Hearing Emily tell me a passage of fingering in her Chopin Waltz was Stupid, tell me why, and give a crackerjack way to fix it.

Listening to some awesome Beethoven from Andrew who had made a sudden connection to inner voices and what he had been learning in AP class. This was a real breakthrough for him.

Improvising for over 5 minutes with Julie, an adult student who has dyslexia which makes reading quite difficult. The music was beautiful and we had fun. She loved learning how we did it and is now exploring the progression with her own two hands. (We used Pattern Play 1, World Piece)

Receiving an unexpected note of support from a respected colleague who I haven’t been in touch with for a while.

Answering smart questions from Mark and Johanna about how and who should pedal in their Brahms Waltzes.

Hearing Mario, a student in my teen beginner class, say, “Oh, if you take two 3rds you get a chord like C and G,” as we were working on intervals for the first time.

Helping Carol, a student in my adult community college class, who was trying to get from one place to another on the keyboard by twisting her hand into awful configurations. The concept of picking up her hand and simply moving there was a revelation. She said, “I always wondered how people did that. I guess that’s why they pay you the big bucks!”

Funny, inspiring, and informative posts and links from my fellow blogging, Facebooking, and Tweeting friends.

Bruising my elbow falling on the keyboard to illustrate “power”. Result? Blown away by the change in Kiel’s entire approach to the instrument (and, mind you, he was no slouch before).

16 year old Adrienne’s beautiful compositions. The lessons we have had together since she was 8 have not been in vain!

A core of students who expect to take their playing to the next level. Whatever the genre, they do what it takes to make true music

A former student who is now a graduate student at BYU Hawaii proudly posting a picture of her own piano student.

(and yes, the names were changed to protect the innocent:)

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