That’s years, by the way, not a tempo marking! 🙂 Last week, Fiona sent me the link to this short clip of 106-year-old Alice Sommer Herz talking about music and playing a bit of Bach, to boot! After doing a little investigating, I learned that the documentary itself has been pulled from production because of […]
Teaching
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 […]
Monday Mailbag – Teaching Students to Play Beautifully
One of my families (I teach three of their children) has quite a different view on what is important in their musical education. They want to learn as many pieces as possible each week, without worrying too much about all the important details (dynamics, mood, rhythm, etc.). They also put technique down at the bottom […]
The Perfect Game for Reinforcing Stem Placement
My students do a lot of notating, whether for compositions or for various games. One thing that always gets me is how much I have to remind them which direction the stems should go and on which side of the note they should be placed. It doesn’t seem like it should be that complicated, but […]
Effective Piano Performance Warm-Ups
Have you ever been judging at a piano event and when you tell the student that they can take a minute to warm-up before playing they tentatively depress the notes of a C-major chord and then quickly assure you that they are ready? I’ve had this happen on more than one occasion. Sadly, I’m sure […]
Free Major Chord Worksheet
Sarah, of the Discoveries Piano Studio blog, recently posted a free major chord worksheet that is perfect for St. Patrick’s Day! It is a page of shamrocks with the root note of a chord pre-printed on one of the leaves. Students have to write the name of the two subsequent notes to form a major […]
