Coaching Opportunities
Learn Together. Grow Together. Teach with Confidence.
Music teachers regularly meet questions that deserve more than a quick answer. Some arise in lessons: sequencing, motivation, practice, musicianship, or a student who is not progressing as expected. Others involve the teacher’s own development, studio or school leadership, professional relationships, finances, or the shape of a sustainable teaching life.
Coaching creates time to examine those questions with another experienced educator. The purpose is to understand the situation, identify the underlying issue, consider practical possibilities, and help the teacher make a well-informed next decision.
Coaching
Teachers at every stage of their careers can benefit from another experienced educator who listens, asks thoughtful questions, offers perspective and encouragement, and helps them understand a situation and identify a useful next step.
Coaching through the Dennis Frayne Association for Music Education gives teachers opportunities to discuss real questions, explore new ideas, solve problems, strengthen musicianship, develop professional judgment, and build rewarding lives in music education.
Some questions benefit from the shared wisdom and encouragement of a professional community. Others require a private conversation focused on an individual teacher, student, studio, school, or situation. For this reason, the Association offers both complimentary Monthly Group Coaching Calls and Individually Scheduled Private Coaching Sessions.
Two Ways to Receive Coaching
Monthly Group Coaching Calls
Learn alongside fellow music teachers.
Each month, members are invited to participate in live online coaching sessions, currently led by Dr. Dennis Frayne, and in the future by another Association coach or mentor. During these interactive sixty-minute meetings, teachers ask questions, discuss teaching challenges, share ideas, and learn together as a professional community.
Often, one teacher's question becomes valuable learning for everyone. A conversation about a beginning piano student may lead to broader discussions about sequencing, motivation, musicianship, or communication with parents. Every participant benefits from hearing a variety of questions, perspectives, and solutions.
Group coaching, available to Teacher, Certified Teacher, Endorsed Teacher, and Teacher of Teachers members, also provides an opportunity to connect with fellow educators who share a commitment to thoughtful, student-centered music education.
Membership levels each have their own designated coaching calls. Members participate with colleagues at their membership level, while higher membership levels are welcome to join the calls offered to the levels below them. This allows experienced educators to continue supporting and encouraging newer teachers while also enjoying coaching opportunities designed specifically for their own stage of professional growth.
For example, Teacher of Teachers may participate in the Endorsed Teacher group calls, but not the other way around.
These scheduled online gatherings provide members with opportunities to ask questions, discuss teaching challenges, explore educational ideas, and learn alongside other music educators. Members may bring questions from their own teaching, participate in the broader conversation, or simply listen and learn from the experiences of others. Topics may include pedagogy, musicianship, curriculum implementation, student motivation, studio leadership, career development, work-life balance, educational philosophy, and many other aspects of music teaching.
Members do not need to register individually or complete an additional form. Simply join the call at the scheduled time using the information provided to members and participate as much or as little as you wish.
Monthly Group Coaching Calls are offered at no additional charge to Teacher, Certified Teacher, Endorsed Teacher, and Teacher of Teachers members.
Format
Live online coaching
Sixty-minute sessions
Questions and answers
Practical teaching discussions
Professional community and encouragement
Schedule
Teacher & Certified Teacher Members - first Wednesday of each month, 3:00 pm, Pacific Time
Endorsed Teacher Members - second Wednesday of each month, 3:00 pm, Pacific Time
Teacher of Teachers Members - third Wednesday of each month, 3:00 pm, Pacific Time
Individual Coaching
Sometimes a teacher needs time to explore a particular question or situation in greater depth.
Individual Coaching Sessions provide personalized guidance focused on your own students, teaching environment, professional responsibilities, challenges, and goals. These private conversations allow us to examine a situation thoughtfully, consider possible approaches, and identify practical next steps together.
Individual coaching may be especially helpful when you are:
Working through a difficult teaching situation
Seeking help with lesson planning or instructional sequencing
Supporting a student who is struggling, discouraged, or confused
Implementing the Presto! It’s Music Magic curriculum or principles of the Approach
Strengthening your own musicianship
Developing or improving a private studio or educational program
Considering a career decision or new professional direction
Working through questions involving leadership, communication, or organization
Seeking a healthier balance or a more workable professional life
Individual Coaching Sessions are available to all levels of Teacher Members as often as desired. Sessions are scheduled by appointment and are billed at the current published rate. Private coaching is not included in membership and is not discounted.
Individual coaching provides sixty minutes of focused time, currently with Dr. Dennis Frayne, and in the future with another Association coach or mentor, to discuss whatever would be most helpful to you at that moment. Every teacher's situation is different, and every coaching conversation is tailored to the teacher's goals, questions, and professional needs.
Topics may include classroom teaching, private studio instruction, lesson planning, curriculum, sequencing, musicianship, conducting, sight reading, sight singing, ear training, improvisation, arranging, composition, technology, business development, parent communication, leadership, observations and evaluations, professional growth, certification, or nearly any other aspect of music education.
The purpose is to help teachers understand situations more fully, consider possibilities, discover practical solutions, and develop the judgment to make well-informed decisions as educators, musicians, and professionals.
Individual coaching is available to Teachers, Certified Teachers, Endorsed Teachers and Teachers of Teachers.
