Top 15 Christmas Gifts for Piano Teachers

Are you a piano teacher who draws a blank when friends and family ask, “What do you want for Christmas?” or even “Do you have a Christmas list?” I know some years I’m just too busy to think about it! Well I am here with links and how I use these top 15 Christmas gifts for piano teachers in my studio.

Take making a list off of your list with these 15 tested piano studio tools and Christmas gifts for piano teachers in every price range.

1. Lightweight Tripod

This is my #1 Christmas ask for piano teachers because I use it daily in my teaching. I don’t know how I ever lived without this tripod! It’s light, it’s easy to move and to adjust into countless positions, and if it falls, no one gets hurt.

The screw in the tripod threads into whatever you want to attach, like a second camera for virtual lessons. More often than not, I screw it into my handy dandy iPhone adapter (see next list item) and attach my phone to it.

Honestly, I don’t understand why some of my virtual students choose to prop their phones on books and stuffed animals or suspend them with complex systems that use rubber bands and music stands when one of these babies is a super affordable solution! Did I mention it comes with a carrying case? For real, I use this constantly to:

• • Position behind my digital piano to film my hands during video tutorials, which I make daily
  • Position next to students for the perfect angle when they make reminder or performance videos to send home
  • Film recitals (obviously)
  • Place nearly anywhere as a second camera for remote lessons with an external camera or my phone

This would also work really well to help you Show Multiple Camera Views Simultaneously with OBS During Online Piano Lessons (and if you’re completely clueless about using a tripod during online lessons, read our article How to Set Up an Overhead Camera for Online Piano Lessons).

2. Phone to Tripod Adapter

If you were wondering how to attach an iPhone onto a tripod, this little adapter is your ticket. It allows you to set your phone snugly into the adjustable cradle and then it screws into the tripod.

You can flip the holder/adapter any way you need, and it’s fully adjustable for any size phone or orientation.

It also comes with a basic but useful little Bluetooth remote that keeps you from having to get up off the piano bench to press record on your phone when you’re filming yourself from the piano.

3. High Quality Bluetooth Speaker

This portable Bose speaker is a very nice quality speaker, and it’s substantial enough to last for years and years with no problem. I’m hard-pressed to find a speaker I like as much as this one and I want to say I’ve had it around 10 years.

I connect it for a robust sound in so many ways in lessons, including to:

• My laptop so we can hear garage band projects
• My phone so we can hear mp3s or videos
• Rock Out Loud Live during remote lessons if I don’t feel like using headphones
• Practice with backing tracks SO easily (Check out the popular Jingle Jams tracks, which shows off a great sounding speaker!)
• Using with the AnyTune Pro App in Piano Lessons

4. Video Doorbell

When I asked for one of these video doorbells for Christmas two years ago, I didn’t realize how convenient it would be for piano lessons, especially in that awkward time when COVID was still prevalent, but we were all trying to go back to normal.

The video doorbell is what it sounds like: a doorbell with a video camera that you can view on your phone. The flexibility comes from how you set your notifications.

During the post-COVID re-opening, I was able to have students ring the doorbell when they arrived for their lesson.

I could see who it was on my phone and also talk to them, saying things like “Hey Jill, I’m just finishing up with Luke. Give us 2 minutes.”

That way students didn’t have to cross germ-y paths inside, and I could also make time to clean the keys between students if I needed to. I use the Google Nest Doorbell.

5. Laptop Arm Extension

This laptop arm extension is a top gift if you use your laptop at the piano and you have access to a digital instrument.

I highly recommend attaching a laptop stand to the case of your digital piano. My husband helped me permanently attach this stand to my digital keyboard.

I demonstrate from this instrument most of the time, and use it as my controller when I compose, so for me it was life-changing to have the laptop so accessible.

The stand swivels left to right, up and down, and you can tilt your laptop to your favorite angle. Scroll to the end of the post to see how we attached the stand in my actual setup.

How my laptop stand holds my laptop at the keyboard

Where we permanently attached the laptop stand to the keyboard stand. Just 2 holes drilled.

6. Rolling Utility Cart (comes in a variety of colors)

This rolling utility cart is practical and adds a touch of color to the piano studio.

I keep my method books in the bottom two shelves, and quick access items like Chapstick, tape, scissors, hole punch, flashcards, tissues etc. in the top.

I can wheel it around easily or lock the wheels, depending on what type of setup I need for that lesson or that day.

7. Message Board

Piano students love coming in each week to see what the message board says. It gives countdowns to events and recitals. It congratulates and wishes happy birthdays.

Sometimes it will just say “Practice Makes Progress” or something else to inspire my students when they come in.

8. Pouf

I absolutely love my pouf! It offers extra seating, a footrest, something to lean against when playing music games on the floor, and it’s a cozy and relaxed addition to the piano studio.

