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Tuesday Teaching Tactic #4
Each Tuesday we bring you a quick Teaching Tactic that you can try in your teaching right away! Today's idea is to cover your student's hands while they are sight-reading. There are times when pianists definitely need to look at our hands. But sometimes students...
Tic Tac Toe – Intervals
There's one game that my kids like to play every time we're stuck in a waiting room situation. Tic Tac Toe! It's a favorite for kids and really takes little prep, just paper and a pencil. Teaching at the university, I noticed the first year group teacher had made a...
Tuesday Teaching Tactic #3
It's time for our third Teaching Tactic. Each week we're bringing you a quick idea of something you can try in your lessons right away. Today's idea is to have your student play the piano along to a drumbeat rhythmic accompaniment. We talked about using these drums...
Tuesday Teaching Tactic #2
It's time for another Teaching Tactic! Teaching Tactic #2 - Have the student point at the notes as you demonstrate the piece Many teachers like to play the piece for the student as an introduction to the piece. This can be a great approach to help the student get the...
Tuesday Teaching Tactic #1
Update: Remember this series we ran last year? After talking with several readers and colleagues, we found out everyone wanted to still see them. So we're running the series again to share our favorite teaching tips with you. These are the little techniques and tricks...
6 Week Challenge – Free Printable
I always feel like students need a little extra push after Christmas break. The spring semester is longer, and there are less breaks. When the school year starts kids are excited for new things. January, February, March can drag on. At the beginning of this year I...
Beginner Arranging 101
Arranging. The word seems to scare my students to death sometimes! They believe that only the amazing Kevin Olsen or Carol Matz can arrange a tune they are familiar with into something they can play. When I gave out our first arranging assignment of the semester,...
MTNA Sessions
It's been a little quiet around here lately, and that's because we've been busy! We're putting final touches on our presentations for the MTNA National Conference at Disney World. We can't believe it's almost time! We hope to see you around and the conference, and...
Why I DON’T Teach from Home
After recently adding a Boston Grand to my home (read about it here), I've gotten this question several times: "So will you teach from home now?" My answer is, no. The point of this post is not to bash those who do teach from home. Instead, I want to share...
My New “Baby”
A couple weeks ago something really exciting happened...my husband and I bought our first piano! It's a Boston GP 156 and I am in love! I grew up playing a Story & Clark console that my grandparents bought when my mom started learning piano. It's a fine piano,...
Pedagogy Masterclass with Dr. Catharine Lysinger
Our local music teacher's association (FWMTA) hosted a pedagogy masterclass with Dr. Catharine Lysinger this past Saturday. This was a fabulous event and I took away so many teaching tips that I thought I'd share with our readers here. If you're not familiar with...
Duet Opportunities For All
"A duet for you, a duet for you,... a duet for everyone!" Applause and shouts of joy come from all students as you hand out duets in your studio. Sound like the perfect scene? It does to me. I love when students get excited about playing piano together! Yet often, the...