#1 – Sharla Congrats, Sharla! You will receive a free Cracking the Crystal Code practice incentive theme package along with all the studio posters to hang on your wall. Thanks to all who participated in the giveaway. You can receive 20% off this or any of the practice incentive theme packages in the Music Matters […]
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Effortless Sight-Reading for Musicians
There are so many resources and ideas for teaching piano that it can sometimes be overwhelming to know what to include in piano lessons for our students. How much should we focus on learning difficult repertoire? How much off-the bench focus on games and hands-on activities? How often should we be incorporating playing by ear […]
The Science of Piano Sight-Reading
In the June/July 2026 issue of American Music Teacher, Jenny Jieun Park published a column titled, “The Science of Piano Sight-Reading: Practical Applications for Teachers.” Having just concluded a year of specific piano sight-reading focus with our practice incentive theme, Cracking the Crystal Code, I was especially interested to read this article. After sharing highlights […]
Win a Free Practice Incentive Theme Package with Studio Banners – a $110 Value!
I’ll be honest, some of my practice incentive themes and studio banners are harder to let go of than others. Cracking the Crystal Code is one of those. I am still relishing the year of incredible progress that I saw in each of my students, along with the way their motivation remained high all year […]
Go Practice Music — Practice smarter, not longer – A Guest Post
A note from Natalie: With so many piano apps on the market (and more being added all the time!) it is often overwhelming to navigate all the options. What appealed to me about Go Practice Music (click here to use my referral link) when Sebastien reached out to me about it is the sleek interface […]
Gustav’s Musical World – A Guest Post by Heather Donovan
Note from Natalie: Anyone who’s been around here a while knows that I love children’s books and I have a whole section of the Music Matters Blog website devoted to Music Books for Kids. So I was especially thrilled when author Heather Donovan contacted me about her new adorable children’s book about Gustav and his […]
