7 Ways Piano Students Can Improve Their “Hands Together” Coordination
At some point, every young piano student will flip the page in a method book and come face to face with her very first “hands together” piano piece. After tackling that very first piece, she will...
View ArticleEight Tiny Tools That Make A Big Difference When Teaching Accidentals… And...
A good theory teacher knows that students need a variety of activities to hammer home what are often abstract musical concepts. This means that sometimes students need to get off the bench and play...
View ArticleA Video That Will Turn Your Piano Students Into Sight Reading Superstars!
In 2014 we wrote a post called “How Four Mistake-Busters Can Turn Students Into Sight Reading Superstars“. That post has since been pinned over two thousand times by piano teachers searching for ways...
View ArticleHow To Turn Your Difficult Piano Students Into Your Favorite Piano Students
“Every child is just one caring adult away from a being a success story.” This quote from American youth advocate Josh Shipp is one of those quotes that I keep in the front of my mind. Why? Because it...
View ArticleWhat To Do If Your Little Piano Student Grew Up Over The Summer
It happens to me at the start of every teaching year. One of my adorable little piano students returns to lessons and is all of a sudden… not so little! I don’t know how it happens, but over the course...
View ArticleUsing Rhythm Instruments To Bang, Rattle and Shake Your Way To Successful...
Eighth notes are worth half as many beats as quarter notes in 4/4 time… therefore they are played twice as fast as quarter notes. We count 1+2+3+4+… blah, blah, blah. That was how I used to introduce...
View ArticleA Rockin’ Arpeggio Duet To Change Teens’ Attitudes Toward Technical Work
“Fun” and “Technical Work” are two phrases that often do not go hand-in-hand. Typically teens don’t love doing technical work in lessons, and many avoid it altogether at home. Which means heaps of...
View Article7 Ways To Work On An ‘Invisible’ Piano Piece
Sometimes, piano students forget to bring their music books. It just happens. As a busy parent myself, I have arrived with my child at Highland Dance class with no dance shoes, and at skating lessons...
View ArticleUsing Doodles To Help Students Identify Steps, Skips, Leaps and Repeating Notes
When teaching young piano students to read music, you’re actually teaching them two skills 1) how to recognize notes on the staff at sight and 2) how to determine the relationships between notes. Most...
View ArticleA 5-Step Plan to Follow When Life Makes Piano Practice Difficult or Impossible
As most of you know, I’m the “happy conductor” of the piano practice train. I spend a good deal of my life (okay… way too much) composing music that makes students want to practice, creating games that...
View Article7 Ways Piano Students Can Improve Their “Hands Together” Coordination
At some point, every young piano student will flip the page in a method book and come face to face with her very first “hands together” piano piece. After tackling that very first piece, she will...
View ArticleEight Tiny Tools That Make A Big Difference When Teaching Accidentals… And...
A good theory teacher knows that students need a variety of activities to hammer home what are often abstract musical concepts. This means that sometimes students need to get off the bench and play...
View ArticleA Video That Will Turn Your Piano Students Into Sight Reading Superstars!
In 2014 we wrote a post called “How Four Mistake-Busters Can Turn Students Into Sight Reading Superstars“. That post has since been pinned over two thousand times by piano teachers searching for ways...
View ArticleHow To Turn Your Difficult Piano Students Into Your Favorite Piano Students
“Every child is just one caring adult away from a being a success story.” This quote from American youth advocate Josh Shipp is one of those quotes that I keep in the front of my mind. Why? Because it...
View ArticleWhat To Do If Your Little Piano Student Grew Up Over The Summer
It happens to me at the start of every teaching year. One of my adorable little piano students returns to lessons and is all of a sudden… not so little! I don’t know how it happens, but over the course...
View ArticleUsing Rhythm Instruments To Bang, Rattle and Shake Your Way To Successful...
Eighth notes are worth half as many beats as quarter notes in 4/4 time… therefore they are played twice as fast as quarter notes. We count 1+2+3+4+… blah, blah, blah. That was how I used to introduce...
View ArticleA Rockin’ Arpeggio Duet To Change Teens’ Attitudes Toward Technical Work
“Fun” and “Technical Work” are two phrases that often do not go hand-in-hand. Typically teens don’t love doing technical work in lessons, and many avoid it altogether at home. Which means heaps of...
View Article7 Ways To Work On An ‘Invisible’ Piano Piece
Sometimes, piano students forget to bring their music books. It just happens. As a busy parent myself, I have arrived with my child at Highland Dance class with no dance shoes, and at skating lessons...
View ArticleUsing Doodles To Help Students Identify Steps, Skips, Leaps and Repeating Notes
When teaching young piano students to read music, you’re actually teaching them two skills 1) how to recognize notes on the staff at sight and 2) how to determine the relationships between notes. Most...
View ArticleA 5-Step Plan to Follow When Life Makes Piano Practice Difficult or Impossible
As most of you know, I’m the “happy conductor” of the piano practice train. I spend a good deal of my life (okay… way too much) composing music that makes students want to practice, creating games that...
View Article