Membership Expired Beckie Tunnicliffe
Membership ExpiredForum Replies Created
-
Hi everyone, thank you so much for your help! I will definitely try out your ideas with my student, I teach a few other autistic children too so I’m sure the tips will also help me with them:)
-
He does visit me as I do all my lessons from my home studio. He also has flute lessons in school and his school report said he was showing the same behaviour that he does to me. I have other children on the autistic spectrum who work so hard and are an absolute delight to teach yet I’ve never experienced anything like this before!
-
(It dries out your throat)
-
Now you know haha
-
For the kids, a star chart!
-
Just an update: they’ve paid! …until one months time when no doubt the next invoice will be late!:)
-
Yes I’m with ISM, I’ve just checked my bank account and they’ve paid up so I will definitely be in touch with them should this happen again:)
-
The invoice that is late is for 4 lessons missed over the course of a month (I teach 2 children out of the family), but there is another invoice for one more missed lesson in February, but that isn’t due until the beginning of next month.
The parent has text me back saying that payment will be made tomorrow, but now having the cheek of trying to reschedule tonights lesson to monday – I’ve told them there will be no reschedule until the payment is made. So just got to see what happens tomorrow!
They used to be really good in terms of paying – they would pay in cash at the start of the lesson, then this all changed as of December, they’ve become very sporadic and I am barely seeing the students (they keep cancelling an hour before the lesson so I am still charging for lesson) I’m considering making them move to the ‘pay monthly’ scheme so that there is less chance of this happening again, and I get payments for the full month in advance. I have spoken to the parent about the regularity of the lessons and they’ve said they want to carry on with them.
I’ve had to write off earnings before, with both students and other teachers I have worked with in the past (but thats a whole other story lol)
Just glad to know that what I’m doing is right!
-
Hi Alice,
I unfortunately had problems with my neighbours in regards to teaching at home (it was more because they didn’t want me to work from home but it’s a long story!)
I would definitely recommend speaking to any neighbours that would be affected and perhaps look at any parking solutions if any neighbours complain about parking. I would also check the deeds to your house as I found out that most don’t actually let you run a business from home!
Hope this helps!:)
-
I had one 2 years ago I believe, I remember he picked the voucher up for his wife on Christmas eve and it wasn’t long before that he enquired about the vouchers:)
Not had any enquiries for them this year though but hopefully there will be a little boost for the New Years Resolutions in January:)
-
Most of my cancellations come from kids waking up ill or falling sick at school, there’s not much you can really do about it. For everyone usually the first time I pass it off as some things you can’t really avoid but if it keeps happening I charge.
-
Find a good building company unless you plan to do it yourself! I was lucky in that my Dad works in the building trade and so found me all of the people who could do what I needed e.g. electrician, plasterer, decorator…
Also look at speaking to your neighbours about it and checking they are ok with it, unfortunately one of mine has a problem with me working from home (I’m not going into anymore about it or I won’t stop haha) and never approached me with any concerns until the council was knocking on my door! Luckily it all worked out in the end (sort of, my neighbour still doesn’t speak to me lol)
-
First thing I would do is look at if you need planning permission, you’ll be able to see on the deeds to your property. We found out that most houses with a detached garage will not let you use it for business use unless you apply to the council to change it
-
I’m on holiday at the mo I’ll send a reply when I’m back home:)
-
Thank you thats a big help:)
-
I know this sounds really bad but I don’t usually wear ear plugs in because I find it really difficult to hear other members of the band and myself. Even when I’m watching gigs most of the time I only wear one ear plug so I can hear it properly.
I’m essentially having to go backwards with my voice. I used to sing a lot of rock songs but over the past few years as I’ve only really sung pop songs and so developed my voice to fit that style more, rather than have more of a ‘kick’ in the lower end to fit with the rock style. It makes sense what you say though:)
-
At the moment all I have is the PA speaker sort of facing me. I do intend on getting some in-ear monitors it’s just being able to afford them:)
-
I’ve not heard of that, I will definitely research into it!
I did try out near the end of the rehearsal as you say a ‘small compact way’ and I do think it helped, I will try and do that more in the future (Or I’ll tell the guitarists to turn down haha)
-
That’s a great idea! Hit me up with some links!
