This year of focusing on piano sightreading skills with all my students with the Cracking the Crystal Code practice incentive theme has been fabulous! Here’s a brief 5-minute video summary of the theme and how we used it in our piano studio. Remember, use the code CRYSTAL by June 15 to get 20% off this […]
New Practice Incentive Theme is Here! Save 20%!
If you are looking for a way to motivate and guide your piano students to become excellent sightreaders, Cracking the Crystal Code may be just what you’re looking for! We have just wrapped up this year-long practice incentive theme in our piano studio and it is one of the favorites we have ever done. It has […]
Meter Maids Music Game
We had our studio party this week – the culmination of our Cracking the Crystal Code practice incentive theme. It was a gorgeous evening, so after the students spent all the crystals they wanted to on items from the studio store, we filled our plates with snacks and headed out to the back patio to […]
It’s Recital Time!
It’s hard to believe the end of the year for piano lessons is already here. It has been a fabulous year that culminated with our spring recital and cookout last weekend. Here are just a few snapshots from the occasion… All the important elements that make the recital special: custom programs that correlate with our […]
3 Problems with the Landmark Notes Method – A Guest Post by Rowina Seidler
A note from Natalie: UK educator Rowina Seidler has done some fascinating firsthand research into helping students become more proficient with note identification. With our practice incentive theme this year entirely focused on developing sightreading fluency (Cracking the Crystal Code), this is of particular interest to me! I hope you enjoy reading about her research […]
Inspired Piano Teaching
One of the most respected piano pedagogues of this generation was Marvin Blickenstaff. I was only familiar with him from afar, but I recently came across the book he published shortly before his death, “Inspired Piano Teaching.” I always love reading books like this from piano teachers; it’s almost like attending a year’s worth of […]
