You may not think technology plays a particularly large role in running a music Studio, but oh, you’d be wrong!! Technology is HUGE in keeping our Studio running smoothly – and not just for the Teachers, but for the Students and Parents, too! From scheduling to perfoming, every area of our Studio is laden with technology.
We love that we’re extremely cool, hip and modern (said with tongue firmly in cheek!!), but we know that some of our Parents and Students aren’t quite as clued up with some of the apps that we use, so we’re here to help.
Each month, we’ll focus in on one particular item of software that we couldn’t live without at Sweet Symphony, and show you how you can use it to improve your music learning experience with us.
My Music Staff
This month we have to start off with possibly the biggest player: My Music Staff, or MMS for short. MMS is the number one music teacher software in the world. It helps music teachers schedule, invoice and manage their Students. But there are also a huge range of benefits for Students, too.
A huge part of the My Music Staff software is the Student Portal, which Sweet Symphony uses to its fullest extent. When a Student joins Sweet Symphony, they are given their own login to the Portal. Once logged in, they can see upcoming lessons, billing information and can cancel/reschedule lessons – among many other things.
Here are a few of our favourite parts of the My Music Staff Student Portal.
Online Calendar
View your lesson schedule and cancel/reschedule lessons 24/7 using the online calendar
The My Music Staff online calendar allows Students (and Parents) to see their entire lesson schedule. It is also used for cancelling and rescheduling lessons. To cancel a lesson, simply click on the lesson you can’t make and it’s cancelled. (Bonus points if you did so with 24 hours’ notice and bagged yourself a make-up lesson!)
Besides your own lesson, you’ll also be able to see all of the spaces your Teacher has available for make-ups. If you have any make-ups to use, just click on any of these lesson slots, and you’ll be booked straight in.
TOP CALENDAR TIP: At the top right of the calendar is a button marked “Set Up Sync”. Click this to sync your lesson schedule with your smartphone, so you’ll never miss a lesson!
Studio News
Stay up-to-date with everything that’s going on in the Sweet Symphony Studio
Have a look at the Studio News section. All of our Studio’s important information is there, from exam results to concert dates – it’s all here.
TOP NEWS TIP: The most recent news items actually appear on your homepage, when you first log in!
Lesson Notes
Monitor your child’s progress using the lesson notes feature in the Student Portal
One of the things our Students and Parents love most about the My Music Staff Student Portal is the ability to track their progress using the Attendance & Notes section.
After each lesson, Sweet Symphony Teachers send their Students lesson notes. These detail what went on in their lesson, along with tips and pointers to improve on for next lesson. These weekly notes help to focus Students’ practice and help to spur on progress.
TOP LESSON NOTES TIP: You can run a report from this page (top left), which you can print off if you prefer hard copies of your notes.
There’s loads more to explore in the My Music Staff Student Portal, so login and give it a go. If you can’t remember your login details, drop us an email and we’ll send you a reminder!
