Do you send your pupils (and their parents) off to the music shops with details of a book to buy or do you obtain it yourself? I always had to go and get my own stuff, and it rather terrified my mum making sure we got the correct thing among a plethora of stuff, particularly if all she could remember by the time we got there was that it was a Sheila Nelson. I know some teachers get the music to either make a profit from teachers' discounts and volume discounts or to pass these on to pupils, or to keep the flow going if a parent says "oh we didn't have time to get that yet" and it leaves a gap.


Which do you do and why? And how far in advance in your planning to you start asking for a new book?

Over this last year Ive gone back to buying the books myself and billing the parents. Our local music shop is worse than useless, and the parents forgetful/busy and I got sick of progress being held up. The parents seem more than happy with this arrangement both at home and school and the pupils, especially new ones, it means they can come away from their first lesson with an armful of books and they seem to love it too.
I pass on the teachers discount benefits to them too obviously as to me it is about convenience rather than making money!

I always buy them as well. Where I live there are no music shops so I have to order them over the phone. It just makes it handier as I can order a lot of books at once and I don't have to wait for parents to get them. At the start of the year I would have books for the new students and then they have something to go away with in their first lesson. I think parents prefer it too as they don't have to worry about getting the right one and it's one less thing to remember in September.

As we don't have a music shop locally, parents and pupils have two choices - they can either let me get them, or they can order them online themselves. In general, I write to them advising which book is necessary and telling them the maximum cost it will be. They then return a slip to say they're happy for me to get it. Any discounts I get, I do pass on to the pupils and parents (I wouldn't personally feel comfortable not doing this) but I don't always get a discount and that's why I tell them the maximum price they will be. A new feature I've found recently is that when buying from Musicroom, you can sign up to a cashback site and effectively get 10% back on everything you purchase.

David

Originally I was keen to pass on the discount, but then I thought it's my time I'm using to go to the shop and I'm saving them time and this changed my policy.

I have no music shop within a reasonable distance and generally order online or by post from my favourite UK shop -Mann's in Colchester (very helpful).

I normally buy a stock of music at the beginning of the school year - depending on what I think will be needed. I warn parents there will be a or some books to buy and I give them a rough idea of the price. I add a bit for postage - dividing the cost between all the pupils for whom I have ordered. This means I do have books left over from year to year and carry a small stock of new books to be sold later in the year


I use English or American books on the whole as I don't find the French teaching material very useful. That's one reason why I do the ordering. I have a small number of English students and have occasionally asked them to order something online but they are generally rather slow about it.

I always buy the books (and pass on discounts). Easy, far less hassle, it gets done - seems daft expecting each parent to do it individually - far more efficient for me to do it.

If it's musicroom I wait till I have £25 worth (or whatever it is) to get free postage (I live in France). I also buy some from my local music shop (like to support her) and the big shop an hour away but don't charge petrol or anything (and a couple of French web sites but only when there's several books so the postage isn't too onerous).

And, yes, you have to think a bit in advance but my pupils rarely have more than one new book a year so it's not too much of a problem.

I usually get the music as mostly it means they get it when they need it and not at some unspecified time in the future.

I have had instrumental lessons through secondary school as a teenager and private lessons as an adult, but I have never had a teacher buy music on my behalf. I have had teachers loan me music, but haven't had anyone buy it for me to then pay them for it. Sometimes I have been told to go and buy specific things, sometimes I have been given a list to choose from and sometimes I have chosen things myself. I would have thought that buying music and instrumental supplies was part of the student learning to take responsibility for their music development. Perhaps it is different if you have large numbers of students all learning from the same books, but even with group instrumental lessons at school we were expected to buy our own music unless it was loaned to us - although we admittedly tended to have people of different standards in the same group so were often working on different things anyways.

I have to admidt that I'm surprised at pupils only needing one book per year. I have always got through a lot more than this, but perhaps it depends on the instrument. On cello, flute and violin (which are the instruments I've had 'proper' lessons on) I've got through tutor books in a matter of weeks and the anthologies you get generally only lasted a term or two. I also tend to use more than one book at the same time. For example I've had 5 books since I started violin lessons at the end of May (2 of which I bought and 3 have been loaned from my teacher) and am currently working of pieces/studies from three of these.

When I said one book per year, I meant one new book.

I lend books, recycle them between friends/families, use a lot of downloaded public domain music etc. etc. I only buy anthologies that cover about 3 grades worth of material and if a method book is only likely to last a few weeks I would certainly change the method book (For youngish beginners I often lend out the very first beginner method book and then based on that determine which method book we'll buy and use after that - the following one for the 'normal' pupils and a more advanced one for the pupils who are picking it up more quickly).

Taking responsibility for musical development makes a lot of sense for older pupils but your average 8 year-old
is no more independent whether it's me or his parent who buys the music (and for those who live 30 mins drive from the nearest music shop it's not very practical even for teenage students).