My teaching Facebook page is here: https://www.facebook.com/RJ-Music-Tuition-439747469442058/?ref=bookmarks
And I’m going to be a bit cheeky and post my musician one too because I’m trying to build that one up a bit at the moment!https://www.facebook.com/beckieoldhammusic/
-
I found I was getting a bad back from sitting badly at the piano everyday – my posture wasn’t great even though I was aware of it!
When I moved into my new teaching studio earlier this year I made a point of buying a proper office chair with back support (as I was just sitting on a piano stool previously) and my back has been so much better!
-
I always use the excuse “everyone’s voice is different, so that is why I can’t sing as low/high as you”
-
Hi everyone,
I’m looking into using LCM for Popular Vocal exams – I have a question for anyone who has used them before, are there any books? I can’t seem to find any online that relate to each grade, only a general one that oversees grade 1-8 for teachers.
Or if anyone can tell me their experiences of LCM or Trinity Rock & Pop, I would be really grateful:)
-
For Rockschool there isn’t a theory requirement like there is with ABRSM, they do build some music theory questions into the exam though. They obviously do advise learning the theory though!
From what I remember, I found the technical exercises challenging because of the speed and having to use my full range in quite quick movements! There were a lot of semitones as well. The rhythm wasn’t too bad because I treated it like I was learning a new song, it was just that it moved through different keys and scales quite quickly!
-
Sorry for the late reply – I’ve been on holiday! I got a Merit overall:)
-
I took my Grade 8 in December 2013, with the old Rockschool Syllabus (the new one came out the following September) – it was hard work! I ended up singing Apologize by One Republic, Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler and Dynamite by Taio Cruz (this was a Grade 5 song but at Grade 8 you can pick one song from any grade). I found the technical exercises quite difficult, I had to spend a fair bit of time sitting at my piano working them out! Ruth guided me really well through it all so she gets some credit too:)
-
Hi! I use Rockschool for Vocals and ABRSM for Piano and Music Theory:)
I really recommend the Rockschool Vocals syllabus (I’ve taught it up to Grade 7 and I have my Grade 8), the staff are lovely and my students really enjoy it!
ABRSM is better for ‘classical’ styles, which I don’t really teach for vocals, and it is a lot more formal than Rockschool. I would definitely look at their websites, if you have any questions about either of the syllabus’ feel free to ask!
-
Ok – I’ve essentially worked out that she is just not singing in head voice. The notes are fine, it’s just getting her to sing in head voice!
I’ve tried the ‘woos’ and she really struggles to move into her head voice, she can’t hold it for more than 1 or 2 seconds before the sound stops.
She hasn’t been doing too bad with ‘Your Song’, I wouldn’t say she is ready to do Grade 2 yet though.
-
Almost There is sounding A LOT better! Thank you all for your input:)
I’m still trying to strengthen the head voice – I’ve tried the opera voice but not with much success unfortunately. She just struggles to get up there and when she does, can only hold the note in head voice for 1 or 2 seconds and then it’s like her cords aren’t closing?
She is now wanting to try ‘Your Song’ by Ellie Goulding but I’m a bit apprehensive…
-
I haven’t started developing mixed voice with her yet, as you say she needs to build up her strength in the head voice first. I’ll see how it goes and I will try to record her again!
-
She can sing in the high register after doing the slides, but doesn’t stay up there for long (a note or two) as she will lose the strength and no sound will come out.
I’ll try getting her to sing in a mock opera voice, should that all be in the head voice though?
-
Hi! Here are a couple I have found useful:)
My Favourite Things – The Sound of Music (G1)
Fireflies – Owl City (G1)
Take A Bow – Rihanna (G1)
The Fear – Lily Allen (G1)
Upside Down – Paloma Faith (G2)
Thinking About Me – Olly Murs (G2)
Dear Darlin – Olly Murs (G1)On another note, I think Roar is a lot higher than Grade 1! It’s probably there because the range is limited but the breath control needs to be on point! I try to get my Grade 1 students to avoid it to be honest!