$249/hr
Your Coach
Individual coaching is currently provided by Dr. Dennis Frayne, founder of the Dennis Frayne Approach to Music Education and the Dennis Frayne Association for Music Education.
Drawing on decades of experience as a music educator, studio and school director, curriculum developer, author, publisher, and teacher mentor, Dr. Frayne works with educators across a wide range of settings. Coaching may address classroom and studio teaching, musicianship, educational philosophy, curriculum, leadership, career development, and the practical realities of building a meaningful life in music education.
As the Association grows, additional qualified coaches may be added to serve members while maintaining the philosophy, standards, and educational purposes of the Dennis Frayne Approach.
Coaching Topics
Monthly Group Coaching Calls and Individual Coaching Sessions may address topics such as:
Teaching strategies and lesson planning
Instructional sequencing and pacing
Student motivation and engagement
Problem solving with individual students
Healthy technique and natural movement
Comprehensive musicianship
Singing, piano, conducting, and second-instrument development
Curriculum implementation
Repertoire selection and adaptation
Parent and family communication
Private studio development
School and program leadership
Professional identity and decision-making
Career planning and professional development
Work-life balance and career longevity
Musicianship, teaching, and mentorship
Writing, publishing, presenting, and leadership
Becoming a more effective musician, teacher, and mentor
Coaching is responsive to the individual teacher. You do not need to arrive with a perfectly defined question. Sometimes the first purpose of a coaching conversation is simply to clarify what is happening and identify the question that most needs attention.
A Mentoring Approach
Coaching is not based on the assumption that someone else should make your decisions or solve every problem for you.
The purpose is to think together.
A productive coaching conversation may include listening, questions, encouragement, practical suggestions, educational principles, possible strategies, and help identifying a realistic next step. The goal is to help teachers examine a situation, consider possible responses, and develop deeper understanding, sound judgment, and professional independence.
Scheduling an Individual Coaching Session
To schedule an Individual Coaching Session, email: office@dennisfrayne.com
Please briefly describe the topic you would like to discuss and, when possible, provide several days and times that may work for you. We will reply to arrange a mutually convenient appointment.
Because members already have payment and account information on file, no separate registration or complicated online form is required. Once the appointment is scheduled and confirmed, the coaching fee will be charged using the payment method associated with your membership account.
Members may schedule individual sessions as frequently as they find helpful, subject to availability.
Scheduling Commitment
Each private coaching appointment is reserved specifically for one member. Once an appointment has been scheduled and confirmed, it cannot be cancelled, refunded, transferred, or credited toward a future session. If a member is unable to attend, arrives late, or misses the appointment, the session will still be considered completed. We encourage members to review their schedules carefully before confirming an appointment and to join the session promptly at the scheduled time.
Confidentiality
Individual coaching conversations are treated as confidential. The Association respects the privacy of every participant and does not disclose information shared during coaching sessions except when required by law or as otherwise outlined in the Association's policies. Private sessions are not recorded, transcribed, published, or shared with other members. No formal account of the conversation is created for Association programming, certification evaluation, or membership records. This confidentiality allows teachers to speak honestly about questions, uncertainties, professional decisions, and challenging situations in a trusted environment.
Members should use appropriate discretion when discussing students, families, colleagues, or employees. Whenever possible, personally identifying details should be omitted when they are not necessary to the coaching conversation.
Monthly Group Coaching Calls, by contrast, take place in a shared professional setting, and may be recorded. Members should respect the privacy of others and should not repeat personal stories, questions, or situations discussed by fellow participants outside the call.
Professional Scope
Coaching may address pedagogical, musical, professional, leadership, organizational, and business-related questions connected with music teaching and music education.
This may include general discussion of studio policies, tuition structures, scheduling, communication, hiring, career planning, program development, and professional decision-making. However, coaching does not constitute legal, tax, accounting, investment, financial, medical, or mental health advice.
Laws, regulations, tax requirements, employment rules, licensing obligations, and business practices may vary by city, county, state, and individual circumstance. Teachers should consult qualified local attorneys, accountants, tax professionals, financial advisers, health professionals, or other appropriate specialists for advice within those fields.
Continuing the Journey
Teaching is complex, creative, and deeply human. Even experienced educators encounter new students, unfamiliar challenges, changing circumstances, and important decisions throughout their careers.
No teacher needs to have every answer alone.
Through Monthly Group Coaching Calls and Individual Coaching Sessions, the Association provides spaces where teachers can ask questions, consider possibilities, learn from experience, and make thoughtful decisions about their teaching and professional lives.
Active members may join their next scheduled Monthly Group Coaching Call, for their membership level, at no additional charge.
To schedule an Individual Coaching Session, email office@dennisfrayne.com.
Coaching Rooted in Mentorship
At the Dennis Frayne Association for Music Education, coaching extends beyond solving today’s problem. It is about building long-term mentoring relationships through which teachers can deepen their knowledge and musicianship, reflect on experience, strengthen professional judgment, and continue developing throughout their careers.
Every teacher benefits from having someone who listens, asks good questions, offers perspective, and helps illuminate the next step forward. That is the kind of coaching we strive to provide. Music teachers deserve more than occasional advice. They deserve professional relationships and a community that can accompany them throughout a rewarding life in music education.