I am a senior in high school who has been taking piano lessons for 11 years and I want to be a piano teacher as a part time job. I want to go to a community college for two years and would like to transfer to a State University. What do you recommend for me […]
Philosophical Musings
Monday Mailbag – When Students Can’t Memorize
What happens when students just can’t memorize (I’m one of them; I just don’t have the capacity for memorization)? Do we give up on them as musicians, or is there another way? We are all gifted in different ways, with different capacities for various skills. In my opinion, it’s more valuable to be able to […]
Inspiration from a Musical Savant
Wow! Have you seen this video clip about British musical savant Derek Paravicini by Lesley Stahl, of CBS’ 60 Minutes? Talk about inspirational! In addition to watching and hearing from Derek and his parents, I really love listening to his teacher and seeing how he approached working with someone like Derek. (I think the book, […]
Monday Mailbag – Students and Pop Music
How “strict” are you about your students playing popular music from films, radio, etc. as notated? The piano arrangements are never really identical to the song the student knows, and they naturally play the rhythm they know. Lately I’ve been going through the notated rhythms with them correctly and then giving them permission to play […]
Free Music Listening Worksheet
Another teacher recently sent me an e-mail asking if I have a listening worksheet that I use with my students. Well, yes…and no. I have a listening worksheet that I used to use with my students. Does that count? 🙂 I dug through my files and uploaded this free Music Listening Worksheet in case anyone […]
Practice Problems and Strategies or Why I Don’t Just Give You Answers!
Do you ever have a student come to their lesson and say that they couldn’t practice an assigned piece because they couldn’t figure out what note to start on? Or do they play timidly and explain that they aren’t sure if they are playing with the correct rhythm? Here’s what NOT to do. Don’t point […]
