One unexpected way that I often see my students’ personalities come out is in their assignment books. We have a custom assignment book that correlates with our practice incentive theme each year, and one of the elements is that they always have to record what they practiced and on which days in order to keep […]
Blog
Providing Helpful Boundaries for Improvisation
Again drawing on inspiration from my friend Agnieszka Lasko (author of the First Class Piano method!) and her fabulous ideas regarding improvising at the piano, I set out to help one of my students become more comfortable trying his own improvisation. He has a great ear for music and some definite natural talent, but he […]
A Sneak Peek at this Year’s Piano Camp!
One of our highlights every summer is Piano Expeditions piano camp! I’ve done piano camps in my studio for years, but four years ago I decided to specifically start offering piano camps for children who weren’t taking private lessons, but still wanted a fun and educational music camp opportunity. Each Piano Expeditions curriculum features a […]
Piano Group Class Game for Online and In Person Students
One of my challenges the last couple of years has been planning group class games for my piano students that work for a combination of online and in person attendees. I primarily teach in person, but have a couple students who are mostly online and I want to include them as much as possible in […]
PocketPiano is Here!
A whole piano that fits in your backpack? Yes, please! This new ultra-portable PocketPiano 2 was unveiled at NAMM 2024 and looks super cool! As long as you can make do without the highest C on the keyboard, this piano will let you take all your practicing on-the-go. It even comes with a damper pedal. […]
Piano Music for Left Hand
One of my students started experiencing inflammation in her right forearm at the end of last semester due to extensive note-taking in some college classes. So we launched into this semester with the need to give her right arm a break. We determined it was the perfect opportunity to explore left hand only repertoire! I […]
