Rote teaching of piano pieces has been part of my methodology for quite a few years now (here’s a blog post where I respond to one reader’s question about the point of teaching by rote), so I’m always excited to find new repertoire or even books devoted to including this approach in a rounded music […]
Resource Reviews
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 […]
Increasing Inspiration in Your Studio, Part 2 – A Guest Post by Improv Pianist Anna Ferraro
Note from Natalie: Be sure to enter the drawing for your own copy of Anna’s newest album, “Where Glory Dwells.” And…we’re back! With part two in this mini-series. As I mentioned before, the motivation behind everything I do in my studio is to inspire my students to excellence. However, I find that it is not […]
Increasing Inspiration in Your Studio, Part 1 – A Guest Post by Improv Pianist Anna Ferraro
Note from Natalie: Be sure to enter the drawing for your own copy of Anna’s newest album, “Where Glory Dwells.” The motivation behind everything we do in our studios as piano teachers is to inspire our students to excellence. However, I find that it is not crucial if my students are inspired with me. The […]
Giveaway of New Album by Amazing Improv Pianist Anna Ferraro
As a young teenager I remember watching gifted pianists open up a piece of simple sheet music and proceed to flood the air with musical beauty that seemed to come out of nowhere. I was baffled (and more than a little jealous!). It was beyond my stick-to-the-music-trained brain’s ability to comprehend how someone could know […]
Unlimited Repertoire All Year? Yes, Please!
After a quick glance in July, I mentioned Chris Owenby’s new Practice Habits Online Community. However, over the last week I’ve spent more time digging into all that is included in the membership and I’m even more excited about the prospect of utilizing this throughout the coming year! If you sign up for a Gold […]
