In Bruce Berr’s column of the latest American Music Teacher magazine, he talks about relearning pieces and particularly the importance of good fingerings. I really appreciated the whole article, but was especially struck by one sentence toward the end: “The new approach I’ve adopted is about mindfulness, physical awareness and an ironclad unwillingness to accept […]
Teaching
Monday Mailbag – Do You Have to Have a Degree to Be a Good Piano Teacher?
I am a piano teacher but haven’t gotten any degree in pedagogy. I took one pedagogy class in college and loved teaching. Since then I’ve been running my own studio the best I know how. I really care about my students and want them to succeed, but I feel like because I don’t have a […]
When the Lights Go Out…
…It’s Time for Three! Have you heard of these guys? They are an incredibly talented threesome who got their big debut in the midst of a lightning storm. You’ll have to read about it on the Time for Three website for the full story! The spring Young People’s Concerts were bumped up a little earlier […]
Trying A New Approach to Sight-Reading
At a local music teachers association meeting several months ago, one of the other teachers brought a book called, Joining the Dots: A Fresh Approach to Piano Sight-Reading by Alan Bullard. I was immediately intrigued and ended up ordering the whole 5 volume set so that I could begin experimenting with some of my students! […]
Review and Giveaway of Compositions by Lisa Donovan Lukas
Close your eyes, sit back in a comfy chair, and imagine a beautiful interlacing of impressionistic and contemporary harmonies drifting from piano music that might provide the soundtrack for your favorite tear-inducing drama. Now you can skip the imagination part and let this video fill in the music for you: Goodnight, Sweet Dreams is one […]
Monday Mailbag – Group Class Assignments
I’ve never done group lessons before, but I’d really like to try one. When you do a group lesson, what do you do about students’ individual assignments/songs they’ve learned the week before? And what do you assign them for the next week? Or do you think of group lessons totally differently than individual lessons? In my studio, […]
