Anyone who’s been around here a while knows that I am a huge fan of Carnival of the Animals. It’s made its way into the theme of two of my piano camp programs! I was thrilled to discover recently that the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra performed a Carnival of the Animals: Remix that “takes viewers through […]
Teaching
Redwood Resistance Piano Practice Incentive Theme is Now Available!
We just wrapped up the year in our studio with Year-End Evaluations this week, and our Redwood Resistance practice incentive theme was a huge hit! My studio age range right now is 6-17 years old, and levels range from brand new beginners to 10 years of lessons, and every one of them enjoyed the various […]
Guide to Contemporary Educational Piano Composer Websites
Several times now I’ve heard Dennis Alexander mention his personal website and how few teachers seem to know it exists. And several times now I’ve forgotten about it! So I decided that maybe if I make a point of writing about it, I’ll be more inclined to remember it. And while I was at it, […]
Teaching Piano Technique to Beginning Students
Tim Topham recently wrote a fabulous article that presents 4 Tips for Teaching Beginner Technique to piano students. He outlines the importance of non-legato touch, emphasizes forming a naturally curved hand, discusses naming musical gestures, and describes rotating the wrist. These closely parallel some of the technique principles I’ve discovered over the years and incorporate […]
32 Free Folk Songs and Popular Tunes for Easy Piano
One area of particular interest for me is folk songs from different countries. Especially when I’m putting together the Piano Expeditions piano camp curriculum, I enjoy trying to find folk songs from the country we’re “visiting” and see if they can be adapted for use in our week of piano camp. I was recently checking […]
A Collection of Free Music Manuscript or Staff Paper
When I was perusing the Virtual Sheet Music website the other day, I came across their section of free resources for music teachers and noticed that they have a music manuscript file that you can adjust and print in either landscape or portrait mode with your specified number of staves. Since I rarely use theory […]
