Composition

NEWLY RELEASED: Composition & Improvisation Prompts for Piano, Now Available in Hardcopy

I’m so pleased to announce that my Composition & Improvisation Prompts for Piano, previously available in Studio-Licensed eBook form, is now available in hardcopy!

Prompts for Piano provides a fun, easy way to guide beginner and elementary students to make their own music. Each of the 20 prompts provides inspiration and direction for the student to embark on a series of creative projects.

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Studio Business

40 Ways to Use Notion as a Music Professional

If you’ve been around my blog lately, you’ve probably heard me talk about Notion — my favorite online tool ever for managing my business and life.

I’m not alone in being excited about Notion. Notion is taking the world by storm, thanks to its unique, lego-like format allowing you to create pages exactly the way you want — whether simple or complex.

As Notion’s website states: “Notion is a single space where you can think, write, and plan. Capture thoughts, manage projects, or even run an entire company — and do it exactly the way you want.”

In this article, I’ll share 40 ways music professionals can utilize Notion. Without further ado, here’s my list.

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Studio Business

Joy Tries to Convince Daniel to Try Notion

I was recently chatting about Notion with my friend, Daniel Patterson of GrowYourMusicStudio.com, and offered to give him a tour of my Notion account and tell him why he might want to consider switching from Evernote to Notion. Daniel suggested we record the conversation, and so we did!

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Announcements

Early Bird Rate Expires Soon: Organize Your Life with Notion, an Online Workshop with Amy Chaplin & Joy Morin

Hello, friends!

Just a quick note to tell you that the early bird discount expires soon for the upcoming online workshop Amy Chaplin and I are offering. It’s called, Organize Your Life With Notion, and over the two days we teach you how to use Notion — our favorite online tool ever — to manage your music studio…and life in general!

If case you aren’t familiar with Notion… it’s basically a note-taking app you can use on your phone and computer to create pages for tracking information or planning projects (think student information, recitals, events, trips, notes…anything you can think of!).

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Studio Business

Freebie: Lesson Attendance Sheet Updated for 2024-25

I just updated one of the studio business forms from my Printables page for the 2023-24 school year.  It is called the Lesson Attendance & Payment Sheet PDF.  Even though I don’t personally use this sheet myself anymore (I now charge a monthly flat tuition rate), every year I receive requests from teachers asking if I would please update it for the upcoming school year. And I’m happy to do so! 

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Performances

Piano Recital Program Template #7

As promised, today I am sharing a NEW free recital program template. I created this recital program for my 2024 summer recitals with the theme “A Crescendo of Creativity,” and I’m happy to pass it along as template for use for YOUR student recitals!

Side note: Did you know this is now the SEVENTH free recital program template available on my blog? The other five can be found on the Printables > Other Resources page by scrolling down to the Ps for “Piano Recital Program Template.”

The artwork featured in this recital program template was drawn by yours truly, using my iPad and Apple Pencil. I draw the graphics with the theme of “creativity” in mind, but I think they are appropriate for any recital event. The rest of the program was designed in Microsoft Word.

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Announcements

A Few Quick Updates

Hello, readers!

  • This past weekend, I held a couple of student recitals – one in Ohio for my online students based there, and one here in Michigan for my local students. I’m happy to report all went well, and I was thrilled with how our “creativity” themed focus played out. I’m hoping to share some photos and thoughts later this week. (This was also my 4yo daughter’s FIRST recital — special for both of us!)
  • My pal, Amy Chaplin of PianoPantry.com, and I are planning to offer our online workshop on Notion again this Fall! We won’t just teach you how to use Notion; we’ll show you how WE use Notion. 🙂 The dates will be Friday and Saturday, September 20 & 21, from 10am-1pm Eastern. There will also be an optional follow-up session on Friday, October 11 from 2-3pm Eastern. We are still working on getting the registration form ready, but if you think you might be interested, please mark the dates in your calendar. [P.S.: We will also be making an appearance at the IndianaMTA State Conference in October presenting on this topic.]
  • Any last minute takers for my upcoming piano teacher retreat in Southeast Michigan? I’m considering adding-on the optional third floor of the historic house I’m renting for us. Our theme this year is CREATIVITY and I can’t wait to explore improvisation, composition, and creative living in general together. I have about a dozen teachers currently registered. The dates are Monday to Wednesday, August 12-14. Learn more here.

Happy Monday to you!

Music Learning Theory

My First Encounter with Dr. Edwin E. Gordon and his Music Learning Theory (MLT)

It was September of 2008, and I was an undergraduate college student at Hope College (Holland, Michigan) at the beginning of my senior year as a piano performance major.

One day, the professor of one of my classes announced that a guest by the name of Dr. Edwin E. Gordon would be visiting campus for a few days. Dr. Gordon was to deliver a lecture, lead a Saturday workshop, and join our class to tell us about his research and theories regarding music learning.

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Reviews

Book Review: The Mind’s Ear, by Bruce Adolphe

Note: This article is an edited “reprint” (with a new addendum) of a recent email I sent out to my special email list for those interested in my summer piano teacher retreats. I thought this book review and discussion might be of interest to all of my readers!

As I’ve been preparing for the 2024 Retreat at Piano Manor and designing our schedule of discussion topics and creative activities, I’ve been immersing myself in finding and ordering resources for us to look at together. Since settling on this year’s theme, Exploring Improvisation and Composition in Piano Lessons, I’ve been keeping my eyes open in particular for books and resources related to creativity.  

A recent rabbit hole has been to discover an interesting book called The Mind’s Ear, by Bruce Adolphe. Adolphe is the pianist behind the Piano Puzzler show from American Public Media. (Have you heard of it?)

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Music Learning Theory, Professional Development

2024 Piano Level 2 Certification through the Gordon Institute for Music Learning

Two days ago was the wrap-up of a Piano Level 2 Professional Development Levels Course (PDLC) through the Gordon Institute for Music Learning held at Eastern Michigan University, just 20 minutes from my home. It was such a great experience, and my heart is full.

We started each morning with Musicianship Time with Natasha Sigmund, GIML faculty member in Early Childhood Music.

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