Writing reviews for music teachers

Reviews are such an essential part of how we live our lives these days. Whenever we want to try a new restaurant, find a plumber, or buy a kitchen appliance, we look it up online and read the reviews. Haven’t you ever driven past a new restaurant that looked interesting, only to Google it and find out it has an average rating of only two stars? Or imagine you’re shopping for a new vacuum cleaner online and there are several models within your price range with an average rating of 4.9 stars.  So of course, you read the reviews to help you decide which one has the features you’re looking for. As a consumer, I’m so glad reviews exist now. I’m positive they’ve saved me from many poor purchase choices.

Chances are you’ve written a review before, too. Many of my students and their families have — I know because I’ve asked them to review me! And I’m so grateful for all the nice reviews I’ve received. Many of my students found me on the internet, and I know those reviews played a part in convincing them to sign up with me.

Reviews have become essential for music teachers like me to connect with new clients. As with anything else you evaluate online before buying, it’s not just the star rating that’s meaningful—potential students want to know details. You want to hear from other people about their experiences with a certain teacher, so you’ll be able to judge whether they will be right for you.

I’ve read a lot of teacher reviews that say something like, “Great teacher, highly recommend.” That’s nice, but it doesn’t give you much to go on. If one review like that was all you read, how likely would you be to sign up for lessons with that teacher? You’d probably prefer to consider other options. You probably wouldn’t even register reading a review like that, because it’s just not helpful.

Keep all this information in mind when a teacher asks you to write them a review. Your teacher is hoping you will give a fair and honest assessment of your experience with them, and that your review will tell readers what a student can expect from lessons. 

What should you write?

So, your teacher has asked you to write them a review. Where do you start? There are a lot of online articles about review writing, and I’ve read a great many. None were specifically about reviewing a private teacher. In my opinion, it’s different from writing any other kind of review, and a lot of the general reviewing advice out there doesn’t apply. So I wrote my own specialized guide to help you! Here are my thoughts and suggestions for what you might write in a teacher review.

About Your Teacher

Think about the people who will read your review and put yourself in their shoes. What information would you want to know if you were looking for a music teacher? Read other reviews of your teacher and see what’s already been said. For example, you might want to talk about a few items from this list:

• Teacher’s demeanor and personality 

• Teacher’s experience, qualifications, expertise, or special skills 

• Types of offerings: curriculum, performance opportunities, career advice, pro connections, additional services

• Teacher’s timeliness, scheduling, availability/ flexibility, professionalism

• Teaching location(s)
  
  

About You

Remember, this is not a generic review, this is YOUR review, so make it personal. Readers will want to know where you’re coming from, so they can relate to your experience. You don’t have to divulge anything you aren’t comfortable putting on the internet, of course! But introduce yourself a little.

Readers will want to know at the very least what subject you’ve studied with your teacher, and for how long. Beyond that, you might mention some personal details about yourself — or about your child, if they’re the student — information like age, personality, lifestyle, experience with music, and reasons for taking lessons. These specifics can be your jumping-off point for talking about your individual experience with your teacher. For example, your child is energetic and inquisitive, and the teacher keeps them engaged and nurtures their curiosity. Or you’re a busy adult student, and you appreciate your teacher’s flexibility in accommodating your schedule needs. When readers can see themselves in your story, they can imagine what working with your teacher would be like for them.

If the student is a kid, definitely ask them for input! They’re the one who is interacting with the teacher the most. You might be surprised how they describe their own lesson experience. Or better yet, have them write the review. Or you could both write one!

Your Takeaways

If you wrote a long review, end with a statement of what you think is most important for new students to know about your teacher. Especially if your reader has skimmed a little bit, you want to give them a concise conclusion at the end of your review. Describe the results and growth you achieved through lessons. Give an example of a challenge you overcame or a goal you achieved. This is a great way to sum up your opinion of your teacher. If you just want to write a short review, a few sentences in this vein is a good way to give a general idea about the teacher’s capabilities.

Tread Lightly Around Touchy Subjects

The internet is forever. Reviews are public and can have a huge impact on a business. Please consider carefully what you write about the cost of lessons or your perception of value for your money. You might want to stay away from mentioning specific costs, as these may change over time. Same goes for any discounts or accommodations you might receive, because they might not be available to another client.

And please, if you have some kind of problem or conflict with your teacher, address it with them personally before including it in a public review. Chances are that your teacher would be happy to find a resolution with you. Even if you want to explain how a problem was resolved to your satisfaction, a reader might still interpret this as reflecting negatively on the teacher.

Editing

Add a very short summary sentence or statement at the beginning. Keep in mind that people often skim reviews and they may not read past your first sentence. Include whatever is the most essential point you’re making in your review; for example, “Great teacher for adult beginners”, or “This teacher keeps me inspired and motivated as I train to become a pro classical singer.” If you can title your review, use this for the title. And of course, check your spelling and grammar before you post.

About Those Star Ratings

I do kind of object to the inflation of star ratings, but we have to be realistic about how consumer ratings are perceived nowadays: for an individual service provider, five out of five stars is baseline. Remember those vacuums you were shopping for back at the beginning of this article? You only read the reviews of the ones with a nearly perfect five star rating. You didn't even consider any of the others. It’s been reported that Uber actually drops drivers who don’t maintain an average star rating above 4.6! So if you have no major complaints, give five stars. Maybe you’d use the entire range of stars for rating impersonal products like a movie or an armchair, but rating people is a little different, because their ratings can have such an overpowered effect on their livelihood.

Four stars is perceived as only moderately satisfied or neutral; a reader who sees this rating might not be put off, but they will wonder what was lacking. It’s all right to give less than a perfect score; in fact, a perfect five-star average can look suspicious and inauthentic to  potential customers. Remember before you give four stars that this rating will make people think you are fairly satisfied but might have some reservations about recommending someone. If you’re giving four stars, briefly mention what held you back from giving five. You can still be honest about your experience while keeping your written review focused on positive and neutral information.

Three stars, however, says you’re pretty unimpressed. For a product, this might not be a bad score, but for a teacher, it looks bad. If you honestly feel someone deserves a three-star rating, you probably shouldn’t review them because you’re not doing them a favor.

Two stars or one star is an insult. If your intention is to damage someone’s professional reputation and compromise their livelihood, please stop being such an awful person. Even if you were dissatisfied with a teacher, negative reviews are uncalled for.

Examples of Great Reviews

Here are three short examples of reviews I’ve received that really embody the advice I’ve given above:

If you’re going to write a review for your teacher, on behalf of all teachers I would like to thank you!! We really appreciate you putting in the time and effort to write informative and helpful reviews. Teaching professionals need your specific, personal, and honest reviews to stay in business. If you follow these guidelines, your teacher and their future clients will thank you.

Read more from Labyrinth Music Blog:

Signs you should let your kid quit music lessons

Singers aren't real musicians?

Being sure, being ready

The Valley of Despair

How long do I have to take lessons?

11 ways to be a supportive music parent

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