I have to admit, I get lonely as a piano teacher. Or at least I used to (see below). Wendy also mentioned recently that being a composer is a lonely space as well.
But we’re not the only ones or even the only profession prone to this! Loneliness has been on the rise so much that there’s a term for it now. The “loneliness epidemic” is a serious public health concern that is so harmful that the former Surgeon General has said it’s a significant factor for premature death. According to the 2023 Surgeon General Advisory:
The mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, and even greater than that associated with obesity and physical inactivity.
That means that fostering and creating a piano teaching community is imperative for our health and well-being as piano teachers.
“The list of both mental and physical health conditions that have been associated with loneliness and poor social connections is remarkably long—from impaired cognitive function, depression, anxiety, and increased risk of suicide, to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and infectious diseases.”
So what are the factors that have chipped away at social connection? There’s a few, but our addiction to smartphones, the pandemic opening up “remote” gathering, and people being more comfortable with moving away from home are the biggest ones. Generally, the old ways of fostering community are sadly a relic of the past. We piano teachers are “lone wolves” too, often operating our studios solo.
All of this is a concerning recipe for loneliness, depression, and burnout!
The advisory also found that alleviating loneliness also depends on the quality of connection, not merely being around people passively. So in effect, creating an active piano teaching community in a small group of friends could be akin to healing ourselves from the inside out, and perhaps making a difference for our students, too.
My Three Piano Teaching Besties
I’m sharing my concrete tips because I’ve been lucky enough to create a solid piano teaching community with three friends (shoutout to Elyse, Katie, and Joanie!!). These three friends and I share a group text thread that’s been going on for 5 years and counting! One friend said our community has been more beneficial to her than her local regional music teacher’s group; another said her students have tangibly improved their sound because of our conversations, and the third friend said our little group has been life-giving. I couldn’t agree more to that.
Of course, you don’t have to be best friends with people in your piano teaching group to have an effective group! But you might be amazed at what friendships form when you get together regularly!
Concrete Tips for Creating Community
Here’s how to foster a piano teaching community in a small group of friends.
1. Choose your Cheerleaders
We want people in our groups that are cheerleaders – people that listen well, offer thoughtful feedback, are good-hearted, and lift up their friends and colleagues. It’s always important when creating a piano teaching community to include others who have the same goals as you. So the goal is to find friends who are:
- Open
- Professional
- Encouraging
- Supportive
- Have similar goals as you
2. Cultivate Connection by Keeping in Touch
While in-person contact is always the gold standard, life gets busy, and sometimes we want to chat with piano teacher friends about something that happened on a teaching day when you can’t get together! Before the pandemic, three piano teaching girlfriends and I started a group text thread. This group thread been going strong for five years and has saved us countless times! Here’s the different ways we’ve kept in touch:
- Shorter-form group text thread: We share pictures and ideas here
- Longer-form video messaging: We used to use an app where you can send videos back and forth – this helps you really get to know someone!
- Getting together in person: Build on the remote relationships
Text message group chats lead to more opportunities for connection!
What if you don’t know anyone in your area that you already have a friendship with? I recommend looking for small regional piano teacher groups on Facebook (or joining the private ComposeCreate® Facebook group), using “meet up” websites, as well as joining music teacher associations in your area.
You can also do an internet search for piano teachers in your city and see who pops up! Follow their studio on social media and then see if you think they might be a good fit. See if they’d like to meet for coffee just to chat about piano teaching and then see how that feels and go from there.
People are starving for that kind of interest from and connection to others!
3. Collaborate
Now that you’ve found your cheerleaders and been sharing knowledge and laughs with each other, it’s the perfect time to foster piano teaching community in a small group of friends by collaborating musically. My creative friend Joanie has been playing duets with friends and advanced students for years, and ever since she roped us in, we look forward to performing at each other’s recitals!
Here are just a few ways you can collaborate:
- Play at each other’s recitals, or perform a duet
- Carpool or meet up at music teacher events in your area
- Attend concerts together to reinvigorate your love of music
- Purchase a group viewing for the Teaching Teens: What Therapists, Researchers, and Teens Wish You Knew Workshop to watch together
4. Share What’s Working
If you have a piano teaching community like this or you begin to put one together, please share how you are doing this in the comments below! There are so many ways that we can learn from each other and this blog post shares only a fraction of the things you can do together and the ways you can put something like this together.
