Note from Natalie: I learned early on as a piano teacher that I had to ask prior to even conducting an interview with a prospective studio family if they owned a piano. Beyond that, I learned the hard way that I had to insist that they purchase one prior to beginning lessons, and that it […]
Resources
Free Guitar or Keyboard for New Students at Care2Rock!
Interested in learning a new instrument this summer? Start lessons today with a FREE brand new instrument from Care2Rock! Click here to get started. Care2Rock is our newest advertiser here on Music Matters Blog, and we are grateful for their support of the online music education community! If you are interested in finding out more […]
The Ultimate Guide to Playing the Piano
The folks over at Skoove have posted what they are calling “The Ultimate Guide to Playing the Piano.” The post is an insightful history of the piano, an overview of the parts of a piano, and a brief introduction to reading music. I mostly enjoyed the fun collection of photos of interesting pianos that have […]
Get the Entire Mayron Cole Piano Method for Free!
I’ve heard about the Mayron Cole piano method for years, but never looked into it that much. However, I just received word a couple of weeks ago that in celebration of her retirement, Mayron is making her piano method available for free to anyone who wants it! There are textbooks for Level Pre-1 through Level […]
A Very Out-of-the-Box Book for the Improv-Challenged Pianist
As I mentioned in my recent post about improvisation pianist Anna Ferraro, I spent years feeling stuck to the page in my piano playing. My early forays into improvisation felt very uncomfortable and unmusical. And frankly, I’m still not that great at it. It’s so easy to get stuck in a rut and not know […]
It’s Psalms Project Time!
Those of you who have been around here for a while know that every spring in my studio we complete a composition effort called The Psalms Project. At the beginning of the semester I give students a worksheet with a step-by-step process that walks them through selecting a verse, setting it to music, and eventually […]
