Where Is My Money Going?

MyMusicPB’s creator, Phillip Brunton: 

 

“In the present climate of financial justification it is often hard to pinpoint how value is reflected in the cost of vocal and instrumental music lessons. With unlimited activities vying for students’ attention, it can be challenging for teachers to account for the impact of their lessons and add more value to those lessons, yet ‘value’ or at least cost is a question that is likely to raise its head when money is discussed. In developing MyMusicPB.com we identified three key ‘links’ that every teacher can strengthen to ensure that the personal enrichment value of music making is truly appreciated alongside its financial value. 

 

Music lessons are a unique exchange. Parents pay for something that they are not directly receiving, and often making this payment to a school or music service rather than to the person teaching the lesson. As it is rare for a parent to sit in on the child’s lesson, and even when they do they won’t necessarily understand what they are watching, so the parent’s perception of value for money is observed through the experience of the child away from the lesson. The parent’s assessment is based on the following points: 

 

 

It can sometimes be difficult for parents to appreciate the progress being made, with some technical and musical skills requiring a longer period of time to develop. Reports and external graded exam results can give a measurable feedback of progress, although these are rarely produced more than once a year, and only a proportion of students will receive top marks. 

 

 

For many parents, value for money is observed through the child’s enthusiasm, motivation and enjoyment in their playing; how engaged they are with their practice and other musical activities such as playing in an ensemble? Students who are motivated to practise, and who understand how to get the most from their practice, will make enjoyable progress, but when the child doesn’t want to practice, the result is commonly that the parent will decide to stop lessons. Students who practise will want to learn more and will learn more quickly, making lessons much more ‘cost effective’. However, students attend lessons for a very small portion of the available 10080 minutes that make up a week. The true measure of their learning is determined by what happens betweenthe lessons. 

 

 

Parents also observe value for money through the professionalism of the service and the effectiveness of the teaching being offered. Regardless of how one becomes an effective teacher, effective teaching aims ultimately to guide and inspire students to become self-learners. The value of effective teaching extends beyond the lesson itself, and this means teaching effective practice skills. 

 

 

Is the teacher organised and keeping both students and parents informed? This is reflected through the effectiveness of the communication ‘links’ between the teacher, student and parent. How informed are the parents? It is perfectly natural for a parent to want to support their child, especially in the early stages of learning. What is my child working towards? How and what should they be practising? When is their next lesson and how are they getting on? How can we help? 

 

 

The paper practice book has traditionally been used as a teacher’s method of communication, informing students what to practise and sending parents important messages. Many teachers are aware that practice books never make it out of the music bag and they are often just used by the teacher as a reminder of what was covered in the previous lesson. As a teacher, does your use of a practice book truly reflect the value of your teaching? Could an interactive practice book be more engaging to the student, more efficient for your teaching and more effective in communicating with the parent? 

 

 

MyMusicPB, the interactive music practice book, identifies the ‘links’ between the teacher, student and parent as key to ensure that music tuition is effective and ultimately valued. 

 

As an interactive resource, it successfully organises and connects the teacher’s planning, notes and assessments with the student’s practice, focus and progress. Parents can be more informed and appreciative of the process due to improved communication, and they can offer more support to the child through the built-in weekly progress indicators. Students become more engaged through the interactive features of the practice book, leading to more practice, progress and enjoyment. 

 

 

 

MyMusicPB is free to use for all teachers. The linking interactive student practice books can be purchased separately by the parent or teacher. Alternatively, a school, music service or Hub may purchase a user licence, giving all their students and their parents access to a linking practice book. This offers better value for students. 

 

 

Schools and music services have ‘Admin Access’ to key data, which allows them to further support their teachers, students and parents. This strengthens links between all parties, and adds value to both individual and group lessons. 

 

 

As an online application, MyMusicPB can be accessed from, and is optimised for use on, any device. 

 

 

MyMusicPB actually addresses and solves the problems faced by many schools and music services due to GDPR and is fully GDPR compliant. When parents register, they give direct consent as to what data is held, and data is kept on a secure server with encrypted access. 

 

 

For further support and resources on efficient music learning, please follow MyMusicPB on twitter: mymusicpb@phillipbrunton 

 

And visit mymusicpb.com