Here are several posts that I’ve found particularly interesting over the past week or so: Jason, at The Piano Pedagogy Page, has been doing a series on Do-It-Yourself In-Service for independent music teachers. What a fascinating concept! I really appreciated this sixth post in the series on taking the time to practice and play well […]
Resources
New Website with Lots of Free Music Resources!
Have you seen the new InsideMusicTeaching.com website? The site was created by Philip Johnston, founder of the popular PracticeSpot.com. In his e-mail last week, Mr. Johnston indicated that he would no longer be updating the Practice Spot website, so it looks like this new Inside Music Teaching site will be the place to keep up […]
Monday Mailbag – Mysterious Repertoire
After reading about the success of your incentive programs I decided to come up with my own for this fall. I’m still working on it, but it’s going to be about exploring the mystery of music. I’m wondering if you have any pieces that come to mind for recitals? (So far I have Agent X, […]
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 […]
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 […]
Review of Easy Hymn Solos
Attaching the tag line, “stylish arrangements” to a collection of early elementary hymn solos may seem like a bit of a stretch, but composer Wendy Stevens manages to pull it off! I recently played through each of the hymn arrangements in her new three-book collection of Easy Hymn Solos published by Hal Leonard and was […]