Page 586 SEPTEMBER 1920 TIIE ETUDE The Opening Gun of the Teaching Season What a Teacher Must Do to Insure a Prompt Start and a Full Class By Dr. Allan J. Eastman as individuals, positively refuse all "nothing" engagements and will, further, urge all his fellows to do the same thing, then indeed we will be on the road to the musical ifiillenium! But we must forget for the time being all the art and educational questions and even much of our finer desire for the "uplift of humanity" and think, first of all of the commercial aspect of the situation. For if we once get music upon a proper commercial basis, and if once we begin to get that payment for all service which is our real due, we can—and naturally will—thereafter give even closer and better attention to art and educational values, for inherently music is built upon these finer things and we need urging, not to de-velop them, but to insist upon the practical questions upon which depend the very practice of music itself. The Early Fall Recital By Ella Y. Kennedy ONE year when I had a very active summer class I arranged to start the season with a recital, which was given on September 4th, on one of the hottest and most uncomfortable nights I have ever known. I immediately resolved never to repeat the experiment; but when I saw the immediate and enthusiastic interest taken in the work, and also acquired three new pupils thereby, it seemed to me a good plan. It is not always feasible, however, unless you can devise some way to keep up the pupil's interest over the summer. Does Your Pupil Know What Music to Bring to the First Fall Lesson ? By Martin Z. Umangst WHEN you were a student did you ever go to your first fall lesson and find your teacher in a mood for a pleasant reception but not for teaching? It helps greatly to send an advance letter to every pupil giving a list of the books, studies and pieces to be brought to the first lesson, and indicating what should be done with each. In each one of these letters there should be some note of encouragement, some promise of interest-ing work. In fact everything should be done to excite a pleasurable interest in work to come. Following this a published announcement in the daily paper of the date of resumption of work is advisable. This may be done despite the fact that every pupil has had notice in the form of a personal letter. The object is this— pupils take a pride in letting others know that they are studying, and when they see a notice in the paper it is pleasant for them to call the attention of others to it. They are also pleased when they hear their friends say: "I see that your teacher is going to commence his season soon." Painless Musical Bookkeeping By Francis Lincoln MOST teachers dread the thought of bookkeeping. In the old-fashioned way it becomes a great nuisance and takes up much precious time. It was my custom to have all my payments for twenty lessons in advance and I found the standard lesson reg-ister was a very great help. In the first place it made it easy for me to present the rather delicate matter of terms to the pupil. The Standard Lesson Record cards are bound in a book like a check book. The pupil gets the card to be punched at each lesson and the teacher keeps the stub as a records The pupil's card has a place upon it recording whether the lessons have been paid for or not. Mighty few pupils care to bring to each lesson a record of the fact that a bill has not been paid, and I am sure that'this card by bringing about prompt collections saved me hundreds of dollars. Death to Pinching Bugs By Rena I. Carver WHEN explaining to Carlette the importance of train-ing the tip or third joint of the finger not to bend inward, she exclaimed, "Why ! That is just what my writing teacher tells me. When I let it bend in, he calls me a Pinching Bug.'" My pupils formed a Vigilance Com-mittee and Pinching Bugs soon disappeared. WHEN the United States entered the great war, much ado was made about the gun and the crew that fired the first shot. Their photographs and their names were sent all over the country, and their fame became a part of national history. Fortunately, we were ready with abun-dant troops, ammunition and provisions, and were not caught, like our British.brothers, in a position of unpre-paredness which caused the loss of tens of thousands of lives. America was alive with the gospel of preparedness, which means looking ahead aild doing in advance those things which, in our best judgment, we see must be done at some future time to insure success. Just now in America the writer understands, from reports, that the music-teaching profession is an exceedingly busy one. It is likely to continue such for many years to come, since the need for production is very likely to insure high wages, and high wages mean money for music lessons. For this reason the question of getting pupils and induc-ing people to take lessons is not the serious matter of other years. The first consideration, after artistic accom-plishment is Certain, is to establish good business methods. Good Business Methods What are good business methods? The best way to make a good estimate is to watch the methods of the livest business man in your own community. Why is it that ten persons in a hundred will come out of the group and own a profitable business, while ninety lag behind? Of