Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Teachers Forum Supplementing repertoire? (Legal issues vs. many books?)

What do you do when you want your student to supplement their method book? Illegal photocopying of something you already have? (ok, you don't have to admit this one, haha... you could say, "Many teachers I know..." or something ) Or do you make the students just buy tons of books that all maybe have one or two "good" songs in them? Or do you let them borrow music you already have? Or go online and buy pieces for a couple dollars each that you can print off?

I have a lending library. I upped tuition to include the cost of replacing worn items.

I never photocopy.

1. It's not songs!
2. I do NOT photocopy. I would be an idiot in doing so, since I'm a publisher!
3. I do lend some books occasionally, but in general I either send them to IMSLP, or get them to buy scores that contain many things they will be working on (Chopin Mazurkas, Valses, etc come in mind as such collection of works).

I weigh the value of the book, and if I can't use it because it does not contain enough good music, in my opinion, I write something myself that I believe gets the same idea across, maybe better, that does not break copyright.

But yes, it is really tough. There are more than a couple method books that I mostly do not like that have just ONE thing in them that I like. Working my way around this problem is not fun.

I loan out books when a student will only play one piece out of it. I'm lucky to have gotten boxes of old music from people retiring, moving, etc...and I save the good classics and use those in my lending library too.

Lest I appear a goody-two-shoes, in over 30 years of teaching, I've never copied music for students. I lend it or purchase it and bill them, depending on what it is. If you think music prices are high now, just keep copying and you'll drive the remainder out of business, and prices higher.

I like sheet music for supplemental pieces. My students are beginner-intermediate level. Faber Piano Adventures has a nice selection of sheet music, with many of these pieces also available in their supplement books (pop, jazz/ragtime, etc.). FJH Music Company has a publication that shows samples of a lot of their sheet music and I use that, too. Less costly and more efficient than having the student buy a book for just one piece. I loan books but at times they are returned soiled or down-right damaged. Now of course, not all favorites in books are available as sheet music and I wish they were.

I only lend out the outrageously expensive books. Otherwise, I make the students buy their own books.

In all my years of teaching, I have never had anyone question the cost of their books - which I procure for students. For that matter, piano teaching materials are pretty cheap, maybe $20-$30 a year. And it's fun to get new books.

OTH, sometimes I take a book back without charge if it doesn't go over well.

I don't photocopy. It's hard enough for composers to make a living without people stealing from the publishers and composers. Facilitating a page turn, with the orginal music on the music rack, is the only acceptable situation for a photocopy.

I generally avoid having them purchase books they would only play one song from. I sometimes lend books in those situations.

Sometimes we buy sheet music (the publications that contain one piece). These are usually cost effective.

In my studio, students are ultimately responsible for the cost of the materials.

Think of the cost of a lesson; and think of the cost of a piano of any type and think of the cost of music. If anyone complains about cost of music books, etc., why are they even bothering to study the piano.

I think it's because of those costs that everything extra adds onto the burden.

It seems small when you look at the relative price, but it does add up, especially if you only play one piece from a collection and your teacher tells you to buy the entire collection. Multiply that by the number of pieces you play...

On the other hand, you might be able to use the other pieces in the collection in the future and not have to spend more money.

There are a lot of places on the internet where you can also find free sheet music - either original works or arrangements of the classics which are in the public domain. I've got links to my favourite sites down the left side of my blog page for anyone interested. I find these resources are a great way to supplement repertoire for students without costing them a fortune or worrying about lending.