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 […]
Teaching
And the Winner Is…
#2 – Tiffany! Tiffany, you’ll be receiving a free Circle of 5ths Wall Art Poster to hang in your studio and use with your students! Thanks to everyone who participated in the drawing. As a special deal, from now through the end of Sunday night, you can receive 50% off the Circle of 5ths Wall […]
Free Musical U Masterclass with Forrest Kinney this Saturday
Perhaps one of the most transformational moments of my music teaching career was attending a showcase by Forrest Kinney at the MTNA conference in 2010. It is not an exaggeration to say that my teaching has never been the same since! I began incorporating his ideas on improvisation into our lessons right away and was […]
Win a Free Circle of 5ths Wall Art Poster!
We are thoroughly enjoying and frequently utilizing the new Circle of 5ths Wall Art poster in our piano studio, so I thought it would be fun to give away a copy of this colorful poster for free to a special Music Matters Blog reader! Just leave a comment below to be entered in the drawing […]
Group Class – Keeping it Simple
One of the greatest benefits of offering regular group classes in my piano studio is the camaraderie that develops between students. They love coming, playing games, performing music, and hanging out together. Sometimes the simplest activities prove to be the most fun! Such was the case at October’s group class. We began with a fun […]
Using Scale Blocks to Teach Common Tone Voicing in Chord Progressions
Having a functional understanding of music theory is extremely important to me as a piano teacher, so my students are continually learning scales, intervals, chords, etc. Our state Music Progressions curriculum has been invaluable to me in helping me establish an appropriate and systematic approach to teaching theory. And my indispensable teaching tool is a […]