Tuesday Teaching Tactic #35
Let's get right into another collaborative music post today for our Tuesday Teaching Tactic! We're exploring the world of duets with scales, arpeggios, and chords. Technique seems to be the boring part of lessons/practice in my students' minds. They don't understand...
Tuesday Teaching Tactic #34
Welcome back for another awesome Tuesday Teaching Tactic. We started the topic of Collaborative Music last week so we're continuing that by discussing sight reading today. How many times do your lessons get busy enough that you forget to pull out the sight reading...
Making a Case for Ensemble Music
So this Tuesday, we're switching things up. We've shared so many Tuesday Teaching Tactics in the past few months that we wanted to mix things up. So if you remember, we presented in March at the Music Teacher's National Association Conference in Baltimore. Spring and...
Teaching Arpeggios (Free Game Printable!)
Arpeggios are one of my students' favorite technique skills. It's probably because they sound so awesome and show-off well in pieces. But it's also an easy technique concept to teach and use earlier in their learning. I usually teach these right after they learn Major...
Teaching Tactic #28
Happy Tuesday! Here's our 28th Teaching Tactic for you to use in your teaching right away! Today's tip is to divide up the parts, have the student play one hand while you play the other hand. Maybe this is something you've been doing forever and never thought about...
Tuesday Teaching Tactic #26
Teaching Tactic #26, wow! That means we've made it through half a year bringing you a quick idea each Tuesday to incorporate into your teaching right away. Today's idea is to mix up your routine. It easy and helpful to set-up routines in piano lessons. First we...
Tuesday Teaching Tactic #25
Another Tuesday already so we're back with a quick Tuesday Teaching Tactic. We aim to have these be quick ideas and tips to help you teach better right away. So let's get to it - today's tip is "Take a Break (When Needed)". What we mean is, it's alright to take a...
Tuesday Teaching Tactic #23
It's Tuesday again, boy do these weeks fly by! Our Teaching Tactic for today is to have your student play a measure, phrase, or any small section of the piece correctly 3 times in a row. As piano teachers, we know that correct repetitions are crucial to reliable...
Memorization Checklist
Remember that post a few weeks ago about memory and different types of learners? Well I wanted to create something I could share with my students. Especially with my older students (such as the teens or college students), I'd love for them to realize which techniques...
The Value of a Pedagogy Degree
The value of higher education is a frequent hot-button topic in Facebook Piano Pedagogy forums. Both sides have strong opinions on whether degrees in piano teaching are helpful or necessary. Speaking from my personal experience, I'd like to offer the case for why I...
Memorization For All Learners
Memorization - it's something our students work on constantly in piano lessons and piano practice. Whether they are memorizing it for fun or for a recital, we as teachers so our best to give them strategies to aid them with the memorization process. Short pieces are...
Finding Commonality with our Students
I love podcasts! I got addicted to them when I was commuting 25 miles one way to work for two years. Now that I'm not commuting so far I still love to listen to them. Folding laundry is not so bad when I have a fascinating podcast to listen to. I feel like I learn...