One of my favorite pastimes is sitting down with a new piano book and sight-reading through it. The pleasure is further enhanced when it’s a new collection by a lesser-known composer with a fresh and engaging sound. Such was the case with the trio of books by Czech composer Jakub Metelka that I discovered last […]
Teaching
It’s Time for Christmas Tunes Bingo!
We had our November group class this week, so I decided it was time to pull out our Christmas Tunes Bingo game again! With our practice incentive theme this year (The PUZZLEMAKER), I built listening pages into the assignment books, so we’ve been using them at each of the monthly group classes this year. This […]
Rote Favorites in the Piano Studio this Fall
If you’ve been around here for a while, you know that I’m a huge proponent of using rote teaching with all of my students. Here are a few favorite pieces from this fall: How do you get an energetic 8-year old boy who wants to play everything lightning fast to appreciate playing beautiful musical sounds […]
Another Successful September Surprise!
How can it be October already?! As always, we launched a new year in the studio with our beloved September Surprise! It’s an opportunity for the students to play any piece that they want (thus surprising me with what they’ve worked on over the summer) and it’s when I announce our new practice incentive theme for […]
Top Ten Takeaways from our State Music Teachers Conference
There’s nothing quite like a conference to marry my loves of teaching and traveling! Our annual state music teachers conference was a joint venture with Missouri this year, and it was fabulous. We’re just wrapping up a weekend full of insightful sessions, inspiring performances, and invigorating fellowship. By the time the last session concluded I […]
Review of Color Suites Piano Solos by Starr Meneely
A delightful book of piano solos called Color Suites (or Colour if you’re in the UK!) by Starr Meneely made it to my studio this week, and I have thoroughly enjoyed playing through it! Starr lives in the UK and has been teaching piano for 27 years. In addition to this new collection she has […]
