digital pianoI purchased my digital piano in grad school while I was living in an apartment so that I could practice some at home on weekends without always having to drive to school to use the practice rooms.  For awhile I simply used it for that, practicing at home, but I have since begun to learn that there are many other great things I can do with this digital piano!  Heres a few of the thing I’ve done:

  • Recorded accompaniments for local instrumental teachers (without any extra sound from the environment, I can hook it up directly to the computer)
  • Recorded duet parts for my students to practice with at home
  • Created accompaniment tracks included percussion, guitar parts, and other instruments for my students to practice with
  • Recorded my student’s pieces for them to listen to

I love that I can plug a USB chord directly from the piano to the computer.  Then, with the help of Garage Band, it is very simple to record tracks.  I’ve even figured out how to alter the tempo so I can record an accompaniment at a slow tempo, click a couple things, and then save it at a faster tempo.  Creating the “full band” accompaniment tracks took a little more time to figure out, but once I got the hang of it it didn’t take too long to do.  I’ve enjoyed using the American Popular Piano Repertoire books by Christopher Norton and my students love the accompaniment tracks included with these.  The only problem was that the CD only has accompaniment tracks for about 1/3 of the pieces.  With my digital piano and Garage Band, I made tracks for the entire Level 1 Repertoire book since I have several students using this book.  Look for more posts coming soon with specifics about how to do these things on your digital piano!

Have I missed some things?  Let me know how you like to use your digital piano.

Author: Spring

Spring Seals, NCTM, teaches 60 piano students ranging from age 3 to 70 in Fort Worth, Texas. She also serves as the Director of Certification for TMTA. She is passionate about helping teachers become more effective in their studios through professional development, new resources, and fresh ideas.