Here’s a link to Rockschool’s Wider Repertoire, hope this helps! https://www.rslawards.com/music/graded-music-exams/vocals/wider-repertoire
-
I used to offer a 30 minute free trial lesson – I did this because I was starting out teaching and needed to get as many students as possible! However the turn out was extremely low and people were literally just using me as a ‘one-off’ free lesson. So I made the decision to charge in advance from the first lesson via an online payment and that has completely stopped people from wasting my time. I completely agree with what everyone else has said:)
You can always give them a call to make it more personal to them, and so they can ask you any questions but no more than that! I’ve had some people want to sing down the phone to me before, so I just have to say I can’t make a true judgement of their voice over the phone
-
I’ve luckily never been in that position where I have had to pick who can do the shows, if I did though I would maybe get the more inexperienced ones to do a smaller setup, like an open mic, to build up the confidence and technique. That way they could also get to know each other and it seems more personal to them:)
-
Hi!
I run 2 events a year, one in the summer and one at Christmas. I do smaller events in between, I have just started hosting an open mic every other week so that my students have the chance to do a smaller event if they want to, as the larger showcases have roughly 100 people attending!
I’ve found these shows are extremely popular with the kids (especially as I teach a lot more of them than adults), most of my adult students try to shy away from them as they get too nervous! But those who have done it don’t regret it. I push people to do the shows, but ultimately I will not force them if they really don’t want to do it (in these cases those students tend to come along to watch anyway)
A lot of my family help with running the event – at the last one my Dad and sister took tickets on the door and sold raffle tickets, my Mum, Auntie and cousin ran the tombola/raffle and sold cakes/mince pies, and the manager of the venue did the sound and ran the bar. I’ve also in the past 2 shows started putting a ‘colouring table’ out for the younger children so that they can keep themselves busy, so that they are not distracting who is on stage.
I do pay for the venue but I get the money back through tickets. The first show I ever did there was free and it wasn’t feasible to keep doing it that way. All of my students understand why have have to charge tickets and I try to keep it as cheap as possible for them.
Most of the performers use backing tracks but I will accompany some on piano like if we have to change the key. Some have also accompanied themselves. I sometimes sing a song at the end (time permitting) as I always get badgered to do one by my students! Usually the shows last between 2 and 3 hours but I have an interval in the middle
-
I’ve just called her and it’s gone to answerphone (I had a feeling that would happen!) so I’ve left a message. She was paying a week in advance – I’ve taken off the advance lesson fee so that she only owes 2 lessons worth. Reason being she owes money is because she forgot to bring cash the last time I saw her, and then the last lesson was cancelled on the same day.
I’m seriously considering going to a pay monthly scheme as too many people have done this to me – I can still take cash in lessons but making it more worthwhile for students to pay by the month. I need to be stricter with my policy though!
-
I’ve just found this while researching different lesson policies… what are your thoughts?
-
This has literally just happened again to me….one of my students has been 2 lessons in debt (forgetting to bring payment to lesson) – I haven’t seen her for a while because she’s either been ill or I’ve been away, they’ve texted me today saying she can’t come to lessons because she’s fractured her foot (not sure how that would affect her singing but oh well)
Should I just leave this as a ‘bad debt’ or do something else? I will be bearing this in mind if she tries to start up lessons again.
Why can’t people be honest?
-
I know this isn’t from a teaching point of view, but when I worked in retail we was actually allowed to refuse to serve or sell items to customers if we had a good enough reason. For example, nasty customers, or there was a minority of customers who would try to make out an item was cheaper than it actually was (e.g. changing the price on the item but making it HEAVILY discounted, like £50 to £10 instead of £30). We would then scan the item into the till and it would obviously be the correct price (£30). As we cannot put such a huge discount on the item the customer would start to kick off and always say “You HAVE to legally sell it at the price it is marked at it is the law I demand to see your manager blah blah blah I’m speaking to your head office!”etc etc. Actually, no we don’t – we can just refuse to sell the item to the customer on those grounds and nothing can be done about it. It is your discretion.
Whether this would apply in a similar situation for teaching, e.g. the enquiry that seemed a bit weird, I don’t know – but if you don’t feel comfortable teaching that person then don’t teach them. Obviously you can’t turn around to them and say “Sorry, but you’re a bit strange, I can’t teach you”…at the end of the day you have to be happy as well as the customer. And you would be able to use that circumstance where someone refuses to pay you – luckily I’ve never been in that situation with a student where I have had to refuse lessons for that reason (it’s been close though!)
