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Here are some things I’ve accomplished/worked on during the last year, as well as some goals for the coming year.

Accomplishments in 2018

• Finished teaching my 1st year of Let’s Play Music.
• Trained and started teaching 2nd year of Let’s Play Music.
• Attended my 2nd Let’s Play Music Symposium.
• Was active member of the Music Teacher’s National Association (MTNA), the UMTA Concerto Competition Chair (Instrumental), and my local chapter secretary.
• Gave 2 presentations to UMTA chapters in Utah.
• Attended my 4th Utah Music Teachers Association Music Conference.
• Designed and put together the UMTA Conference booklet and took photos of the conference.
• Designed the new UMTA logo.
• Member of Utah Valley Symphony.
• My studio includes 13 private students, 20 Let’s Play Music Students and I have a waiting list for both.
• Held 2 studio recitals, 1 Let’s Play Music Program, and multiple group classes.
• Kept adding technology to my studio including keyboards for Let’s Play Music.
• Began playing piano for Primary (my church’s children’s program).
• Sold nearly 400 Treble Clef Snowflake Christmas Ornaments that I designed and 3d printed.
• Moved my studio out of the front room and into it’s own dedicated room.

Goals for 2019

• Finish certifying for 2nd year of Let’s Play Music, and start certifying for 3rd year.
• Start Cataloging my music library.
• Write accompaniments for violin Christmas book.
• Create 2 new 3d printed products for my online store.
• Find a balance between work and family.

Technical Toys

• Keyboard- weighted keys, needs to be able to plug into computer or device.
• Laptop/Computer
• iPad/Tablet
• Cellphone
• Recording
  • Camera- phone, tablet, iPad
  • Video Camera
  • Microphone
    • Android- Smart Recorder
    • iPad- iTalk
    • External Microphone- Blue Yeti

Running your studio

• My Music Staff mymusicstaff.com
• Google Docs/Forms google.com/docs/about/
• Google Keep google.com
• Metronomes
  • Android-The Metronome by Soundbrenner
  • IPad- Pro Metronome
• Library
  • Android-My Library
  • iPad- Home Library

Instead of Flashcards

• Note Rush
• Flashnote Derby
• StaffWars

Lab Time (How I organize it)

• Youtube video (My Youtube playlist from last year)
• Assigned apps for the week
  • 1^st week of month- Note Identification
  • 2^nd week of month- Rhythm
  • 3^rd week of month- Sight Reading
  • 4^th week of month- Theory
• Fill out app level or score achieved on App Assignment Sheet

Things to check when downloading an app. Rating, reviews, when it was last updated

iPad Apps

Flashnote Derby ($4.99)

Bass ($3.99), Treble ($3.99), and Rhythm Cat ($3.99)

NinGenius Music School ($9.99)

Rhythm Swing ($3.99)

Music Theory ($2.99)

forScore ($9.99)

GarageBand (free)

SketchASong (free)

Bubble Tones (free)

Android Apps

Flashnote Derby ($2.99)

Tuner & Metronome (Free)

The Metronome by Soundbrenner (Free)

NoteWorks ($4.99)

Treble Cat Lite Bass Cat Lite Paid versions for $4.99/piece

Check out udystudio.com/android-app-reviews for more android apps.

Welcome to week 2 of Techie Tuesday! I hope you tried some of the apps I have reviewed before.

Today I want to talk about a program that has been a game changer for how I keep track of my studio. It is not an app, but a website. MyMusicStaff.com is a great way to keep track of students, their info, payments, business expenses, lending library and so many other things. It has a monthly subscription fee, but it is the same price no matter the size, which is $12.95/month. At first I wasn’t sure about subscribing to it since I have such a small studio, but it has made the business side of things so much easier.

I have it set up to automatically send out invoices each month to my students’ parents. I love that I don’t have to personally make each invoice. During the month if I need to add an expense to a student (such as a new book) I can quickly open the website on my phone and add it in no time. Also, I can quickly add a payment as soon as I receive it.

One feature I think would be great for other teachers is the way to keep track of notes during the lesson and then send them to the student and parent. I have tried it a few times but I have not had success with them actually looking at the notes at home. For now I will stick with my written lesson notes.

Another thing I wish the parents in my studio would use is their online account. They are able to log on and view student lesson info, account owing info, and signing up for make up lessons. I am able to see when they last logged on, and most of them have only logged on once when I sent them their login info. I’m hoping through the next year to get my parents to sign up for make up lessons online rather than contacting me.

There are many other features that I haven’t explored yet, such as online payments, lending library tracker, mileage, and all of the studio report options.

I highly recommend looking into MyMusicStaff.com to help organize your studio!

During the last year I have accomplished a number of things in my business.

Accomplishments in 2016

• Became a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music in Violin and Piano.
• Got Accept to become a Let’s Play Music teacher.
• Was active member of the Music Teacher’s National Association (MTNA), and  the UMTA Concerto Competition Chair (Instrumental).
• Member of Utah Valley Symphony.
• Added a lab time to my lessons in the fall.
• Attended my 2nd Utah Music Teachers Association Music Conference.
• My studio includes 19 students with a waiting list.
• Held 2 studio recitals, 1 summer camp, and multiple group classes.
• Kept adding technology to my studio including an ipad.
• Was my church’s assistant organist and music conductor.
• Continued tuning pianos.

Goals for 2017

• Become a certified teacher of Let’s Play Music, and start teaching year one in the Fall
• Write accompaniments for violin Christmas book.
• Make one youtube video.
• Post on blog once a week.
• Create 2 new products for my online store.
• Post one free music aid per month.

A few months ago I ended up losing my entire website because of not backing my website up on my computer, and my webhost not renewing my hosting automatically like I had selected. Because of this I had to start all over. It was kind of nice to start from scratch and make some changes to my website that I had wanted to make for quite a while. The one down side was that I lost all of my blog post. I had so many ideas posted that I got very discouraged about starting again.

With a new school year started I’ve decided I’m finally ready to begin blogging again! I can’t promise it will be very often as I have a baby and a toddler, but I’m definitely going to try.

One of the things I want to bring back is my Techie Tuesdays. I am a strong proponent of Android Apps, and I have a number of more apps that I want to share with everyone!

So check back soon for more blog posts!

2015 ended up being nothing like I planned. I spent most of the year sick during my 2nd pregnancy, but thankfully our little boy is here now and I’m feeling so much better. The following are my lists of accomplishments from 2015 and my goals for 2016.

2015 Accomplishments

• Was active member of the Music Teacher’s National Association (MTNA), and on the UMTA Concerto Competition Committee (Instrumental).
• Was awarded a grant from MTNA.
• Member of Utah Valley Symphony.
• My studio grew to include 22 students at one point. (now at 18)
• Held 2 studio recitals, 2 summer camps, a conducting camp, and multiple group classes.
• Kept adding technology to my studio.
• Was my church’s assistant organist.
• Continued tuning pianos.
• Was interviewed for my first webinar.
• Self-published a violin scale book and violin Christmas book.
• Had a baby, which took up most of my time since I was sick the entire pregnancy.

Goals for 2016

• Finish MTNA certification for both violin and piano.
• Write accompaniments for violin Christmas book.
• Make one youtube video a month.
• Restore/sell the piano that I purchased in 2013.
• Post on blog once a week.
• Add a lab time to my lessons this fall.

I’m so excited to see what 2016 brings!