After watching a webinar by Sara Ernst (Practicing Piano through the Early Stages) with our local music teachers association a couple of months ago, I was inspired anew to teach my students effective practice strategies during their piano lessons. This is not my favorite part of teaching and often brings to mind this quote by […]
Spring Piano Recital on the Patio is a Wrap!
For many years I’ve wanted to host an outdoor recital. In fact, as soon as the weather starts warming up I contemplate moving my Clavinova on the back patio to teach lessons. I haven’t done that yet (perhaps because my studio is in the basement and the prospect of moving the Clavinova up the stairs […]
Heartbeat Rhythms in Action!
We’ve been having fun using the new Heartbeat Rhythms music dictation game in both group classes and private piano lessons the last couple of weeks! For group class, I gave each student a copy of the pulse sheet and had piles of the note value hearts in the middle that they could utilize. I played […]
Custom Shirts for Your Studio
It’s been 10 years since I ordered custom-designed t-shirts for my studio, so my mind started rolling with ideas when I was contacted a few weeks ago by a custom-design apparel company to see if they could send me a sample of one of their products to try and review here on the blog. Especially […]
Introducing…My Granddaughter!
In case anyone wants to know (and I’m sure everyone does!), I am officially a grandma! With a full head of dark brown hair, just like both of her parents, this precious little lady made her way into the world last Wednesday. What a wonderful blessing!
Heartbeat Rhythms – a hands-on dictation activity to help students understand musical pulse and rhythms
Ever since I came across D’Net Layton’s post on rhythm blocks many years ago, I’ve had it in mind to make a similar rhythm resource for my studio. Wood blocks cut to size were a bit more ambitious and space-consuming than what I wanted to create, but after lots of pondering and experimenting in the […]
