It’s amazing how much more fun it is to learn about chords and scales on the piano when you’re using a magnetic board, some cool thumbtack-looking magnets, a set of scale blocks, and a piano scale worksheet! After learning how to count the half steps to construct major chords, I called out the name of […]
Teaching
Teaching Students to Practice Their Instrument More Effectively
In his always-informative newsletter, Gerald Klickstein, author of The Musician’s Way, linked back to his post on Beautiful Repetition. I love his four points: Insist on Excellence Reject Mindless Repetition Aim for Growth Rather than Sameness Evaluate Continuously Visit his post for an elaboration and specific ideas for each point!
A Great Tool for Helping Piano Students Improve Sight Reading and Rhythm Skills
One of my favorite resources to help students develop their rhythm and sight reading skills is the Rhythm and Sight Reading cards from Piano Safari. These are great to use as a supplement even if you don’t use the method books. Levi agreed to demonstrate how we utilize these cards: After tapping the rhythm pattern, […]
A Favorite Composition Project for Piano Students
Every spring (for 12 years now!) we launch The Psalms Project in our piano studio. This has proved to be an anticipated and approachable opportunity for students to learn valuable skills related to composition. After selecting a verse (or several) from the book of Psalms in the Bible, we work through a series of steps […]
Deciding on a Musical Instrument – What to Choose? – A Guest Post by The Tutor Pages
Most parents will consider these questions at some point: Is my child musical? Can we afford music lessons? Which instrument should we choose? Many parents are eager for their child to begin music lessons at a young age. However, some instruments are a better choice than others for young beginners. For example, the piano or […]
Snapshots From This Week’s Group Class
In addition to performing for each other this week we practiced sharing definitions and descriptions of the musical elements of our pieces. Composing with the fun new game Compose Yourself! A game of notating Major and minor scales accurately by following the correct pattern. Major and minor scale-building game at the piano keyboard! We […]
