One of my objectives with every group class (held monthly) is for students to not only perform for each other, but also to play music together. We accomplish this in various ways, but for our January group piano class, I thought it would be interesting to try having a jam session. This isn’t something we […]
Teaching
Review and Giveaway of I Wish I Didn’t Quit: Music Lessons
With bookend stories about the fictitious piano student Olivia in his new book, I Wish I Didn’t Quit: Music Lessons, author Nathan Holder paints a picture first of an all-too familiar scenario and later an ideal scenario when it comes to studying music. Himself a member of the “I-wish-I-didn’t-quit” statistic, Holder writes from a collection […]
New Piano Sheet Music for I’d Rather Have Jesus
It only took me about 5 and a half years, but the piano sheet music is finally done and available for the original arrangement of I’d Rather Have Jesus. I posted the video of it in 2013: And I’ve been procrastinating notating and publishing it ever since. 🙂 But after many hours of work over […]
Free Student Interview Forms
Looking for a systematic approach to interview new students for your studio? The Music Matters Blog Store now has free copies of both new and transfer student interview and evaluation forms, along with a helpful questionnaire for parents to fill out so that you can ascertain their goals and level of commitment regarding piano lessons. […]
Welcome to 2019!
The New Year is here and it’s already been a whirlwind around our house! We’ve hosted guests from Japan and Canada (thanks to a wonderful hospitality network we belong to that enables us to meet families from all over the world!), scoured every thrift store in the area looking for vintage props for my kids’ […]
Inspiration from Ingrid Fliter
One of my favorite kinds of articles to read is interviews with various individuals. In the current issue of American Music Teacher, I enjoyed the interview with Ingrid Fliter, a renowned performer of Chopin’s music. Here are two of her statements that inspired me as both a pianist and a piano teacher: In response to […]