-
Have you asked him about what songs he would like to do or what his favourite songs are? That’s what I have found has got my student with autism to connect to the song – I get him to do one of the Grade 1 songs and then he also does ‘Girl On Fire’…I know that’s a difficult song but he loves to sing it!
-
The lessons are going much more smoothly now, thank you everyoneWe are getting a lot more work done now!:)
-
I’m the other way around! I teach mainly children and teenagers – the youngest I will teach though is age 6. I’ve tried lessons with 4 and 5 year olds before and none have worked out because they just wasn’t ready for the lessons and they struggle to concentrate for 30 minutes. I sometimes even struggle with the 6 year olds but at the moment my youngest is 8, which I have found seems to be roughly the right age to start lessons.
I don’t book under 12s in for more than 30 minutes at a time unless something like an exam is coming up. I’ve found an hour is too long for them unless they are completely committed (I have 2 under 12s at the moment who have hour lessons but they are already working through the graded syllabus/entering competitions etc)
I currently teach a handful of adults, the oldest I’ve taught was about 75! I’m more confident teaching youngsters, I think it’s also because it’s the age range I teach the most and they see me as a similar age, even though I am over 15 years older than some of them! I have found that parents are easier to communicate with than adult students as well and kids don’t tend to ‘drop off’ as much – what are other peoples thoughts on this?
-
I’ve just found this while researching different lesson policies… what are your thoughts?
-
I’ve done welcome packs right from the start and they are so useful, I managed to get some freebies from my local music shop to give out to new students too:)
-
I have had some loyalty cards made up from Vistaprint (pretty much your generic card you get from coffee shops for example), and once the student has got 10 stamps on the card they get a free half hour lesson, or I do an hour lesson for £10 as then it works out the same.
I only give them out after they have been coming for lessons for 6 months or more though, but I suppose you could give them out whenever you want!
-
After the initial lesson most pay in cash and some by cheque. I also offer block bookings with a discount and I have just in the past month introduced a loyalty scheme which has received really good feedback:)
But I know what you mean about Paypal taking a cut, which is why I prefer cash/cheque in the lessons but by paying online it just secures that first lesson and I know I am not wasting my time waiting around for people!
-
I take all new bookings through my online booking system, where they pay for a lesson via Paypal. Since implementing this system I have completely removed the problem of ‘no shows’ – I generally like to think that if they won’t pay in advance for a lesson then they are not serious or committed for the lessons. I also ask for 48 hours notice for cancellation to be entitled to a refund.
In the first lesson I let the student know that I ask for them to pay a lesson in advance from the second lesson. Most people have been understanding of this and I never really have a problem with it. If they do ask why I do this I tell them that it is to secure their lesson in advance as well as provides them with security knowing that the lesson is already paid for if they for example, forget to bring payment on one lesson, they can then pay the lesson in advance from the next time to put them back to where they were. I also get everyone to sign a pre-prepared student agreement which I make a copy of for them to take home:)
-
I am the same – always purposefully in the car when I am on my own! When I was living with my parents I just couldn’t practice in the house as my Mum would ring up the family so they could ‘hear me sing’ – I hated that!!!
When I was preparing for my Grade 8 I made a CD to put in my car of the original tracks I needed to learn, followed by the backing track. Then I would play it until I took the exam:) It would send my other half mad because he couldn’t listen to any other music in my car!
-
I literally had something that made me nearly laugh out loud the other day.
I was teaching a young girl her first piano lesson and as we are learning the pitch names I was getting her to make words out of the letters e.g bag, cabbage, dad
I ask her what words she can think of and she sits there for a while thinking, and then says “What about ‘bae’?”
-
Thank you – I do two showcases a year, my next one is on the 20th! She does find them useful but just wants a bit more experience. I also like the idea of the students performing to each other, I will suggest that to some of them!
-
Hello!
I’ve just had a listen to some of the tracks you posted and I can hear what you mean, it sounds very tense and like she isn’t taking in enough breath to finish the phrases, especially on the top notes. I can definitely hear an improvement on the warmer tones though!
I heard she was taking breaths where she wasn’t meant to…for my students who do this I get them to print out the lyrics and listen to the original version and make a note of where the breaths were taken. That way they have more of an idea of where they should be breathing and it’s there in black and white and I make then stick to it and only change it very slightly in some cases as obviously everyone is different.
