Our Vanishing Voices studio practice incentive theme has been a huge hit so far this year! The students are enjoying collecting composers for their portfolios, and I’m enjoying learning tidbits of new information from the research that they do for each composer. In fact, I can see how my whole understanding of the timeline of […]
Ideas for Parents
Review and Giveaway of Fireworks in the Night
As if writing a book isn’t hard enough, author Sherry Miller has gone above and beyond by producing a full-blown audio track and lesson plan to accompany Fireworks in the Night, her first book in a series called Randy the Raccoon & His Musical Friends. The book is full color and beautifully illustrated – sure […]
Deciding on a Musical Instrument – What to Choose? – A Guest Post by The Tutor Pages
Most parents will consider these questions at some point: Is my child musical? Can we afford music lessons? Which instrument should we choose? Many parents are eager for their child to begin music lessons at a young age. However, some instruments are a better choice than others for young beginners. For example, the piano or […]
10 Non-Musical Skills that Children Can Learn from Piano Lessons
Lisa Phillips has an excellent article on the ARTSblog identifying The Top 10 Skills Children Learn from the Arts: Creativity Confidence Problem Solving Perseverance Focus Non-Verbal Communication Receiving Constructive Feedback Collaboration Dedication Accountability Be sure to read the post for specific insights on each of these areas and how they are developed through music lessons.
40 Interview Questions for Prospective Piano Students
Years ago I started conducting and interview and evaluation/assessment with every prospective piano student and their parents. This is so helpful in getting to know the families, the individual student, and their musical expectations and aptitude. I’ve recently been coming up with some new questions that I’d like to add to the forms I use, […]
Wee Sing Resources
Did anyone else grow up with the Wee Sing series of songbooks? I still have a collection of these childhood favorites sitting on my shelves (I think I need to pull them off and start using them in my teaching!). I just recently discovered that there is actually a Wee Sing Website with more info, […]
