How to Convince Students to Get and Use Tracks to Improve Rhythm

Every once in a while, I have a teacher who wants their students to get the streaming tracks say,

“I don’t think my piano parents can afford the tracks. So I’m not going to tell them about it.”

Here’s the issue with this:

We are the professional and so it is our job to inform parents of what their child needs to be the most successful in their piano study! This means that if you think that the tracks would help a child be more accurate a home and help them internalize rhythm, it is your duty and responsibility to tell the parent and let them decide what they can and cannot afford! (By the way, the streaming tracks are extremely inexpensive! Parents pay so much more for completely unnecessary apps and services these days.)

If I were a parent and I found out that my child’s teacher withheld information about some inexpensive tracks that would have helped my child make faster progress and internalize rhythm more, I would be very upset! And understandably so.

All You Have to Do Is This:

1. Send the parent a text or email.
2. Give them the URL of the streaming tracks you want them to get (make it easy and you get more compliance).
3. Say this:

“I would like you to get this subscription so Sophie can practice accurately at home. They can greatly improve her rhythm!”

That’s it! If they don’t respond, be sure to follow up. But if the parents can’t afford it, they’ll let you know and you can be comfortable knowing that you were the professional!

Joan’s Letter to Parents

Hi everybody,

Some of you have experienced the wow of Rhythm Menagerie Accompaniment Tracks in our lessons. What a difference to clap or play the rhythms with a band and fun sounding music!

I am so grateful that I have been able to purchase the digital license to freely share the 95 page Rhythm Menagerie PDF without any cost to you.

But can you imagine ramping up the learning benefits even more by having access to the tracks at home between lessons as students practice their Rhythm Menagerie pages?

Well – good news. You can! You can get access to the tracks for just $3.99 USD/month. And – the first month is free as you try them out! They are very well organized, and students can easily be empowered to use them independently.
Here’s the link: Rhythm Menagerie® – Streaming Tracks

Many of us learned to play accurately with a metronome through our years of traditional piano. The tracks are a great (and fun!) alternative to achieve the benefits of…

* Internalizing the beat of music
* Processing pages of rhythms that will show up in future learning
* Improving our listening skills
* Preparing to play with others down the road

Could I ask you to consider trying out the tracks for the first complimentary month? Is there a reason not to? I’d love to have a group of students who agree to use them as part of daily practice for this free month, and hear your feedback regarding any differences that they/you notice. Would you like to be part of this pilot group?

I look forward to hearing from you!

Always grateful, 

Joan

[Joan then includes the link to the tracks so parents can find them right away. Here are the links to the different rhythm books that you can send to parents: