Teacher Setup Guide
Create your account, add students, connect with parents, and start recording lessons. This guide walks through every step — from first login to managing a full studio with billing, exam tracking, and progress milestones.
What You'll Set Up
Create Your Account
Sign up and set up your teaching profile in a few minutes.
Sign Up
Create your Clefora account using whichever method is most convenient:
- Email sign-up: Use any email address and create a password
- Google sign-in: One click if you use Google or Gmail
- Apple sign-in: One click if you use Apple devices
All sign-in methods provide the same features and security. You can start on the free plan and upgrade anytime.
Set Up Your Profile
Complete your teacher profile so parents see accurate information when they accept your invitations.
Profile fields:
- Your name — how parents and students see you
- Instruments you teach — piano, guitar, violin, etc.
- Teaching locations — home studio, student homes, online
- Profile photo (optional) — helps parents recognise you
You can update your profile anytime. Start with the basics and add more detail as you go.
Download the Mobile App
The mobile app is ideal for teachers on the go. Use it for:
- Quick lesson notes between students
- Reviewing student profiles before lessons
- Responding to parent messages
- Offline access when wifi is unavailable
The app syncs automatically with the web dashboard, so you can use both interchangeably.
Add Students & Invite Parents
Create student profiles and connect with parents so everyone stays informed.
Adding Students
Each student profile stores their complete lesson history, practice goals, repertoire, milestones, and curriculum progress.
How to add a student:
- Navigate to the Students tab
- Tap Add Student
- Enter the student's name and select their instrument
- Optionally set their current level (e.g., Grade 2, Beginner)
- Save — the profile is ready
Start with 2–3 students to get familiar with the workflow. You can add more students anytime, and there's no limit on the paid plans.
Tip: Add students in the order you'll see them this week. This makes it easy to log lessons in sequence.
Inviting Parents
When you invite a parent, they receive an email with a link to create their free account. Once connected, they can see lesson digests, practice goals, progress milestones, invoices, and exam updates for their child.
How to invite a parent:
- Open the student's profile
- Tap Invite Parent
- Enter the parent's email address
- Optionally add a personal message
- Send the invitation
Parents can have multiple children on Clefora, even with different teachers. Each child appears separately in their account.
Tip: Mention Clefora during a lesson so parents know to expect the invitation. A brief "I'll send you a link to our lesson tracking app" helps ensure they check their email.
Record Lessons & Set Practice Goals
Log what you covered, set clear homework, and share digests with parents automatically.
Recording Lessons
After each lesson, log what you covered. The lesson digest is shared with the parent automatically, so they know what happened and what to encourage at home.
What to include:
- What you covered: Pieces, scales, techniques, theory
- Progress notes: What went well, what needs work
- Practice assignments: What to work on this week
- Private notes (optional): Teaching observations for yourself only
Even a few sentences is valuable. The goal is a useful record, not an essay.
Example lesson digest:
"Worked on Fur Elise mm. 1–16. Right hand is smooth, left hand needs more practice with the arpeggios. Started sight-reading exercise #12. Assigned: practise mm. 9–16 hands separately, then together slowly."
Setting Practice Goals
Practice goals break down homework into specific, actionable items that parents can see and track. Instead of "practise your piece," set clear targets like "play mm. 1–8 five times with the metronome at 60 BPM."
Effective practice goals are:
- Specific: "Practise C major scale two octaves" not "practise scales"
- Measurable: Include numbers — repetitions, tempo, bar numbers
- Achievable: Set students up for success with realistic targets
- Time-bound: Due by the next lesson
Parents can mark goals as complete when their child practises at home. You see who actually practised before the next session.
Less effective:
- • Practise your piece
- • Work on scales
- • Do theory homework
More effective:
- • Play mm. 1–8 of Minuet 5 times slowly
- • Practise G major scale hands together ×3
- • Complete exercises 1–5 on page 12
Using Private Notes
Private notes are for your eyes only. They never appear to parents, giving you a place to record candid observations about your teaching approach.
Good uses for private notes:
- Teaching strategies to try next lesson
- Observations about learning style or challenges
- Reminders about student preferences
- Notes on attention span or engagement
- Ideas for motivating a struggling student
Private notes are encrypted with AES-256 for security.
Lesson digests are shared with parents. Private notes are just for you. Keep this distinction in mind when recording information.
Track Progress & Milestones
Build a complete record of every student's musical journey.
Creating Milestones
Milestones mark significant achievements in a student's journey. When you mark a milestone complete, the parent is notified — making it a shared moment of celebration.
Types of milestones:
- Technical: Learned all major scales, mastered hands-together coordination
- Repertoire: Completed first sonata, memorised a piece
- Performance: First recital, first competition
- Exam: Passed Grade 1, completed theory certificate
- Practice: Completed 100 practice sessions
Managing Repertoire
Track every piece a student works on. Assign pieces from the repertoire library, set a status (learning, polishing, performance-ready, mastered), and see which pieces have appeared in exams.
Over time, you build a complete repertoire history for each student — useful for planning recitals, selecting exam pieces, and showing parents how far their child has come.
Curriculum & Level Tracking
Assign students to a curriculum pathway and track their progress through levels. Clefora supports standard exam board syllabi (ABRSM, Trinity, Rockschool) and custom curricula you create yourself.
Parents see their child's current level and how far they've progressed — not just what happened in the last lesson.
Premium Features
Billing, exam management, and advanced studio tools.
Billing & Payments
Create invoices per student, accept card payments through Stripe Connect, and let automated reminders handle follow-ups.
- Send invoices by email
- Accept card payments online
- Automated payment reminders
- Track payment status per student
Exam Management
Manage ABRSM, Trinity, and Rockschool entries. Track syllabus progress, send deadline reminders, and share results with parents.
- Track syllabus requirements per student
- Deadline reminders for entry dates
- Monitor exam readiness at a glance
- Share results with parents
Secure Messaging
One channel per student replaces scattered WhatsApp threads and emails. Messages stay linked to the student, so context is never lost.
- Schedule changes and cancellations
- Practice questions from parents
- Push notifications on mobile
Venue Management
Track teaching locations — home studio, student homes, schools, or online. See your schedule by venue and plan efficient teaching routes.
- Multiple teaching locations
- Schedule view by location
- Track travel-dependent students
Tips for Getting the Most from Clefora
Between Lessons
- • Log lessons immediately while details are fresh
- • Set practice goals before the student leaves
- • Use the mobile app for quick notes on the go
- • Review upcoming students before the week starts
Weekly Routines
- • Check which practice goals were completed
- • Update milestones as students achieve them
- • Respond to parent messages in batches
- • Review progress before each student's lesson
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to set up Clefora?
Can I import my existing student list?
Do I need technical skills to use Clefora?
What devices can I use Clefora on?
Can parents see my private teaching notes?
What if I teach multiple instruments?
How does billing work?
Is there a free trial?
Ready to Set Up Your Studio?
Create your account and add your first student in under 10 minutes. Lesson management, practice goals, progress tracking, and parent communication — all in one platform.
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