One of the most important things I teach my beginners is to slow down and use their eyes and brain before using their fingers to begin playing a piece! The best way to avoid crashing after you take off is to follow a pre-flight protocol! Watch the video above to see how I teach my […]
Pre-Flight Checklist for Beginning Pianists Read More »
One of the most popular posts on my blog is one from August of 2009 when I wrote about throwing out the practice log, just as I was starting a new term. Four years later, I wrote an update. I was sold on not requiring students to keep a log of the amount of time
No Practice Log Requirement Since 2009 Read More »
When there’s a will, there’s a way…to have a spring piano recital in a new way! The Covid numbers are way down where I live, but my mantra throughout has been that I want my parents to trust that I’m doing everything reasonable to provide safety for my students. So, an outdoor recital was the
Where There’s A Will, There’s…An Outdoor Recital! Read More »
Young beginners in my studio often get confused about all the different ways we use numbers on the score. We use finger numbers, we write in counts for the rhythm, we have measure numbers, and we have time signatures. Then there are interval numbers, note value numbers, and so on! I like to show students
Finger Numbers, Counting Numbers, Measure Numbers, Oh My! Read More »
Watch this video to learn why I think video lessons with video exchange are a great way to deliver piano instruction!
Why Video Lessons? Read More »
It’s a common occurrence in my studio for a beginning student to respond with a lovely scale when I ask for a chord, or a beautiful chord when I ask for a scale. We ask first and second-year piano students to learn so many new words! It’s understandable that they sometimes get them confused! I’ve
Piano Vocabulary: Scales and Chords Read More »
A few days ago, I was surprised to discover I had won a giveaway on Instagram! 5,000 free points on boomlearning.com! I’m not sure how I got so lucky, but I thought I’d share with my piano teacher friends how I’ve been using Boom Decks in my piano studio since January. They did not ask
Using Boom Cards In The Piano Studio Read More »
Note: This post has been translated to Spanish, and you can read it here! This week starts my pentascale unit in the piano studio! I have a big crop of beginner students this year, and Spring is my time for pentascales. Several years ago, I wrote a post about how I teach these by starting
My Pentascale Process Read More »
Are your beginners like mine? Do they add a little sneaky 4th beat when playing in 3/4 time? Here’s how I deal with that in my studio!Call in the Ghostbusters!
The Haunted Time Signature Read More »
When I first started teaching piano in the 80s, there were no blogs, webinars, or facebook groups for piano teachers. No downloadable teaching tools, no youtube videos. I started out armed with a notebook full of ideas from my pedagogy professor, a survey of the various methods on the market, and the 2-volume set of
Not Your Grandma’s Piano Lessons Read More »
