I am a student teacher and would like some tips on teaching technique via games. I have a 7-year-old student who is struggling with “keeping fingertips tall” and “keeping a rounded hand shape”. I find technique drills are not working and I hate to make technique seem like the enemy. Do you have any games […]
Monday Mailbag
Monday Mailbag – What Curriculum Do You Use?
Do you have any set “curriculum” you follow as far as what you expect students to learn/cover over the course of a year? I know there is the Carnegie Hall Achievement Program that provides “expectations” for each year of study. Is your incentives program for setting goals for students each year? Yikes! These are the […]
Monday Mailbag – How Can Parents Help Motivate Their Children?
I am a new piano mom. I’ve been wanting to put my children in lessons for many years, but we’re just finally able to put it in our budget. My two daughters both started lessons a few weeks ago at ages 9 and almost 7. Their teacher doesn’t use an incentive program or anything, so […]
Monday Mailbag – How to Teach Key Signatures
I’m starting to wonder if my method of teaching both major and minor key signatures is too cumbersome for my students. So I have been researching more intuitive approaches. When do you start teaching key signatures and how do you introduce and drill them so that they are second nature? This is an area that […]
Monday Mailbag – How to Teach Hand Coordination to Beginners
How do you help your students with hand coordination, especially for beginners? This is often one of the most exciting moments in teaching – watching a student learn to play with both hands together! In fact, it was kind of cool to see that when I asked my students our question for the year: “What […]
Monday Mailbag – 4 Tips for Teaching Students How to Practice
[It’s back! After taking a break over the summer, I have an incredible backlog of questions in my inbox so I’m excited to resume the Monday Mailbag feature here on Music Matters Blog. I always love hearing from other teachers with both thought-provoking questions and helpful answers. Many teachers send questions with the hope of […]
