The encouragement of piano parents to their children plays a huge part in their growth as a student. But, as piano teachers, we also have a role to play in collaborating and connecting with parents and other teachers to help our students succeed.

In this episode, Shelly Davis shares the lessons she has learned over the years by  teaching piano, as well as interviewing so many teachers, parents, and students on her podcast, the Piano Parent Podcast.

• [02:40] Shelly gives us an update and peek behind the scenes on her Piano Parent Podcast.
• [05:17] The technological advancements she has gained since starting the podcast.
• [07:10] Lessons from the podcast that she has applied in her teaching life.
• [10:40] Shelly tells us about how music teachers have a different level of parent support at home.
• [15:12] Advice for teachers to help connect with their studio parents better to inspire students.
• [19:01] Having parents feel that they are in a combined partnership with the piano teacher.
• [23:21] Challenges that make it hard for parents to help at home.
• [27:25] Shelly tells us more about the concept of the community of teachers.
• [34:08] Advice and thoughts about parents and music education.
• [38:32] Shelly tells us more about her new project.

Transcript of the show

If you’d like to download a PDF transcript of this episode, please click below.

Links Mentioned

• Click here to see the resources and links mentioned on the podcast
• Piano Parent Podcast Website
• Piano Parent Podcast Instagram

Today’s Guest

Shelly Davis is the host of the Piano Parent Podcast. She’s been an independent piano teacher since 1990 and has worked with hundreds of children. She currently lives in Texas, has been married for 32 years, and is the parent of four musical children. 

Today’s Sponsor

Newzik is a unique digital score platform that lets you work in real-time with other musicians. With over 100,000+ users, Newzik lets you organize your scores in a digital library accessible at all times, enrich your scores with multimedia files including YouTube videos, and most importantly share your scores and markings in real-time with your band, your students, or your entire orchestra. Newzik offers a free-forever option as well as affordable subscriptions with unlimited storage and extra features such as Maestria, the first Optical Music Recognition technology based on artificial intelligence, which lets you turn paper into interactive digital scores.

Thank you for tuning in!

Consider implementing the ideas from this podcast by writing several actionable steps for your teaching practice if it’s inspired you.

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