to parents than others, there is always a way to remain professional and kind. If the parents still want their child to take lessons, you can recommend another teacher, but never feel pressured to take on a student.
If you think they’ll be a good fit:
If everything went smoothly and you would like to teach this student, direct parents to what the next step will be. Depending on whether or not you conduct your interview during the semester or during the summer, there may be a waiting period before actually starting lessons. either way, share a clear plan of action with the parent.
After I’ve received the parent’s information and the interview is ending, I tell the parent I’ll be sending them a confirmation email with details about recital dates and lesson times. In this email, I also have them decide which way they would like to pay me (monthly or bi-weekly).
note: the parent now has a hard-copy of your studio policy and business card, so they have easy access to your contact information and guidelines/policies if they need to review anything at a later time. I also have most of this information on my website as well, which I keep updated each semester with recital dates and revised policies (if any).
And that’s how you conduct an interview! Of course you will learn over time which questions and methods you prefer, but hopefully these tips and tricks will give you a solid foundation to work from. Next week I’ll be talking about your CV, another essential aspect to establishing a music studio.
Until then,
Tara