Planning Made Easy

The secret to planning piano lessons quickly is to reduce the number of things you need to prepare for each student. I know. It’s a bit of a “Captain Obvious” statement. But, how often do you add more to your weekly planning by following the latest shiny object?

Planning piano lessons can take up a lot of time.  When I first began teaching, I was told to budget an hour for each hour I taught.  Thankfully, I’ve discovered ways to drastically reduce my prep time to a much more reasonable and sustainable level.

The Secret to Piano Lesson Planning

Planning made easy sounds like a great slogan, doesn’t it? But, what is the secret to piano lesson planning that is quick, easy and avoids things falling through the cracks?

There are 4 areas to reduce the number of things you need to plan per student:

• During lesson time
• Weekly planning
• Monthly planning
• Annual planning

Make a few tweaks in each area and you suddenly have a lot more free time.

Get a Jump Start During Lesson Time

My typical week includes private lessons with each of my students. During lessons, we do a variety of activities. I modify their practice pages as we go along. Before leaving the lesson, I drop a copy of the practice page in their family’s shared online folder. (You can see how to set that up here.)

This process takes almost no time during lessons and ensures students can quickly access these notes during the week.

Reducing Weekly Planning Time

Having a system in place means one less thing to plan each week.

Instead of writing out practice pages by hand (something I used to do), use a digital template that you can quickly update during lesson time. Each week, make a copy of the previous practice page (a process that takes just a few seconds) and modify based on what you think the student can begin to work on for the next week’s lesson. That’s it for weekly lesson planning!

Instead of having lesson plans and practice pages as separate documents, keep them together.

Use tech that lets you ‘clone’ yourself. Instead of writing out a practice page AND notes for yourself, type everything into one document. Not only does it look more professional, it’s a whole lot less work.

You can do this whether you teach in-person, online, travel to students’ homes or have a hybrid setup! Reminders for yourself are worded as expectations the student can have of you the next lesson. “I’ll have a copy of your new technique book by your next lesson.” When it comes time to plan, you’ll see the reminder and get it done. Easy peasy.

When I travelled to my students’ homes, it was quick to update using my iPad Pro. Now that I teach online, arranging my screen means I can still update the practice page while watching my students.

Monthly Piano Lesson Planning Time

You may think there is no WAY you have time to look at the big picture each month. But, that’s exactly what has helped me take my planning time from 30 minutes per student to just minutes each week.

Looking ahead and planning is worth it. Yes, it does mean more time upfront. But looking at the big picture throughout the year means you’re not cramming. Because we all know how well that works out, right?

However, the next area is what is going to make all the difference. And that is …

Annual Planning

I happen to love annual piano lesson planning. I’ve seen a profound impact on my teaching enjoyment during the year. It’s also the biggest secret to piano lesson planning!

I used to go from lesson to lesson hoping I was getting right. Does this sound like you?

The next stage was creating annual growth plans for students. This helps a lot and is something I highly recommend. Not only does it ensure you hit the main skills and concepts at any level, but you don’t risk missing out on reaching your student’s musical goals either.

If you want to put this in high gear I would recommend using a studio theme each year. Suddenly each step of your planning has a purpose. And, it can make it a lot easier each week when the resource has everything ready for you.

Special Secret

I hope these tips help you cut your piano lesson planning down to short but mighty amounts of time.

For the ultimate tool to speed up your piano lesson planning, choose a resource or two that covers your warm-ups or a topic for the entire year. Below are two that were big hits in my studio!

Creating Beats On The Move

“Creating Beats On The Move” will have your students moving, improvising and playing with backing/accompaniment tracks! These 5-minute warm-ups were a big hit that got students loving improvising and playing with backing tracks … even years later.

Travel Through Time

“Travel Through Time” music history-themed digital escape rooms are easily adapted for nearly every level of student in your studio! We have used these in group lessons, music lab, supplemental activities for vacations and much more.

Get one or both … they will reduce your lesson planning to minutes each week. Plus, they are set up to be used with every student in your studio which makes it a great value for your studio!

Before you head into the rest of your day …

Do you have any questions about piano lesson planning?

Let me know in the comments below!

NOTE: This is a rewrite of an article originally published on August 3, 2017 and continues to be updated. While the focus has changed from the tools I use to the systems, it has the same approach and philosophy from before, plus more!