course, no one can state any very definite plan for a certain success in business, but if you ask the average man he will usually say something like: "He came up to the scratch," "he was Johnny-on-the-spot," "he got there a little ahead of the other fellow," etc. What does this mean to the music teacher? It means that the successful teacher begins months in advance to prepare for the season. The dealer in mer-chandise usually buys at least a season ahead for the coming seasons. This issue of THE ETUDE is being pre-pared in the spring. All the plans and all the outlines of the work of the successful business are mapped out long in advance. The music teacher, however, often indulges in a two months' vacation—a luxury which the business man gets every ten years or so, if, indeed, he gets it at all! During that vacation practically nothing is done to make ready for the coming season. The first of Sep-tember arrives, and the class is only half full—some come in by the fifteenth, and others by the first of October, and others not until late in the fall. There is only one way in which this may be success-fully avoided, and this is to let your patrons know well in advance that you expect to register pupils far before the season commences, instead of upon the opening day. The president of a large school for girls told me last May that he had practically every possible opening for the present season filled then. He was a business man. The trouble with the music teacher is that he sells the time that is Immediately ahead, whereas he might, with the proper methods, register pupils for his time six months ahead. There is no advertising for most teachers that excels the personal letter to known prospects. The live music HAND-STRETCHING exercises are dangerous unless there is a period of rest in between the stretchings. Many a little hand has been hurt by introducing octaves be-fore the hand was ready for them. There is a fine series of extension exercises in Mastering the Seales and teacher attracts many of his best prospects through stu-dent recitals. The writer, years ago in New York City, had a pupils' recital which brought him new pupils whose tuition fees during a course of several years brought in very nearly $5,000. No teacher likes to be placed in the position of press-ing his services upon prospective pupils. If the teacher can have a secretary, or better still, some good friend or relative who will stand at the door as the audience is passing out from the recital and take the names of those who manifest an interest in the work or even a desire to attend future recitals, a splendid list may be made up. One teacher of the writer's acquaintance has never spent a cent in printer's ink, but has carefully watched pros-pects of this kind and written personal letters which have brought him an income of sufficient size to enable him to purchase seven houses and insure himself a com-petence for the balance of his life. Good circulars and good newspaper advertising are al-ways very fine, but better still are good personal letters written at the right time. Here are two similar to those which the writer issued at the beginning of the several seasons: DEAR MR. WATSON : Several of my best pupils in past years have interested me because of the fact that they seemed to get under so much better headway about the third or fourth month of the teaching year. In tracing this up I found that in most of the cases this was due to the fact that these pupils made a prompt beginning. That is, they began on or about September 1st, and began with that kind of resolution which always characterizes good work. It is hard to believe that one or two weeks could make such a difference, but it was nevertheless the case. One of my business friends said to me the other night that he usually found that the clerks who came in promptly at the beginning of the day were the ones who would do the most work during the course of the day. It seems very desirable that all of my class should make a very prompt start this busy year, and I shall greatly appreciate it if you can arrange to have Alice present at her very first lesson, which should take place on the fifth of September. I have scheduled a long list of interesting compositions which I hope to have her learn this year. It will also help her to make some technical advances, for which I have already selected the new book, Finger Gymnastics, by I. Philipp, Professor of Piano at the Paris Conservatoire. Your patronage is greatly appreciated and I am con-stantly striving to show it through Alice's work. Very cordially, A . J . EASTMAN . If you are really ready; that is, if you have your studio in order, with all your music ordered and ready to hand out to the pupils, you are setting an example which cannot fail to have an effect upon the pupil. To have a tardy class during the first two or three weeks of September is just like tossing away part of the salary which may readily be yours with a little work and a little prevision. Arpeggios; and there are excellent books of exercises by Philipp and Atherton. As a preliminary drill, the follow-ing will be found very practical. They are not easy, but they produce the results without doing any damage. Don't play them too slowly. Gradual Hand Stretching Exercise By M. C. W.
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