Episode115 – Christina Whitlock

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Quick shout-outs of solidarity re: independent music studio life, with me - your “anytime” piano teacher friend. 🎶🤍🎼

$15 Intro Price expires TONIGHT! …if you ever s

$15 Intro Price expires TONIGHT!

…if you ever struggle against the pacing or concept sequences in your method series of choice…

…if you’ve ever thought about writing your own method because you can’t find “the right one” for you…

…if you were unable to attend my NCKP session titled, “The Teacher as the Method” (but wanted to 🙃)

…if you simply want to say MERRY CHRISTMAS, CHRISTINA and score yourself a great bonus for doing so…

Check out ChristinaWhitlock.com/methods before MIDNIGHT tonight (Friday).

(Price doubles in the morning!)

🥂

Yes, I said January. 🙈 I know, I know… what

Yes, I said January. 🙈

I know, I know… what happened to December?!

Don’t worry; there’s plenty of holiday merriment to come.

BUT.

In the midst of that, consider this:

What changes (big or small) can you make to enhance your TeacherLife in January?

…amended hours? New arrival procedures? Revised practice expectations? Communication strategies?

Don’t miss the chance to take advantage of the NEW energy of the NEW year.

If there’s something you’ve been wanting to implement, put the wheels in motion now.

Your January self will thank you! 🤍

…more in this week’s 17-minute encore replay. Find the transcript, related links, and more at ChristinaWhitlock.com/replay104

It’s December Performance Challenge time! The

It’s December Performance Challenge time!

The idea is simple:
🎄 Students gather signatures from each person they play for in December
🎄 The student collecting the most signatures wins a prize. 💰

…I used to run this only over Winter Break, but the competition got so fierce, I started extending it throughout the entire month of December.

The best part? It encourages students to spread musical cheer throughout this season (and they learn the beauty of bringing joy to others by sharing their hard work!).

Check out ChristinaWhitlock.com/December for all the FREE details! 🥂

It’s that time of year, friends! If you are lo

It’s that time of year, friends!

If you are looking for an easy way to keep your students playing through the holiday madness, look no further than my December Performance Challenge.

This challenge requires very little effort on your part, is fun for students, and is inclusive of all faith traditions. Win, win, win!

Check out https://christinawhitlock.com/december/ for all the details.

Cheers to gearing up for another wild December! 🥂

Wait - January ALREADY, Christina?! …trust me

Wait - January ALREADY, Christina?!

…trust me on this, friends 🤌🏻

This week’s Encore Replay reminds us that January is oftentimes THE BEST time to make changes - small and otherwise - to studio protocol.

Are there nagging changes you’d like to make to your TeacherLife?

The fresh start of January is your gift. 🎁

…but it DOES take a little bit of prep.

✅Draft your communication verbiage now, so it doesn’t become “one more thing to do” in the bustle of the New Year.

…complete transcript, related links, and more at ChristinaWhitlock.com/replay104

SNEAK PEEK 👀 at my 2023 Studio Ornaments! 🎄

SNEAK PEEK 👀 at my 2023 Studio Ornaments! 🎄

I began making students ornaments back in 1996 (😳) at my mom’s suggestion and have been doing it ever since.

My standards since 2006 have been three-fold: they must include the student’s name, the year, and WPS (for Whitlock Piano Studio).

The ornaments hang on the tree in my studio until the last week of lessons, then they get to take them home.

This, friends, is simple studio community-building. Any visual representation you can give your students with their name alongside other student names reinforces the fact that they are PART of something in your studio.

Some of my ornaments have been LAUGHABLY simple over the years. Others have been pretty complex. This year’s felt just right.

I can’t wait to “unveil” the studio tree to my students this week! 🤩

Tell me about how you build community in your studio!

As you “shop small” today… Don’t forget

As you “shop small” today…

Don’t forget about the online content creators you enjoy!

Teachers love giving information away to anyone who will listen (that’s why we have SUCH a wealth of great content to keep up with 😅), but I always try to make sure I’m supporting PAID offerings from those folks when I’m able to.

Swipe to see all the ways you can support me in the work I do through the Beyond Measure podcast.

…TRULY…

If my offerings don’t feel like a good fit, go support someone else whose free content you’ve grown from this year.

It takes a village, friends! 🤍🤍🤍

Cheers to all who are out supporting small businesses today. 🥂

Ah; the many traps of skipping “Solid”: The i

HOT TAKE: Learning to play the piano is SO👏🏻

HOT TAKE: Learning to play the piano is SO👏🏻MUCH👏🏻MORE than turning pages in a method book.

I love - LOVE - method books, so don’t misunderstand my point here…

The notion that any print series is going to give a living, breathing student everything they need is simply a flawed expectation on our part.

…yet, for many of us, teaching the piano has always been equated with our choice of method series.

If you’re looking to stop letting the tail wag the dog 🐕, check out my First Steps Guide to Making the Most of Your Method Series.

$15 for the month of November only!

Visit ChristinaWhitlock.com/methods for more information.

“Teaching is more than imparting knowledge; it i

“Teaching is more than imparting knowledge; it is inspiring change.”

-William Arthur Ward

This tree is in our neighborhood and my kids lovingly refer to it as “the heart tree”.

Some years it turns a bright, fiery red. Others (like this year) are more subdued.

You may not need yet-another “fall inspires us to embrace change” type of post in your feed, but I *do* think Ward’s take on teaching as a gateway to change is worth considering.

Have you ever thought of teaching as facilitating change?

My 2023-2024 Studio Mantra… Let’s be honest:

My 2023-2024 Studio Mantra…

Let’s be honest: we give our students brilliant advice ALL THE TIME, right? 💁🏼‍♀️

Even still, every school year I choose ONE point to really hammer home; declaring it our Studio Mantra.

