Kids Sing Studio is run entirely out of my home. I serve children of all abilities since I am both a voice instructor and a Board Certified Music Therapist. I have about 60 "active" students with a
long waiting list. Slowly my living room has been taken over by my passion and love for teaching music lessons. (I think my living room was officially taken over by my studio when I hung my diploma and a mirror on the wall.)
The perks of teaching out of my home far outweigh the negative aspects of teaching from home. I love being at home with my kids. I love "bartering" voice lessons for babysitting with my students. I love being able to work at any hour of the day. My kids are also getting to a little bit older (age 3 & 4) and sometimes they can sit and watch a TV show while I teach a lesson. My students parents are always willing to entertain my children as well.
We live in the quaint neighborhood of Saint Louis Hills in a two-family flat. In fact this is the home that my Dad grew up in and my little "single" sister lives in the upstairs apartment. Let's just say she can hear every song that the students are singing below her and has gotten to be quite a fine judge of talent.
 |
| Students enter through the door on the left. |
Here are some pictures of my Studio Space. It is constantly evolving and changing but I LOVE my room. I love the yellow walls. I love my piano and my equipment. You will notice that I made my own copies of Rachel Rambach's "Stay Calm and . . ." signs and placed three throughout my space. My students really love these signs- I only wish I would have thought of giving them away as Christmas Presents. (great idea!) Yes there is a Justin Bieber calendar hanging on the wall which has now been replaced by a Glee calendar to start off the new year.
 |
| The view from the piano |
 |
| The basic set up. Students stand behind the piano facing me or on the blue music note on the floor next to me. |
 |
| The view when entering Kids Sing Studio. There is a small bench for waiting students. Students enter only 1 minute before their scheduled lesson time. |
 |
| My music storage closet. It actually is really organized. |
 |
| Wipe off board to update students of any important news |
 |
| The rules of Kids Sing Studio. Younger students are awarded stickers. When they have earned 5 stickers they are then allowed to pick a prize out of my coveted "prize basket." My prize basket consists of donations from my students parents. I have 2 full trash bags in my basement filled to the top with fast food give away toys. My older students are not motivated by the prize basket but they love a "shout out" on Facebook. |
 |
| Chair behind the piano. Parents will typically sit here to talk during the last 5 minutes of the lesson. |
 |
What would I do without my rolling cart. I can easily roll this cart into the storage closet and push the piano against the wall to have a "typical" living room for my personal life.
|
I LOVE technology. I love learning about the latest and greatest apps, equipment, books, etc. These are a few items that I could not live without!
 |
| My Snowball USB Microphone! (This was a game changer) |
 |
| My amazing wireless + laser printer. This was a great investment because it has saved me a TON of time. |
 |
| I just got the Square credit card reader. What a fast and easy way for students to pay their bill. I would rather get paid and lose a little bit of money in credit card fees than wait to get paid. Students are also able to pay via PayPal. It would be awesome if everyone would pay this way or just pay in cash. |
 |
| Music Teachers Helper computer program was a game changer for me! This turned my studio into a well oiled machine. I still have to spend a lot of my "free" time handling scheduling and billing issues BUT this has made EVERYTHING so much easier. My students are able to pay their bill, change lesson times, cancel lessons, record their daily practice all without directly interacting with me. I am instantly informed of any changes that are made. Thank you to the folks at Music Teachers Helper for inventing and constantly improving this program. They are almost done with their new iPhone app. Students will also be able to use this app on their iPhones. |
 |
| Ahh--what a little miracle! I am a apple junkie. I am fully in the "cloud" now with my iPhone, MacBook and my new beauty the iPad 2. This little gem was hiding in a popcorn maker box this Christmas- compliments of my darling husband. What a surprise! |
I love learning about new apps and tricks and tips on the iPhone and iPad. These are a few I could not live without and are all a daily part of running my studio.
 |
| Contacts: Every number I might ever need synced to all of my devices |
 |
| Notes: This is my latest way to keep track of my TO DO list. I am always changing the way I track my To-do's |
 |
| Facebook: Okay-fine! I'm a addict. Do you follow Kids Sing Studio? I hope so! |
 |
| Words With Friends: Just another little addiction of mine. |
 |
| Pages: Great iPad word processing program |
 |
| E-Bay: I buy used and new music books, sheet music and equipment at least 2 times a month |
 |
| Music Notes: I have been buying music on Music Notes since about 2001. Since I got my iPad last week all of my previously purchased music is now available on my iPad. And now I can transpose it all! AMAZING! |
 |
| Ultimate Guitar: Amazing App. I have a subscription and using this with my iPad is also awesome. |
 |
| PayPal: My students pay with PayPal through the Music Teachers Helper program. I LOVE checking the balance! |
 |
| iMovie: My students LOVE making and helping to create videos |
 |
| iMovie Extras: Awesome graphics to make your movies even cooler |
 |
| OnSong: A great app for organizing all of my guitar and sheet music that is specific to one student |
 |
| Bamboo Paper: This is so much fun to draw and convert to JPEG. |
 |
| RetailMeNot: I use this all of the time for coupon discounts on music websites |
 |
| Voice Memos: I can record my students singing and send it directly to their e-mail to help them learn a song. Many of my students bring in their iPod Touch's and record their entire lesson. |
 |
| Garage Band: LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! |
 |
| Face Time: I love talking to my friends, family and (sometimes) students on this app. Thank you Apple! |
 |
| YouTube: The best way to quickly look up a song, get ideas for a song, learn about a new piece of equipment, a new vocal technique or to share videos we have created. Have you subscribed to Kids Sing Studio's YouTube Channel? |
 |
iCloud: Now that I have a iPad, iPod, MacBook and iPhone I am fully invested in the Cloud. All of my software is the latest and greatest and all of my music is available on all of my devices. Hallelujah!
|
So that is a little bit about my "studio space." This post was much longer than I intended. Once I get started talking about all of my cool, new, techie stuff I just cannot stop myself. Hope you enjoyed the tour!
