Since I’m taking the week off of teaching, I won’t be blogging either, but I wanted to share a really cool story with you that happened this past week. The church where I have been holding my Christmas recital for years disbanded this fall and sold the building. I knew I wouldn’t be able to […]
Teaching
Theory is the Grammar of Music
As many of you know, I rarely use theory books with my students, but we are constantly discussing theory concepts as they relate to the scales and music they are playing. It is so fun to do a chord analysis of a piece with a student and watch the proverbial light bulb come on as […]
Theta Music Trainer Announces Winter Competition 2012
If you’re looking for a fun activity to give your students to keep their musical minds working during Christmas break, check out the Winter Competition 2012 that Theta Music Trainer just announced! Winners can receive up to $30 in Amazon gift cards. Come to think of it, that’s a good enough draw that maybe I’ll […]
Some recent videos from the studio!
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the importance of making music at every lesson. There are so many things that I want to fit into our 45 minutes together each week, but if I had to pick just one thing, I would make sure that in some way or another the student gets to […]
Stop Moving!
Trevor, of the Teach Piano Today blog, posted a fabulous little lesson gleaned from a skating outing with his daughter the other day. It reminded me of the importance of making sure that students know what we expect of them and then praising them appropriately when they achieve the goals we’ve set for them before […]
Monday Mailbag – Lesson Scheduling Nightmares
After 5 years of private teaching, my students are growing older and have many more conflicts in scheduling. Do you expect your students to be present every week (I do) and if they can’t, do you give them vacations or how do you make it work? What are your lesson attendance policies and do you have […]