And even if you are not too far away the local shops can take far too long to get things in..... or take forever then tell you they can't get something you could have bought online and had in your hands a month ago!

Still waiting for music for myself.
I said cancel it but they said 'oh no. it's already on order'.

In the past I have bought the music for pupils where possible, for reasons others have outlined such as making sure pupils have it to keep the flow going.

But with the advent of online ordering being so much easier I feel parents can, on the whole, do it with very little inconvenience, so about 6 months ago, after a flurry of having to buy music for pupils almost every week I decided that the parents should get the music themselves. I try to give good notice, and I often send pupils away with music requests just before a holiday (like this half term) so that if they're out and about they can get the music.

It also simplifies things for me in terms of accounting - I don't have to separate out payment for lessons from payment for books (with or without discount).

I also look at it from the point of view of a parent. I have always had to buy violin, singing, trumpet, cello, guitar, etc etc music for my children (which I didn't mind as I got the discount too ) so I feel it's an integral part of parental duties.

I do a mixture of both. For my private pupils I generally buy the books and then bill them, but there are some families who I know will go out and get the book straight away, or would like to have a look at what's available so I'll give them a choice and leave it up to them. At work, however, I never buy books for the pupils unless in exceptional circumstances. Yes it's annoying waiting for when they get round to buying the books, but for a lot of kids that I teach it is genuinely because they can't afford it immediately. I try to give them as much warning about needing a new book as possible because of this.

I usually get the books in myself - musicroom gives a 10% discount to teachers if you sign up as a teacher (no proof of qualifications needed!)

I mostly buy the books myself, which does irk me a bit because I think that the parents should be making the effort to get them - I always had to get my own music. However, experience has shown me that certain parents will never get the book if you leave it to them (and it's not because they can't afford it), and it's the child who suffers. Adults usually get their own, although if I am putting an order in at the time they need something I will ask them if they want me to get it. I don't like the fact that music shops are disadvantaged by online purchasing, so I use Dot's Camden Music Shop, which does both. It's really good to ring up to order and have a chat with Dot, who is very friendly and helpful. I get a teacher discount, but not a postage discount and the one usually balances out the other, but having compared prices with Musicroom I have found that the music is often cheaper at Dot's, so it's swings and roundabouts. When the postal system is working properly delivery is next day if the item is in stock. Dot is also very good at sourcing hard-to-find items.

I've never had a teacher buy music for either of my boys - just a note in the practice book or a phone call to say what they need. There are many parents who need to budget very carefully and the prospect of having to pay £12 or so for a book - even if it will last several grades - can throw things right of kilter and thought of having to pay back a teacher for a book already purchased on their behalf when they weren't necessarily planning for another outgoing expense at that precise time can be a horrid feeling.

I keep a very small stock of new books and as a child gets close to the end of a book I tell them that I have their next book for them when they are ready - or they can get it from the music shop if they want. Then I send a note home in their book which states the name / amount of the book. On every occasion so far, the money comes in and we have moved on.

I use standard books which are about £3-5 each and as these take a couple of months to work through I don't think its excessive - if I was going to use a more expensive book, I would discuss with the parents first. I also have quite a few books I lend out so parents know I am not expecting them to buy everything - just the "core text". Also, Mums can be very busy and even though they are committed to their children, finding time to get to the piano shop can be difficult for some. I just find this system works for me.

I do get teacher's discount but I charge the full amount to parents - I offset this against the time / petrol it took me to get to the shops and the carparking.

Of course I could recycle books from older siblings but so far I have had the first in a family. I do lend out my children's old books too.

Elizabeth

Like the majority of people on this thread, I buy the books and pupils buy them from me. There are no longer the music shops around like there used to be years ago and even if there is an odd music shop around, they are unlikely to sell everything you want anyway.

I buy my books from www.musicroom.com and you can get a 10% educators discount. They are pretty quick with their delivery too (especially when there are no postal strikes going on!).

I offer the option of paying an extra amount into a book account each time fees are due (I work in blocks of five) so that I can buy books for the pupil when required. So far only one parent has taken me up on this, but with this pupil it works really well. I can buy the music as required and I know exactly what the pupil has got. Sometimes the account is in credit, sometimes in debit, but there are no sudden big amounts to pay. It's like paying your fuel bills monthly. I can only assume that the other parents aren't worried about paying out a larger sum at one time!

I always buy the music for daughter. Don't think we have ever been given the option of the teacher buying on our behalf.

In all the years I have been teaching I have always bought the books for my pupils. I have a wonderful music shop 10 mins away and I really enjoy going there and browsing. I feel I am more organized if I see to it and the parents have always been quite happy with the arrangement. As you say, it could leave a gap if they can't get to the shop so I don't have a problem with the continuity.