Our last Forum Q&A topic was about keeping teenager students engaged in their piano study! Check out all the great responses to this topic by clicking here. Our next discussion topic comes from a reader (thanks, Donna!): What kinds of items do you have in your “music store” or incentive prize box? It seems some [...]
Our last Q&A Forum topic was about organization. I loved reading your ideas — thank you all for your responses! I had a great topic idea from a reader (thanks, Amy!) who asked: How do you keep teenagers engaged? As we know, sometimes they are taking lessons only because their parents want them to. Or, [...]
Here is a phrase I find myself use more and more lately with my students: “I think you are ready for…” Imagine me saying it with plenty of enthusiasm. This phrase comes in handy in a number of circumstances, such as: “Wow, you’ve got all your 5-finger patterns learned, so I think you are [...]
I don’t normally post on Saturdays, but I’m so close to having all my conference notes posted that I decided to finish up today with the last one rather than wait until Monday! Whew, thanks for bearing with me through the long haul! Lucky for us, the last one is a good one. :) I’ve [...]
Greetings! Today I have two important announcements: I have finished all the requirements for my Master’s degree! HOORAY! =D Today we have a new GIVEAWAY! Here are the details: Andrea & Trevor Dow from yesterday’s interview have kindly agreed to sponsor a giveaway of Episode 1 of The Adventures of Fearless Fortissimo! This pdf is [...]
This week I gave a few first lessons to some new students. One of the things I always ask during the first lesson/interview is: What are some of your goals in taking piano lessons? Here are some examples of answers I’ve received from students: I want to be able to play classical pieces that everyone [...]
A discussion about the effectiveness of engaging the student’s emotions to encourage learning in the piano lesson.
A few weeks ago, I received a friendly email from composer Dror Perl asking if I’d be willing to write a review of his music books. I, of course, said yes, and so Dror sent me complimentary copies of the Red and Purple books. Here is my full review of his wonderful books!
We have all had students who are low on motivation at one point or another. It’s not always easy to keep students practicing week after week. To make matters more complicated, every student is different: something that motivates one student might not work for the next. This post contains 9 great suggestions for increasing motivation among your piano students.
At a piano lesson this week, I observed my student grow increasingly frustrated with herself whenever she made a mistake. She would “growl” at herself and start back at the beginning of the phrase. After observing this continue for a few moments, I decided to stop her and address the issue. There were three reasons [...]
Contribute to the August 2010 Forum discussion topic: How do you keep your students motivated?
Check out this fascinating news story: It’s great to see the great potential music (especially the piano) has to connect members of a community in a unique way! This story really got me thinking: what are some ways we as teachers of music can use our skills to connect and benefit the community? We tend [...]
Joy is a pianist and teacher in Ohio with great passion for helping students experience the wonders of music making!
