At one of my piano lessons earlier this week, I made a reference to the Circle of Fifths with one of my students. As I debated whether to quickly sketch out what I was talking about on a dry erase board or pull a printed worksheet from one of my theory worksheet binders, I had […]
Teaching
September Surprise – Always a Favorite!
This past week marked our annual September Surprise! – the kickoff to our studio year, named so because the students all surprise me by playing any piece of their choice. It’s always fun to hear what they’ve continued playing through the summer or what new pieces they’ve learned on their own. Here are a few […]
How Playing a Musical Instrument Benefits Your Brain
I enjoyed this engaging TEDEd animated video about How Playing an Instrument Benefits Your Brain. Info that we music teachers have heard before, but it’s always a great reminder – and always worth sharing with our studio families and prospective students! ?
Three Top Sites for Online Music Theory Practice
With the overwhelming amount of information available on the internet, it’s easy for great sites to slip through the cracks or as new resources become available. Since I’ve been going back through a bunch of music resource links and updating them (for the Mastering the Mystery of Music practice incentive theme), I recently came back […]
Free Downloadable Resources for Piano Teachers and Students
I’ve been updating the extensive list of Mastery Challenge Resources that are included in the Mastering the Mystery of Music (thanks to Tammy for bringing some of the broken links to my attention!) and rediscovered the Resources section of the Piano Technicians Guild website. There is both a Piano Teacher Resource section and a Piano […]
Sylvia Showcases Beat the Pirates!
Our local music teachers association recently held our annual planning meeting and brunch. (As an aside, becoming a member of Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) and our state and local affiliates is one of the best decisions I ever made as a music teacher. There is nothing quite like real life relationships to provide camaraderie […]
