The key-notes blog recently posted a question and answer regarding how to strengthen and train the left hand. I thought the tips shared were helpful to keep in mind for both personal practice and when working with students. I’ve got a double-note drill pattern that my teacher taught me several years ago that is still […]
5 Benefits of Group Classes
As I was working on his week’s Monday Mailbag post, I began thinking of all the benefits of group classes. And there are lots of them! Here’s what I’ve come up with so far. Let me know if you have any other benefits to add! Collaboration – Whether it’s playing games, performing in ensembles, doing […]
How Much Practice Is Enough?
I recently came across this fascinating article titled, How Much Should We Practice? based on the findings of a research paper in the Journal of Neuroscience. The research was conducted by a team of scientists to determine if effective practice time can include not only practice of the assigned task, but also listening to relevant […]
Monday Mailbag – Scheduling Group Classes
How do you schedule group classes so parents don’t mind the “extra event”? Do you replace all lessons of the week for the group class or work it out some other way? Some of this has to do with your perspective and how you present the group classes. In my opinion, group classes are a […]
Ask Janet Your Injury-Related Questions
If you’ve been keeping up with the posts this week, you know that Janet Horvath has a wealth of expertise and experience to share in the area of injury prevention and recovery. She has kindly agreed to take specific questions from Music Matters Blog readers and answer them in a post next week. You can […]
Interview with Janet Horvath
I am pleased to welcome Janet Horvath, author of Playing (Less) Hurt, to Music Matters Blog today to talk a little bit more about injury prevention and the role it should play in our teaching. 1. You come from a very musical family and began playing at a young age. Can you tell us when […]