Now that the excitement and flurry of December recitals has settled down, hopefully you’ve taken a breath and are ready to tackle setting goals for your piano students in 2023.

I know you want to start 2023 with a great start, so in the next few days, I’ll be sharing a few tips to help you out (included with freebies!).

First, we have a FREE 2023 Music Goals download for you to use with your students!

The goal of this printable is to help you and your students get the discussion started for setting goals in 2023.

If you’re new to setting goals with your piano students, here are a few tips to help you:

• Print a goals sheet for each student. They can choose either the sea turtle or blue crab from our free 2023 music goals sheets.
• Discuss potential goals with each student (we have some suggestions on the 2023 goals printable download to get you started).
• Help students brainstorm a few different ideas. 
• Remind students that it’s okay to shoot high and not quite reach the goal. A goal is just something to work toward, not something to achieve perfection in.
• Write down the student’s top 6 goals for the year.
• Take a picture of the student with their goal sheet. You can either hang it on your studio wall or text it to your students’ parents for accountability and motivation.
• Revisit the goals list at the end of each month. Do you and your student need to adapt lessons to fit these goals?
• As a teacher, remember to keep an eye out for opportunities to help your student reach their goals.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR TEACHING PIANO IN 2023?

Of course, in addition to setting goals with your piano students, I’m sure you’re already thinking about your goals in teaching.

If you’re like me and Rebekah (founder of Music Game Club), you’re likely looking for solutions to your students who get bored or frustrated in lessons.

I’ve seen this show up in a few ways with students:

• The student stops practicing. 
• The student starts giving an attitude.
• The student complains that music is too hard.
• The student cries.
• The student is overwhelmed.

While coming back to lessons after Christmas break can help this, sometimes it actually makes things worse.

In our studios, our #1 solution to these piano student problems is to play music games.

Before I share why we love music games so much, here’s a message from Rebekah herself about playing music games in your studio.

(Don’t see the video above? Watch it here)

Yep, we make no secret how much we love music games, but there are several reasons for that!

• Music games are an easy way to review concepts when coming from a break.
• Music games lessen the tension so the student can have fun.
• Music games teach new concepts away from the piano.
• Music games solidify concepts you’ve taught in lessons.
• Music games build teacher/student relationships.
• Music games build rapport between students.
• Music games provide great memories for the students (and teachers!).
• Music games break up a lesson for difficult students.

Do you play music games in your studio?

If so, I’d love to hear your best game-playing stories of students who improved with games!

If not, I hope you’ll put it on your list of goals with piano students in 2023!

However, you might be asking the biggest question we hear: “How can I make time to play games when there is not enough time to do everything I want to in lessons?”

I’ll be back on Wednesday with how to find time to play games in lessons (that blog post is now live! Read How to Make Time for Music Games in Lessons).

For now, I encourage you to start thinking about your struggling students and what music concepts might be able to help them.

Maybe make your own list of goals for piano lessons.

I can’t wait to hear what you and your students accomplish in 2023!

Is “playing more music games” a goal for you?

If so, then we can help you out!

Our Music Game Club monthly membership allows you to explore a new music game easily each month!

It will not only help you save time (because now you don’t have to go searching for the perfect game), but your students will start looking forward to a new game each month!

Membership is only open twice a year. Check out our membership page here for more details.

How do you achieve Setting Goals with your Piano Students?

What kind of goals do you set with your piano students?

Do you regularly play games? What problems do you think they solve for your students?

We’d love to hear your thoughts!

And don’t forget to grab the FREE printable to help you in setting goals with your piano students in 2023.

More blog posts to help you in teaching:

• 3 Steps to Do Something Different in Piano Lessons
• FREE Music Dynamics Game: Dynamic Den
• How to Teach Piano Students to Practice Effectively