There are no piano teachers here in our area that will teach kids under the age of 7 or 8. Do you have any lesson and/or book recommendations…teaching approach recommendations for beginning teachers and learners? Occasionally I receive questions like this from parents who really want their children to have a music education, but just […]
Ideas for Parents
Monday Mailbag – Practice Tips for Young Students and Parents
I recently started a few new kindergarten students and I was wondering if you might have any practice suggestions for that age. I would especially like to give some ideas to their parents about how they can help their children practice. I’m finding more and more that the best approach to teaching good practice habits […]
Time for Year-End Evaluations – Free Downloadable Forms
It’s hard to believe that the spring semester of lessons is coming to a close. One of the most helpful things I ever started doing was scheduling Year-End Evaluations at the last lesson of the spring semester. Last week I sent home Student and Parent Questionnaires with each of my students. Next week, parents will […]
The Case Against Offering Make-up Lessons
When I first started teaching I knew nothing about operating a business, establishing professional policies, or setting personal boundaries to help maintain sanity and avoid burnout. That’s probably why I hated teaching. Thanks to the influence of many wise teachers who have mentored and advised me since then, I now have well-formulated policies that enable […]
Music Lessons – The Parents’ Perspective
From the Top, a non-profit organization that produces a weekly NPR radio show featuring the best young classical musicians in the country, has been posting a series of blog posts called The Parents’ Perspective that are full of inspiration and practical advice from parents of some of the country’s top classical musicians. Here are the […]
Fun and Easy Musical Activities for Young Children
A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to participate in an interview with Mary Jo Tate of The Homeschool Channel on the subject of “Fun and Easy Musical Activities for Young Children.” I didn’t have time to squeeze in everything I wanted to, but hopefully it will still inspire some families to make music […]