Hope that helps a little bit:)
-
I’ve used both at the same time as I live a fair way from the city centre and I prefer teaching from home because of costs. I had a particular problem when renting a space in the city centre as students would not give enough notice to cancel (I would still charge for the lesson) but I would still have the pay the rental fee each week upfront.
-
There isnt an ‘official’ answer, i tend to get my student to work on a different question per week and see what they come up with. Then i tell them if there is anything i think they should add etc:)
-
Could this be similar to the problem in the more recent post? I have worked with a couple of young female students who showed similar symptoms to this – which I found much weirder than the male students that I mentioned because girls always seem much more comfortable in their head voices than guys.. In all these cases though, working on reducing constriction has helped, as I suspect that (from what I can tell) they may have been constricting to try and produce the sound. At the same time though I think it might just be a case of needing to build coordination in the muscles which control head voice; which might just be a really alien feeling for some people.
-
I went last year too! It was really good! Did you go to the April one by any chance?
-
That and just in general
-
I tend to keep the lesson as ‘active’ as possible for the younger ones as they don’t want to be sat there listening and get very fidgety!
-
I have based one of my techniques for mixed voice from one of his videos. He’s good to learn new techniques from but sometimes I find him a bit cringey to watch lol!
-
Teenstar or Open Mic UK:) The people who run it are lovely too!
-
That’s brilliant thank you!
-
Well it’s very, very basic at the moment, she does piano lessons as well and I can play a short tune and she only has to half-look and she can play it back perfectly. I think with development she will be able to just pick notes out of the air but I just don’t know any exercises to do this.
I have the aural tests for ABRSM exams but there must be some more ‘fun’ ways for a 6 year old haha!
-
ooh go on then:)
-
Oh sorry, I meant I record myself using the iPad, I usually use ultimate-guitar.com to transpose songs to different keys! XD
-
For backing tracks I use Youtube, that way the student can then use the exact same track that we have practiced with in the lesson! I also record myself playing piano in the lesson if I am accompanying or having to transpose to a different key just using my iPad.
A brilliant app I have found – it’s called Virtuoso and it’s free, it’s a ‘piano’ on your phone/iPad and you can practice scales/arpeggios and sing along, so really good for warm ups
-
I just typed in ‘online booking systems free’ and loads come up
-
tbh I went through a few! I looked at SimplyBook, Acuity, Smoothbook…. in fact I think every single one on the 1st page of google! I nearly went for smoothbook but it was incredibly confusing and it was a right pain to add another teacher onto it! SimplyBook once you know it is pretty easy to use
-
The one I use is called SimplyBook, it can be free to use or you can pay for more features, something like £6 a month. I’m going to try it with the free package and if I need more I will just have to pay
-
Yes it’s for that exact reason as I still get them now, but hopefully when my new teacher starts she will never have to put up with it! I’m also going to apply it to people who sporadically have lessons and mess me about doing so. I honestly don’t know how people can do it, you wouldn’t do it to your GP!
-
I found a free one which is pretty good! I can’t remember what it is called so I will have to have a look tomorrow. It took me a few days to get my head around it but it all works and I can get an upfront deposit through it, so it’s bye-bye time wasters!
-
It’s possible, stress can affect us in many different ways
-
I agree with going to a doctor, I’ve had lots if experience of being fobbed off so if they tell you everything is fine, go and see another one and get a second opinion and stress how concerned you are and you won’t rest until you have that referral!
-
I don’t really want to travel to Birmingham though for just a coffee? Especially if some people are coming from quite far? The Slug & Lettuce buffet is only £10 a head
-
Ok here is an update! He’s decided he isn’t going to do his Grade 1 anymore, he still thinks he doesn’t have a good enough voice to do it. So fair enough, I’m not going to push him if it is not something he wants to particularly do right now. I suggested the filming to him and he seems up for it.
His mum has had a chat with me tonight as he won’t open up in lessons to me, he wants to focus on tones and develop a ‘nicer’ sound. I was going to take him through Estill’s 6 tones for singing anyway but can anyone else suggest anything I could do? He gets embarrassed very easily and I was struggling to get him to do ‘sob’ tones tonight…I just said if he wants to improve his tones he needs to sing all of these different ones! We’ve already covered opening up his throat and relaxation.