I include this on their studio binder covers, display it on the letter board, and basically bring it up at every available opportunity. 🤣

This year’s theme is (obviously): It has to be SOLID before it can be SPECTACULAR.

This single statement is a catch-all for MANY student problems.

Rather than nagging students to play slower… or whatever concern you have in the moment, it’s proven to be *much* more effective for me to request a “solid” or “sturdy” run.

More on this idea in this week’s Encore Replay: Solid Before Spectacular.

(And, if you’re interested in more on Studio Mantras, jump back to Episode 43)

…January is coming, friends! It’s a great time to think about *your* next studio mantra today. TELL ME your ideas below! 🌟

“Don’t try to be great. Just be solid.” The

“Don’t try to be great. Just be solid.”

These are words of advice attributed to journalist Phil Ponce.

…and when I first heard them (through @emilypfreeman at The Next Right Thing), I was SHOOK.

I felt like someone had just shined a spotlight on a lifelong struggle I never knew I had.

Today’s encore replay of episode 041 features my piano teacher spin on this same idea.

We talk about how this idea impacts our students, ourselves as musicians and - of course - as teachers.

Cheers to Monday, my friends! 🥂

As many of us gear up for some time off this week…

I’ve built you a fun little checklist. Let’s see who can score 6 out of 6 ✅

☑️ Play something JUST for fun. Maybe it’s something old, something new (something borrowed? Rhapsody in Blue?) 🤣

☑️ Create something that’s NOT music. I’m a big believer in flexing our Creative muscles, and it’s good to do something outside our usual medium.

☑️ Spend time outside. Grab some great, deep breaths of fresh air. Bonus points for putting your actual bare feet on the actual ground (literal connection to nature is proven to recharge)

☑️ Laugh really, really hard. (Enough said).

☑️ Make a list of what really matters to you in December. We are getting ready to run the Musician Holiday Gauntlet. It’s amazing, it’s exhausting, and we need to keep our focus on OUR priorities; not everyone else’s.

☑️ Spend more time in your pj’s than usual for at least one day this week. I don’t even know why it matters, but for reasons unknown, it helps heal my exhausted brain.

BEST YET - when you give yourself a check ✅, COMMENT or DM ME and TELL ME ABOUT IT. I want to know all the endorphin-boosting, life-giving things you do this week.

Cheers to a week of thanks, friends (both in The States and abroad!)

Each episode of Beyond Measure ends with a toast 🥂

These salutations are my way of sending you off “on mission”, celebrating the true magic of the work we do.

I am particularly fond of this week’s (an encore replay of episode 099).

I hope you find inspiration and camaraderie in every episode. 🥂

Cheers to the weekend, my friend!

You hear from ME all the time… but the magic of

You hear from ME all the time… but the magic of the Patreon community is learning alongside others.

Check out @rvpianoteacher Anna Fagan absolutely NAILING the evolution of Piano Teacher Life.

We meet tomorrow (Friday, 11.17) for our next Teachers Teaching Teachers. Join the Patreon for $6 by heading to ChristinaWhitlock.com/support.

Replays go out to everyone who can’t attend live.

Hope to see you there!

Tell me something strangely-specific you are thank

Tell me something strangely-specific you are thankful for…

It’s been a weird week: sick kids 😢 little sleep 😴 life 🤓. Let’s give each other something to smile about!

Today I’m thankful for comfy pants. If lockdown taught us anything, it’s that life is too short to wear Hard Pants one moment longer than absolutely necessary. 👖

(PS: for gratitude reflections with a little more substance, head to ChristinaWhitlock.com/thanksgiving and sign up for our last days of Studio Teacher Thanksgiving! 🌻)

Cheers to being thankful for the little things, friends! 🥂

This is the stuff, friends! 💌 Check out this w

This is the stuff, friends! 💌

Check out this week’s encore replay for a very important reminder: Experience > Corrections.

Christinawhitlock.com/Replay099

“I don’t want students to perceive music as a

“I don’t want students to perceive music as a thing to be constantly corrected.”

This is what kicks off our thinking this week in the Encore Replay of Episode 099: Experience > Correction.

This episode meant a lot to me as I wrote it, and I stand 👏🏻 by 👏🏻 it.

It’s definitely worth a re-listen and I hope it helps you shake off any inkling of a Teaching Rut you may find yourself in.

Full transcript, related links, and more at ChristinaWhitlock.com/replay099.

“Gratitude, like faith, is a muscle. The more yo

“Gratitude, like faith, is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it grows.” 💪🏻

These words are attributed to Alan Cohen, among others.

Join us this week as we flex that gratitude muscle!

Sign up at ChristinaWhitlock.com/thanksgiving to join the rest of my teacher community as we intentionally celebrate that which we can easily take for granted. 🤍

Your choice of method books should support *your*

Your choice of method books should support *your* instruction, not the other way around.

🌟Sometimes a student asks a perfect question, opening the door to a concept your book doesn’t cover for another few units.

🌟Sometimes your student just needs more time in pre-reading. Or non-legato playing. Or any number of concepts.

🌟Sometimes you find a method piece that EVERYONE seems to struggle with, and wonder if it’s “okay” to skip it altogether.

Methods are full of wisdom and carefully-crafted sequences. We are fortunate to have such a wealth of them available to us. 🤍

…But we are fooling ourselves if we ever think there is ONE method series that will suit EVERY student on ANY given day.

(It’s not a reasonable expectation, friends!)

Check out my NEW resource: Making the Most of Your Chosen Method for my first-steps guide to flipping the script; letting your method materials *support* your instruction, rather than define it.

…for this month only, you can pick up this download for only $15.

See more at ChristinaWhitlock.com/methods

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