Memorized Repertoire Lists
As the new year begins, my students love setting new goals for themselves in piano. (See our post here for a printable to help with this activity). One of our favorite competitions within the studio has to do with memory. My students love to compete with each other...
Practicing… AFTER the Christmas recital
Oh the joys of last minute practicing before recitals. Doesn't every teacher have a few who wait till that last week to really buckle down and practice their performance piece(s) no matter how far in advance you tried to prepare them? And sometimes it works......
Practice Treasure Map – Updated Printable
I loved using this Practice Treasure Map over the summer with my students, but realized that it can probably be used at any time in the school year, not just the summer! So, in order to make it usable throughout the school year I updated the file so it doesn't...
Practice Record Stickers – Free Printable
The new school year is beginning and this means most piano studios are starting up for the fall semester as well. I was looking for a new way to help my students record practice time and in the process created a new printable to share with you today. I'm still...
Setting Goals for Piano Lessons
Each new year, I love to set new piano goals with my students. It's time to start fresh and examine what is working as well as what we need to change. Now I could set awesome goals for my teaching and my students but have you ever found that your perfect lesson...
Summer Practice Incentive Chart – Free Printable
During the school year most of my students participate in a practice incentive program called "Piano Points" (read more here), but I feel like in the summer we need a change of pace. Last summer I had a "Super Summer Practice Challenge" to see how many days students...
Summer Piano Bingo
Recital season is upon us and then it's summer time! Are you taking a break to go on vacation? With two family weddings, our summer is going to very busy this year. As I was brainstorming ways to encourage my students to practice over their break I remembered how much...
Rhythm Duels
Kids love competition - not too much but just enough always gets them studying a bit harder. For example, at every group class I never fail to see a student fall in love with a new piece they hear performed. Even though said piece may be a bit difficult for them, they...
“Play It Again” Jar
You know those days when the student is so tired of playing that certain piece but you just need them to play it one more time? Well, over the years I've collected ideas to make repetition more fun and today I wanted to share a quick way to keep these ideas handy for...
Benefits of Group Piano – Free Printable
I mentioned in my post last week that I recently added Christopher Fisher's book Teaching Piano in Groups to my reference library. I've already scanned through this book and highlighted many helpful ideas and concepts. One of the first topics he discusses is the...
Performance Practice Challenge – Free Printable!
In my studio, we are at the week before the recital. This is when I hope that all the pieces have been learned and memorized so well that students could play them with their eyes closed! While a few of them are definitely pushing till the last minute, others are...
Favorite Pieces
Looking through the TMTA Fall 2013 Publication, I was intrigued by the title "Top Five Teaching Pieces" compiled by Teresa Crawford. On this page, thirteen teachers across Texas had sent in their favorite teaching pieces. I loved reading through the list and hope to...