For the first time in my piano teaching career I’m seeing a new breed of piano students come through my studio door. No, these kids haven’t grown any extra fingers, but they are coming to piano lessons with a new set of expectations. Meet GenZ, the digital student. One teen came to her lesson last […]
The Cactus Cuties Sing the National Anthem
Wow! Just wow! HT: J.Pisano
El Sistema – Enter Essay Contest and Win a Free DVD!
El Sistema is a fascinating project that provides “a network of children’s and youth orchestras, music centres and workshops in Venezuela, in which more than 250,000 children and young people are currently learning to play an instrument.” The soon-to-be-released DVD by the same name documents the history and effect of this incredible program. Naxos of […]
Monday Mailbag – Lesson Games
You have a lot of games. Do you do them just with the student at their lesson or do you incorporate these games into group lessons? Do the students enjoy doing these games during their lessons? How do you do that? Yes to all of the above! 🙂 Ask any of my students and they’ll […]
Beginning Hymn Improvisation
When I was in my early teens, I distinctly remember wishing that I knew how to improvise so that I wasn’t stuck playing only what was printed on the page. But I had no idea how or where to start. In particular, I saw people playing from a hymnal, but adding all sorts of cool […]
A Revolutionary View of Dynamics
Okay, so maybe the term “revolutionary” is a bit over-the-top, but not by much. My whole understanding of dynamics was altered recently as I sat in on my brother’s cello lesson. His teacher explained that in each piece, my brother should utilize the full dynamic range of the instrument, executing each dynamic marking in relation […]