Selling point: this pouf is sturdy enough to stand up to preschool piano students!

9. Overhead Light (Plug-In Type)

Somehow I never thought I would want a ceiling light in my piano room/studio, so we never had it hard-wired. But in an effort to give myself more floor space, I got rid of my floor lamp and, 2 Christmases ago, asked for a cute hanging light that plugs into an outlet.

The power switch is on the cord, which I’ve used a 3M adhesive pad to attach to the wall.

I also purchased a burlap cord cover to camouflage the cord a little. I’m super happy with the style the light adds, and it provides just the right amount of light above the piano.

10. Rechargeable Clip Light

This USB rechargeable light clips to the music rack on the piano, and is completely cordless unless you’re charging it. It has high and low brightness settings.

I love that there are no cords coming from the light, and that a charge lasts for an evening of lessons (after which, I plug the light into my laptop until morning).

I have also taken this light to help me see at piano and accompanying gigs since it fits all music racks and is cordless!

11. Essential Oil Diffuser

When filled with water and a few drops of essential oils, a diffuser helps fight odors coming off of sweaty piano students, improves focus, and can instill a sense of calm in the room, depending on what oils you place in your diffuser.

I like to use Thieves Young Living Essential Oil to boost immunity during cold and flu season. My favorite diffuser is similar to this one, which is neutral and blends with any piano studio decor.  

12. Odds and Ends That Make Life and Work More Enjoyable at a Low Price Point :

Sometimes, you need more “stocking stuffer” type gifts for piano teachers. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Hempz Triple Moisture Hand Sanitizer that actually moisturizes
• Pretty frames that you can fill with recital photos or music art like this At Etsy
• Canister Tissues that make providing tissues for students kinda fun
• Poo-pouri, spray before you go air freshener in amazing holiday scents
• Books for Piano Teachers:
  • To inspire you to help your students unlock their creativity, Forrest Kinney’s wonderful “Creativity Beyond Compare”
  • To explore what it might be like to lose your ability to play, and to realize your dream in the end, neuroscientist Lisa Genova’s “Every Note Played”
  • To encourage you to keep on keepin’ on (I haven’t read this one yet), pianist Jeremy Denk’s “Every Good Boys Does Fine”
• Words to Teach By. It’s so good to have reminders of who you want to be as a teacher. I like to remember that it’s a choice to teach the way I do. This is a poster I made of some of my favorite attributes. And it’s the cheapest on the list: free! It’s my Christmas gift to you! Get the FREE ATTRIBUTES PRINTABLE DOWNLOAD NOW

The last 3 items on the piano teacher gift list are items that I am asking for this year!

A little background: I was honored to be asked by two different dear friends to play piano for a funeral service and then a wedding in a month’s time.

I chose close to an hour’s worth of music for each and I couldn’t believe that I was printing out the music, taping it, and then laying it out in order on the piano’s music rack at the events.

Friends, let me tell you that nothing could have made me feel more antiquated than that act right there.

Oh and during the evening wedding the sanctuary was just dim enough that I had to squint to see my copies in a bit of a half-blind panic!

Fast forward to the items below, which were moved quickly from my bucket list to my 2022 Christmas list…

13. iPad Pro (My personal #1 wish for 2022)

I need the 12.9 inch iPad due to my 40 something eyes that are lazy about focusing at the distance required for music reading at the piano, and I am ready to ditch my copies.

But you might ask a generous gift-giver for one of the other, lower priced iPad models if your eyes are a little younger!

I compose on my MacBook currently, but it is out of date and tries to freeze on me from time to time. The writing is on the wall that one of these days the laptop just won’t feel like turning on.

I want to have the option of composing with Sibelius on the iPad and using the Apple Pencil instead of replacing the laptop, so, iPad Pro for the win! 

14. iPad Pro Cover/Stand

This iPad Pro cover matches my piano room decor, of course.

15. Bluetooth Page Flipper

I’m leaning towards the iRig BlueTurn page turning pedal for my personal Christmas list for its light weight, small size, and the fact that it runs on good old fashioned battery power. Handy for page turning for pianists, accompanists, and piano teachers alike. 

Bonus: A Gift Idea for Your Piano Students

Here’s a must-have studio piece that would be a fun Christmas gift for your piano students…your piano ancestry.

If you haven’t researched your piano teaching lineage, do it today. It’s really interesting and my students personally love knowing that they’re “related” to Beethoven!

There you have it, a fun list of Christmas gifts for piano teachers. I hope this eases your holiday stress and gets you some useful gifts this Christmas season.

Happy Holidays!

-Elizabeth

Need even more piano studio ideas?

• The Top 5 Items to Include in Your Piano Studio Policy
• How to Use a Piano Teacher Digital Planner (something else you can put on your Christmas list!)
• Fun & Affordable Prizes Piano Students Love!