We’re also going to look at getting his tongue out of the way so I’ve photocopied some sheets for him and explained it all to him, whether he will find the courage to practice it I don’t know…
-
Thanks! I’ll give it a go when he next has his lesson 🙂
-
Can’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis🙂
-
My memory is so poor…lol, I forgot again haha
Anyway, an update on what happened. It took me a few days to actually call after I originally posted this so I could think about what I should say! I ended up calling his Mum’s PA as I wasn’t too sure how easy it would be to talk to his Mum, as I have nearly always spoken to the PA regarding his lessons and she isn’t the most fluent in English.
He had another lesson in the time between posting and calling, and once again he forgot his notebook so I used this to begin my concerns rather than jumping in and going through the worser things! When I rang another receptionist answered the phone and she said she would remind him about the book….so I then brought up the toilet issue, to which she replied “Oh yeah….can I call you later as he is sat next to me”, so I knew there must be something up!
The PA (who is lovely by the way) rang me the next day and told me that he has Asperger’s Syndrome, which is why he is constantly back and forth to the toilet in the lessons as he looses his concentration. Now I try to keep my lessons as practical as possible, but I was struggling to do so with him spending half of the lesson out of the hour in the toilet. This made me question why he was doing an hour if he wasn’t up to it….
The PA thought she had told me about the Asperger’s but she hadn’t, and I also told her his Mum hadn’t told me either when she filled out the student agreement in the very first lesson, which has a specific question along the lines of “Does the student have any medical conditions that I must be made aware of?”. On the form she either wrote No or crossed a line through it, to which I was told she did this because she can’t accept that her son has this condition and so will not admit it. Very frustrating as I could have suited the lessons more around it.
He came to his next lesson with a friend who filmed his lesson as evidence for the DoE, which threw me a bit as I have never been filmed teaching a lesson before! He was on his best behaviour so someone must have spoken to him, and also probably because he was on film!
On Monday I had another phone call from the PA to inform me he would not be continuing with lessons. The main reason was that it was incredibly far for him to travel (and honestly I’m surprised he managed to keep the lessons up for as long as he did with the distance he travelled) and that she felt he wasn’t committed enough and she would rather I spend my time teaching someone who would practice every week and concentrate in the lessons. I’m relieved about it, but frustrated as I had just found out how to deliver his lessons and work them around his condition. As we would all probably say, it’s experience at the end of the day.
So there we go, sorry for the essay! 😛
-
Oh gosh I completely forgot about this post! I’m out at the moment but when I get to my PC I’ll update you all🙂
-
Thank you, I’m just really worried I will offend him but I guess there isn’t an easy way around it :/
-
Thank you🙂 He is 21 so should really know better! At first I thought he could perhaps have some form of autism as he can seem quite withdrawn but I just found out he has recently done a lot of difficult exams so I don’t know! It is a horrible situation🙁
-
In fact Ruth, what do you say to people on the phone if they are being a bit funny about paying a deposit?
-
I’m just hoping that if people are serious enough they would be happy enough to pay the deposit 🙂
-
Yeah if I have a 7 hour day I try to split it so I can at least have a break in between, as thats what I had when I worked at Next 😛
-
I have I think just over 50 students now. I have to be very careful with how much I teach as I have ME/CFS, I will not teach in mornings but do teach quite late to make up for that, and I have to have at least 2 days off a week or I will make myself poorly! I just have to stand my ground in that I will not teach on a Friday, or Sunday for that matter!
-
I have roughly 60:40 ratio of kids to adults, most of them female! I teach Monday to Thursday between 12pm and 9pm and between 12pm and 3.30pm on a Saturday
-
I just buy white card from Rymans! Always does the job for me I use publisher for mine and try and theme them depending on the season – my last ones has Easter chicks on for the Easter showcase!
-
I teach a lot of popular vocals such as pop, Rnb, rock etc and a little bit of musical theatre 🙂 I think in the whole time I’ve been teaching I’ve only ever had two people ask me for classical lessons
-
I don’t really follow any methods or techniques, I just use what I have picked up along the years! I do always look at doing courses and things though 🙂
