Every teacher I know has one of these on their student list. The student is itching to expand beyond their method book series, reads well enough, wants to play the piece from their favorite movie (or video game), and is quietly about two months from quitting. Maybe for others, it’s the intermediate transfer student who […]
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Back-to-School Favorites Piano Podcast
I was delighted to join Rachel Ehring on Episode 128 of her Top Music Piano Podcast to discuss all kinds of back-to-school favorites, from practice incentive themes to music books for kids to free music theory worksheets, and more. You can listen to the episode on the TopMusic website or your favorite podcast platform. It’s […]
Using Musical Wheels to Make Music Theory and Ear Training More Engaging – A Guest Post by Spin the Wheel
It usually happens in the last ten minutes of a music lesson. You’ve just finished a rhythm exercise that took careful explanation, a bit of clapping, a retry, and finally some progress. The room is just starting to shift. A few students are packing away early. Someone asks, ‘What are we doing next?’ And instead […]
And the Winner Is…
#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 […]
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 […]
