Most parents know what piano lessons look like.
They know the routine: a weekly, hour-long session with a teacher, a practice assignment to work on at home, and maybe a recital or two during the year. It’s the model they grew up with—or the one they watched their friends and siblings go through.
Most of them are basing everything on the model they grew up with, one that maybe didn’t work for them, but maybe it would for their child if they just “stick with it”.
What Piano Teachers Don’t Know
They don’t know that there are options outside of the traditional one-hour-a-week lesson. They don’t know how to provide more performance opportunities for their students. They know that the best learning happens when focus is applied daily, but do not have the resources to ensure practice is happening outside of the lesson.
So we start from there—with the assumption that it’s up to us, Oclef Professors, to educate the parents just like we educate the students.
Here’s what that looks like.
The Power of 15 Minutes a Day
We offer daily piano lessons, 15 minutes each, Monday through Friday.
This adds up to more actual contact time than a weekly hour-long lesson—but the time is only part of the story. What really matters is what happens with consistency.
Instead of repeating what was forgotten, we’re building daily. Instead of treating music like a weekly event, we’re weaving it into the student’s everyday life. It becomes as natural as brushing teeth or doing homework.
For beginners especially, this small-but-daily commitment transforms the learning curve.
More Than Just Lessons
To support that daily rhythm, we offer free tools that help extend the education:
Sight Reading, Rhythm, and Theory quizzes, done right after each lesson, reinforce concepts and create “banked time.” This extends the lesson from 15 minutes to 20-30 minutes long. If a student misses a lesson, that is simply fifteen minutes out of a possible 2 hours or more of piano per week.
Kaizen, our space for independent learning with instructors ready to check in on student progress, is open for 6 hours Monday through Friday. Any Oclef student can join at any time and continue their musical journey.
This layered approach makes the learning stick—and keeps the students engaged between lessons.
Perform Often
Lessons at home is a practice, and the performance is the game. That’s where students learn what it feels like to share music, to communicate under pressure, and to be proud of their voice.
We offer 20+ free performance opportunities each year. Honor’s recitals showcase exceptional performances in the traditional recital structure, but we also have fun, low pressure events as well:
- Empathy concerts - Students perform for the elderly at local nursing facilities.
- World Music Festival - Everyone is invited to share their culture through music and food
- Holiday recitals - Halloween and Christmas with games!
- Ensemble concerts featuring duets and more!
Performances are one of the best ways to meet parents, start conversations, and explain what we’re doing differently. It’s one thing to say, “Your child is growing,” and another to let them see and hear it for themselves.
Sign your students up for every performance you can!
Apprenticeship
I used to believe I could explain every concept. But the truth is, some students need to hear something five different ways before it clicks. And that fifth way? Might come from someone else.
That’s why we use an apprenticeship model. Apprentices don’t just assist—they teach, coach, and support. They help students practice more effectively than most kids can manage on their own, and they offer fresh language, energy, and insight.
The most exciting part is students can now have two piano teachers instead of one, both collaborating on the best way to teach each child.
The Last Three Years Are the Most Important
Many parents don’t understand the long view for piano lessons. There is a perception that if a child is not progressing enough in a year or two, the teacher must not be very good. This is more often than not false.
An apt analogy is learning to read. Learning the letters is simple enough. Learning to read takes a year or two to be effective. Being able to pick up a Shakespeare sonnet and orate with emotion and feeling requires a mastery of reading. This leads to one of the most little known facts about learning piano as a child:
The most important years are the last three: Sophomore, Junior, and Senior years.
That’s when everything we’ve built finally gets used—not just for music, but for life.
We guide students through empathy concerts, community events, volunteer work, and personal projects like albums or research papers. We hire students as apprentices to gain job experience. This is preparation—for college, for leadership, for adulthood.
Music is the medium. Growth is the goal.
How To Get There
I highly encourage each piano teacher to set three goals that can be achieved in a month for each student.
They don’t have to be monumental, just attainable. Some examples could be: record your playing, complete a theory foundations level, perform in a seminar once, attend Kaizen two or three times a week, etc. Do that for years and there is no way to fail.
Take five minutes to talk with the parent at the start of the month. Explain what you’re working toward, and why it matters.
Most parents want to be part of the process. Let them in.
Final Thoughts
Show everyone what music education can really look like:
- Daily learning
- Consistent performances
- Collaborative teaching
- Growth towards adulthood
- And a clear, shared path forward
When they see it—really see it—they become our biggest allies.
So start with the mindset that parents simply don’t know.
And then show them.
Onward,
Connor Moen