Since we were getting ready for our first group event last week, I took the opportunity to film several of my students playing their pieces so they could watch themselves and use it as a tool for improvement. I really need to do this more often! I finally decided to create an official YouTube channel […]
Repertoire Suggestions
Dream Blog for Church Pianists Who Want to Learn to Improvise!
A couple of days ago, Jennifer Cook left a comment on one of my posts and I clicked over to her blog to check it out. What a treasure! If you are a church pianist and want to learn to improvise (or need some fresh improvisation ideas), you must go read The Church Pianist blog! […]
Incredible Resource for Catalogued Piano Repertoire
The FindPianoWorks website is a must-use tool for every piano teacher! I can’t believe I didn’t know about this sooner. FindPianoWorks is a very user-friendly database search tool that includes repertoire from three series of leveled anthologies: Masterwork Classics edited by Jane Magrath, the Kjos Repertoire series, edited by Keith Snell, and the Celebration Series, […]
Review: Legends and Lore
Composer Library Series: … This collection of Elementary-Early Intermediate Piano Solos is lots of fun! Composer Christine Donkin does an excellent job capturing the imagery her titles inspire. Here are my comments on each of the pieces: Royal Fanfare – A piece composed entirely of parallel 5ths, once the fingering is solidified this piece should […]
Student Saver Pieces
Yesterday, one of our local music teachers associations held a Mid-Winter Retreat for music teachers. We had a fabulous time and I came home with lots of great ideas that I need to mull over and try to incorporate into my teaching. Suzanne Tirk, a clarinet professor, was our featured speaker. She discussed “Ten Steps […]