Let us know if anything in this blog post strikes a chord with you! Do you want to brainstorm about how to create a piano teaching community? Chat with us in the comments!
Read More:
- Group Viewing Opportunities for Workshops with Wendy
- Idea Share #5: Taking Care of Yourself & Energizing Ideas
- Idea Share #2: How Teachers are Lightening their Load
Sources on the Loneliness Epidemic:
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10772224
- https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf
- https://www.npr.org/2023/05/02/1173418268/loneliness-connection-mental-health-dementia-surgeon-general
- https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(23)00572-2/fulltext
Such good recommendations! A colleague of mine started a Facebook Group for piano teachers in our area of south central KY and it has been a joy having the occasional meetup as well as posting and chatting in the group. I shared this article there today. Thanks for the encouragement ladies!
About a half dozen teachers from our local Music Teachers’ Association have been meeting about once a month for a number of years to play for each other and have lunch. Sometimes we will pick a volume, such as Schumann’s Op, 15, and spend 2 or 3 months taking turns to read through the book. Other months, we just play whatever we happen to be working on. And we often play duets together. It’s always enjoyable, and sometimes we hear repertoire we didn’t know.
Our MTNA local chapter is basically dead. This last year we met 2 times. I also sense a feeling of competition as opposed to comraderie, so always leave our few meetings with a slight feeling of discouragement. I am a person who likes to affirm people, and would love to form a group of like-minded teachers! This was helpful to read. Maybe I’ll start something this summer when I have time.
Thanks so much for sharing.
Hi Wendy and all!
Here’s my experience that is very supportive.
My piano teacher friend and I live in different states. We met on an online forum years ago and became virtual friends. We write letters ( the old fashioned kind, not email) to each other once every week, since 2013. We support each other.
I highly recommend finding a fellow piano teacher to exchange letters with. Emails don’t count. There’s no substitute for putting pen to paper. Choosing cheerful stationery is fun too!
Carry on in friendship,
Barb in California
A true honor and joy to be in our piano chat! I’ll never forget when I was going through my cancer battle, and you all stepped in and sub taught for me remotely! A group like ours is truly priceless. I hope others will follow our lead because of this article. Love you, Nance, Joanie and Katie!!
When we hit the road in our motorhome 4 years ago, I knew that I would need to find a community of teachers that I could meet with regularly. Christina Whitlock (who hosts the Beyond Measure podcast) has just what I needed through her Patreon group!
We meet almost every Monday morning on Zoom for a “Power Hour” – to check in briefly, share what we’re planning to work on that hour, and then report back. There’s also a once-a-month meeting on a Friday, where we discuss a piece of music or another teaching-related topic.
I have found our local MTNA group to be a wonderful avenue to provide both education and camaraderie. These colleagues have become both my mentors and my friends. We learn together, share ideas with each other, and encourage each other. Nothing compares to live, in-person interaction!
Good advice here! I’m grateful I have a wonderful group of local teacher friends who I see or talk to on a regular basis. I host a lunch or brunch at least once a year and I go walking/coffee dates with my colleagues often.
Very grateful for my local Federation group as well. We challenge each other and there’s a lot of laughs.
That’s wonderful, Angela! I’m so glad to hear that.
Live, in-person interaction just feels different for sure. I’m glad, Marjorie!
How cool that you found the perfect “virtual” solution to in-person teacher friendships. I love the “Power Hour” idea!
Dixie, Trying to find new friends can be challenging, but so worth it. I’m hoping you’re able to keep your eyes and ears open to find others who seek friendship like you.
Barb, that is so lovely. I am so glad to hear you and your teaching pen pal are supporting each other through your correspondences (and fun stationery)!
All I can say is…. DITTO TO ALL THE THINGS Elyse!
That’s great, Laura!
Liana, thank you for sharing. I hope your comment is encouraging to teachers who can’t find an in-person group in their area… yet. 🙂