What a music teacher website needs: pages, words and photos

A music teacher's website needs to show a parent or an adult beginner what you teach, who you are as a musician and a teacher, where lessons happen, how your studio runs, and how to book a first lesson. That is five or six pages at most. A short clip of you playing or teaching, and a clear studio policy, matter more than a long list of performances.

What families and adult students look for

Music students come in two broad groups. Parents are looking for lessons for a child, often for the first time, and want a teacher who is patient, reliable and close by. Adults are often returning to an instrument they played as a child, or finally starting one, and want to know they will not feel silly.

Both ask:

• Which instruments do you teach, and at what levels?
• Do you teach children, adults, or both?
• Where are lessons: your studio, my home, online?
• How long are lessons, and what do they cost?
• What is your background as a musician and teacher?
• How do I start?

Your home page should answer the first three in a single sentence: "Piano and voice lessons for children and adults in Asheville, at my home studio or online."

The pages a music teacher site needs

Home

That sentence, a good photo of you at your instrument, a short welcome, and a button to request a trial lesson. A tappable phone number at the top. If you have a short video, put it here.

Lessons

What you teach, at which levels, and in which styles: classical, jazz, pop, worship, musical theater, folk. Describe how a typical lesson goes and what students work on between lessons. The companion guide on instruments, ages and recitals covers how to write about each instrument, starting ages, trial lessons and performances.

About

Your musical training and teaching experience, in plain words. Include:

• Where and what you studied, if it helps: a degree in music, a conservatory, years of private study.
• How long you have taught and what ages.
• Teaching methods or certifications you use, such as Suzuki training, Kodály, or membership in a professional teachers' association. Explain each in a sentence.
• Your own playing: a church choir, a regional orchestra, a band that plays local venues. A few lines, not a full performance history.
• Why you teach.

Parents care most about whether their child will enjoy lessons with you. One or two sentences on how you work with young students go a long way.

Studio and tuition

Where your studio is, parking, whether there is a waiting area for parents, and whether you teach in students' homes. Then tuition: per lesson or monthly, lesson lengths, and what is included (recital fees, books, a music app). Many teachers charge a monthly or semester tuition rather than per lesson, which keeps schedules stable. If you do, explain how it works with months that have five weeks or holidays.

Studio policy

The single page that prevents most of a teacher's headaches. Keep each point short:

• Missed lessons and make-ups: how much notice, how many make-ups, how they are scheduled.
• Payment: when it is due, how to pay, late fees if any.
• Holidays and breaks: your calendar for the year.
• Practice expectations: how much, and how parents can help.
• Leaving the studio: how much notice you need.

Ask families to read it before the first lesson. A link to it in your welcome email works well.

Contact

Covered below.

Video and sound clips that help

A music teacher's site is one of the few where audio and video really earn their place. Short is better:

• A 30- to 60-second clip of you playing something you love.
• A short clip from a lesson, with the student's and parent's permission, showing how you teach.
• A recital moment, again with permission.

Use video that plays only when someone taps it. Music that starts on its own annoys visitors and gets the page closed. Embedding videos on your business website covers how to add a clip that loads quickly on phones.

Photos that work

• You at your instrument, in your studio, in good light.
• Your teaching space: the piano, music stands, the bookshelf.
• Hands on keys or strings, which works well without showing a student's face.

Avoid stock photos of children at shiny grand pianos. If you show students, get written permission from parents, and do not name children in captions.

What to leave out

• A complete list of every performance and competition you have done. A few highlights are enough.
• Teaching philosophy pages longer than a few paragraphs.
• Old recital dates and last year's calendar.
• Music theory lessons and long articles. If you want to share resources, one "For students" page with a few links is enough.
• Your home address on a public page, if you teach from home. Many home studio teachers share the exact address only after a booking.

Turning a visit into a first lesson

Teachers are usually teaching in the afternoon and evening, exactly when parents are looking. Make the contact path work without you on the phone:

• A short request form: student's name and age, instrument, experience so far, goals, whether they have an instrument at home, and preferred days and times.
• Say what happens next: "I will reply within a day with my open times and a link to the studio policy."
• Offer a trial lesson or a short meeting, and say what it includes and whether it is free or paid.
• Show your availability honestly: "Openings on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons this fall" or "Waitlist for weekday after-school times; adult daytime slots open."
• A tappable phone number, and a note on whether you prefer calls or texts.

If you use a studio management app for scheduling and billing, link to it for current families, and send new ones to the request form. Calls to action for small business websites covers how to word the buttons.

What to do this week

• Write one sentence with your instruments, ages, town and lesson location for the top of your home page.
• Update your about page with your training, teaching years and one paragraph on how you work with beginners.
• Write or update your studio policy and link it from the home page.
• Record one short clip of yourself playing.
• Post your current openings or waitlist status.

If you already have a site that is out of date or hard to read on a phone, you can see your studio site rebuilt first and decide with the result in front of you.