You know you’re a piano teacher when you’re playing Christmas music in October! (And I even feel like I’m behind in getting ready for the recital this year!) Our annual studio Christmas recital is a favorite for students, parents, family, friends and myself! Each year I try to do something a little different. This year […]
Teaching
Make a Fun Rhythm Chart!
This summer I attended a Melody Bober workshop at our local music store. It was a wonderful workshop, and among the practical ideas Melody shared was the idea for this rhythm chart. I made one on my own a couple of weeks later and have already used it numerous times in my lessons. Side one […]
How to Inspire Students to Do Better?
Here’s a funny little quip I ran across recently that made me think in terms of how I teach my students. “There is no such thing as an attention span. People have infinite attention as long as you are entertaining them!” I know several students might say I’m too entertaining on occasion… 🙂 But, in […]
Counting Rhythms with Pennies
One of my students was having difficulty understanding 16th note rhythm patterns today, so I pulled out my penny jar. I remember hearing about this idea a number of years ago and was just reminded of it the other day. Every penny represents a 16th note. Therefore, every set of four pennies represents one beat […]
Music to My Ears!
What a pleasant surprise it was to me when 8-year old Joey announced part way through his lesson that he had chosen another piece to work on. “Because it will make me have to count,” he said and then quickly added, “and I need to work on my counting.” Ah, yes! An early convert to […]
Organized Worksheets!
The best thing happened today! A student was having trouble with a particular rhythmic concept and I realized I had a worksheet that would help reinforce at home what we had just been working on at her lesson. Now, a week ago, I would have had to rummage through several folders full of worksheets to […]
