One of my favorite things to do is brainstorm creative and effective ways to streamline processes and organizational ideas for both myself and my students. That’s one of the reasons that I develop a practice incentive theme for my studio each year. It provides a ways for students to set goals, manage their progress, and […]
Teaching
Mini Music Manual Review by Piano Teacher Resources
Chris Owenby, of PracticeHabits.co, has not only written a wonderful review of our Mini Music Manual, but has also made a special offer that anyone who purchases one by the end of today, April 22, will receive a free piece of sheet music from his shop! Wow, what a kind and generous offer! The Mini […]
Review of Carnival of the Animals Piano Camp by Music Educator Resources
Summer is just around the corner and with it the opportunity to switch gears and host some fun alternatives to traditional lessons. One of my favorite summer activities over the years has been putting on piano camps. We typically do a one-week camp, with students meeting every day of the week for several hours. By […]
Teaching Composition to Students
Or this post could be titled, “Reason #47 Why I Love Piano Safari!” 🙂 When Alyssa first began piano lessons last fall we tried some simple improvisation activities, but she was reluctant to play anything without knowing that it was the “right” notes. As we’ve worked through my all-time favorite piano method – Piano Safari […]
Using Key Signature Flashcards to Make a Circle of Fifths
This may be a no-brainer, but for some reason it just occurred to me this week that key signature flashcards (I love this set of Student Flashcards from TCW Resources!) would provide a great hands-on opportunity to create and understand the Circle of 5ths! Mercy has been working hard on memorizing all of her key […]
The Best Way to Motivate Students
My husband shared this quote with me the other day and I thought it was very relevant to teaching students and learning to play an instrument: “Action never follows motivation…It’s the other way around. When you act, motivation inevitably follows.” I’ve seen over and over again that when students (or I!) make practicing a discipline […]
