Piano lessons, in theory.

Fun! I used to teach violin lessons and I miss it...here are some random things I learned (when I started, I was also very inexperienced). - Showing/demonstrating is way, way more effective than telling at any age, but especially for younger students. - Be aware that a lot of times, kids are too shy to speak up when they don't understand something, even if you ask them directly...again, observation is the best way to figure out if they've got it or not. - Technique, scales, etc. can be kind of a drag to learn and practice. Making them into a game of some kind (there are tons of ideas about how to do this on the web) is a good thing. - Try to get her playing tunes, even simple ones, ASAP. Most kids are going to be way more motivated to practice a 'song' than an exercise. - RE: workbooks: are you looking for theory books and such? I worked through the theory books from Alfred's Basic Piano Course around that age - they worked pretty well. The rest of the Alfred's Basic books are good too if you are looking for beginning repertoire. - where u at dawg is right; the biggest thing is to be comfortable around your student and enjoy being with kids. If you are comfortable, chances are that your student will also be comfortable. Have fun! I'm sure you will do fine.

I'm a private flute teacher. On a purely practical level, one of the best things I've done is to require that students pay for an entire month's worth of lessons up front. It's an excellent inducement to practice when the lesson has already been paid for. Also, it makes it less like that the student will blow off a lesson when something more interesting comes up. Be firm about make-up lessons. They're only available when you've been given at least 24 hours advance notice that the student won't be able to make the usual lesson time. (Unless there's a genuine emergency -- but then it's up to you to decide whether a make-up lesson will be available.) Put all of this in writing and give a copy to the student/parents at the first lesson so there won't be any confusion about what's expected.

My daughter took private music lessons for a while. I think rhartong's suggestion is a good one - we paid a month at a time for the sake of convenience. Decide if you are going to accept checks, and whether you will give receipts. Also, plan what are you going to do about making sheet music available for your students. My daughter's teacher had a supply of books that he had purchased, and would in turn resell to his students (at no extra charge). Once in a while, he would make copies (on his office copier) of pages from certain books, and give them to his students. (I understand this was probably a copyright violation? He didn't do it very often - mostly the occasional Christmas carol or the like.) So you need to figure out how your students are going to acquire their music. Also, please please occasionally veer off into fun stuff, and teach your students the latest hit or the Charlie Brown theme song or the local high school's fight song or whatever. That kind of fun stuff can do a lot for a kid's waning enthusiasm for practice.

These are all great suggestions so far. Please keep them coming. It's especially helpful to hear that I should gear the lessons toward making things fun. It's been a long time since I looked at beginner piano books to know what's going on these days, but I have memories of b-o-r-i-n-g theory exercises I was given way back in the 80s that made me dread lessons. These days I play mostly by ear, so working with a new pianist will challenge me to pay more attention to the notes on the page.

When my daughter was in elementary school, she took piano lessons. The teacher told me one time that she seemed to have a lot more fun singing along rather than playing, so I came in here to suggest that you find a song the kids want to sing, then teach them to play that so they can do both. Also, depending on how many students you get and what their interest is, our teacher held a recital twice a year. She used the choir practice room at her church. The kids dressed up and sat in one section, the parents in another. Starting with the tiniest first graders playing super-easy short pieces, they went all the way up to the graduating high schoolers who played fabulous classical or jazz pieces. It was great for the kids to show off and to see where they could end up if they stick with it. You might consider an option to decline if they are too nervous to participate. Oh, and our teacher also was a member of several organizations, one of which sponsored a regional theory test. All the kids showed up at the college for a timed test and they later got awards if they passed. I don't have any idea what exactly that was, but here are some links that might get you in that direction: http://www.pianoinstructors.com/ http://www.rcmexaminations.org/ Nthing the suggestions for monthly payments, acquisition of music from the teacher for an additional cost paid in next month's bill, and Alfred's books for both theory and lessons (they are different books).

Please be wary and extra conscious about teaching your students to hold their hands in the proper way. Holding your hands incorrectly can lead to later (painful) problems with your wrists. This is the one area that I ave seen novice teachers neglect. Teaching piano to kids can be great fun! Good luck.

Watch piano lessons on YouTube

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. My first lesson is scheduled for Monday (the student is verrrry excited about it, according to her mother.) I bought a couple of books in the Alfred's series, and a couple of books in the Faber "Piano Adventures" series, based on recommendations here and at the music store (where music teachers get a 20% discount! who knew?) Word has gotten around, and I already have a few more potential students. This is going to be fun.