Deep Practice: Inspect Your Piece
My creative juices started flowing when I read this article by Terry Heick of Teach Thought, How to Read a Book (super info-graphic included). Many of the points he makes about reading books…
So Not About The Notes
Without question our studio motto is: Not About The Notes (#NATN). Against that little voice inside me, which often screams, “fix-correct-repair,” I remind myself to step back and let students take…
Key Signature and Accidental Potholes: 5 Ways to Fix Them
My Dad taught me to drive. He spent many hours on the road for work and was a demanding teacher. One day we were practicing on a back road that…
Solfeggietto Crash and Burn
Students love to play Solfeggietto. They love the cascading patterns and how it feels to pass the patterns in waves from one hand to the other. They love how it…
Baroque Dolphins vs. Sharks
My 7 year old student, Gini, grinned at me as she neared the end of Dolphins Play Everyday. She suddenly played a huge handful of low bass keys and wiggled…
Frustrations
A pianist is a person for whom playing piano is more difficult than for other people. (Apologies to Thomas Mann) Everyone has their own responses to frustration. Personally, I need…
Vintage PA: Yodeling Puff The Magic Dragon
It started with a performance of a method book piece with the word Yodel in the title. “It sounds weird,” said my young student, “and I don’t understand why that…
Putting On Our Piano Pants: The Student-Teacher Two Way Street
Practicing is definitely a two way street. I was reminded of this important dual thoroughfare is when my work with 2 different students and my own practicing intersected this week.…