The Life of a Piano Teacher........part 1, Judith Shaltanis

When I started this blog, I reached out to a few of my piano teacher friends and of course one of my former piano teachers, to be a guest blogger-which is our first guest blogger, Judith Shaltanis. I'm not sure if I can call her a former teacher, because she is still teaching me-teaching me about new piano methods and ideas for students who need special help. She will call or I will call and we'll trade stories about our teaching life and performing life. When I decided to open my own piano studio in Brooklyn in 1984, I traveled back to Iowa to be trained by her in the Lo Kno Pla method-which I still use today. Judith was one of the first piano teachers to be trained by the author of that method-Ruth Stevenson Alling. It's now taught all over the country and in Canada. I feel very fortunate to have learned that method-because it gives such joy to all of my beginning students-regardless of their age-and that I still have a wonderful and evolving relationship with "my teacher" who is also now my friend and colleague. Here's her story........

In my life, the day usually starts at 3:15. No, that is not when I roll out of bed, but when I must be ready, dressed and excited to meet the first after school piano student. Most days that student can walk from the nearby elementary school, which means a part of the lesson is telling me about their school day before we can get much piano teaching done.

After almost 50 years of this routine, it is difficult to imagine any other life. I know, 50 years ago I didn’t have to worry about 401k’s, health insurance and retirement portfolios, that was to be the concern of my husband. Those were the days when very few women worked outside the home, and teaching piano was not outside the home. The first years of my teaching career were in a small Nebraska town. At that time I thought 20 students was a full load. Little did I know how I would change that perception!

After two short stays in small towns, our family settled in suburban Des Moines. I have three sons; two were born shortly after moving to a new town; so I wasn’t teaching yet in that location. However, the third one was born after a day of teaching 10 kids. I had made arrangements to have substitute teachers for the youngest students for a “maternity leave”, but I can remember teaching high school girls with a nursing baby. Yes, babies can sleep through piano lessons. I would schedule daytime adult lessons during nap time. During the after school hours I always had a babysitter. The sitters could be younger, after all I was still in the house, and my boys enjoyed the variety of sitters. I just closed the door to the studio, and the rest of the house was theirs.

The biggest change in my teaching came after I learned how to teach the LoKnoPla method. This unique approach allowed me to teach two students at the same time, one on each piano. This also allowed me to expand my studio, and eventually I taught as many as 60 students per week. LoKnoPla is a wonderful way to begin students. The student plays recognizable music with two hands all over the keyboard from the first lessons. It also allows the teacher time to decide which traditional method would be the best fit for the learning style of each student.
I no longer teach two students simultaneously. You need to stand to be efficient at that, and my old bones can’t manage standing for long periods without pain. But, here lies the beauty of being a private piano teacher. I can sit alongside some of the neatest young people in Iowa and watch them develop musically. I can keep somewhat current by listening to their vocabulary and their personal musical preferences. I can introduce students to others who share their love for the piano, and nurture those friendships through group piano activities. I can feel the love of a child for their teacher, and the gratitude of their parents that they are learning a long cherished art. Being self-employed, I can schedule, and afford, built in vacations. I can maintain long-term relationships with families. Yes, I have taught children of former students, and most of the kids I teach now are the age of my grandchildren. Who needs a retirement check in the mail when you can get all these perks and earn that retirement check weekly? It is probably a good thing that my husband of almost 50 years still seems to provide me with those other retirement benefits. I cannot imagine a more fulfilling life.