I require memorization as a yearly goal – 20 2-3 page pieces over the course of the year. But, I never require them to perform from memory for the same reasons as you. I believe trying to work on memory skills is a worthy goal I think for their own satisfaction of having a repertoire […]
Music Teacher’s Helper – Sign Up Now!
Anyone who has been reading here for any length of time knows that I’m a huge fan of Music Teacher’s Helper. It has streamlined my bookkeeping like I never imagined was possible! I posted my first review of it after signing up for the free trial version four years ago. Although I was hesitant to […]
Monday Mailbag – 5 Tips for Helping Students Fix Persistent Mistakes
How do you help your students when they keep playing the same mistakes? I tried different method and section or so-called “smart practice” with him, but somehow, he still makes the same mistakes even though I have said that a thousand times! What a relevant question for all of us music teachers! This is such […]
Getting Ready for Another Year (or…random ramblings)
For quite a few years now I’ve been taking off teaching for the month of August to give myself time to travel, come up with a practice incentive theme for the next year, catch up on other projects, do lesson planning, and hopefully feel put together by the time my students return for another year […]
And the Winner Is…Everyone!
I couldn’t stand it growing up when we would be playing a game or doing a competition that involved subjective criteria and the adult/judge would conclude that it was a tie and everyone was a winner. My competitive nature wanted there to be a real winner (preferably me, of course :-)). But I digress. I […]
Monday Mailbag – When Students Can’t Memorize
What happens when students just can’t memorize (I’m one of them; I just don’t have the capacity for memorization)? Do we give up on them as musicians, or is there another way? We are all gifted in different ways, with different capacities for various skills. In my opinion, it’s more valuable to be able to […]
