For the conclusion of our practice incentive theme, Beat the Pirates!, this year, I hosted a celebration party. All the students converged on our house for a couple of hours last night and we spent the time… …going through the line of pizza toppings… …meticulously selecting just the right toppings for each personal pan-sized pizza… […]
Teaching
Beat the Pirates! Piano Practice Incentive Theme Now Available!
It’s been especially hard to hold out this long for the much-requested pirate-themed practice incentive, but I wanted to make sure it was fully tweaked and approved by my students before making it available for other studios. But as of today Beat the Pirates! is complete and ready for download and full implementation. If you’re […]
Get the Entire Mayron Cole Piano Method for Free!
I’ve heard about the Mayron Cole piano method for years, but never looked into it that much. However, I just received word a couple of weeks ago that in celebration of her retirement, Mayron is making her piano method available for free to anyone who wants it! There are textbooks for Level Pre-1 through Level […]
Free Forms to Conduct Year-End Piano Student Evaluations
One of the most helpful decisions I made years ago was to schedule Year-End Evaluations for the final piano lesson of the spring semester. One or both parents are required to attend with the student and we use their lesson time to discuss progress over the past year along with plans and goals for the […]
A Very Out-of-the-Box Book for the Improv-Challenged Pianist
As I mentioned in my recent post about improvisation pianist Anna Ferraro, I spent years feeling stuck to the page in my piano playing. My early forays into improvisation felt very uncomfortable and unmusical. And frankly, I’m still not that great at it. It’s so easy to get stuck in a rut and not know […]
It’s Psalms Project Time!
Those of you who have been around here for a while know that every spring in my studio we complete a composition effort called The Psalms Project. At the beginning of the semester I give students a worksheet with a step-by-step process that walks them through selecting a verse, setting it to music, and eventually […]
