Author: Joy Morin

Joy Morin, MM, is a teacher, pianist, composer, speaker, and writer of a blog at ColorInMyPiano.com. A devoted teacher and lifelong learner, she teaches students of all ages at her independent piano studio near Ann Arbor, Michigan. Joy is a frequent attendee and presenter at conferences and workshops, and enjoys connecting with fellow piano teachers through her blog and beyond.
Teacher Feature

Teacher Feature with Penny Lazarus

Joy Morin

A few months ago, I was inspired to see a Facebook post by my colleague Penny Lazarus, a piano teacher in Newburyport, Massachusetts, about her studio fundraising projects. Since starting these yearly projects back in 2010, she has raised over $20,000 total to support a variety of non-profit causes across the years. Wow!

Inspired by this, I just had to reach out and ask for more details and hear the story behind this unique practice. Penny was delighted to share about what she’s been doing with her students. We had an enjoyable conversation over Zoom, and Penny also wrote wonderful responses to my written questions. The result is this Teacher Feature post, a continuation of a series I’ve published off-and-on here on my blog over the years.

Without further ado, below is my interview conversation with Penny. I hope you’ll be inspired by her projects.

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seasonal / holiday

My Favorite Collections of Christmas Carol Arrangements for Piano

Joy Morin

One of my favorite late-Fall traditions is bringing out my books of Christmas carol arrangements for piano. Over the years, I’ve built a collection for both my own playing and teaching, storing everything in a sturdy wooden crate in the basement (which my husband kindly carries up each year).

When it comes to my personal playing, I tend to gravitate towards quieter arrangements with a contemporary, New Age-inspired sound and interesting harmonies — but I appreciate having arrangements in a variety of styles. Some of the collections in my library have been my go-to books for years, while others are newer finds that quickly proved their worth.

In the following article, I will share a list my favorite Christmas carol arrangement books that are perfect for personal enjoyment, holiday gatherings, or church services. If you enjoy playing beautiful arrangements of Christmas carols at the piano, as I do, this article is for you! I hope you’ll find something of interest that will become part of your go-to holiday repertoire each year.

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seasonal / holiday

My 2024 Christmas Gifts for Piano Students

Joy Morin

It’s early, I know! But the other day, I decided to browse on Amazon to see what I might find for a holiday gift for my students.

Is it necessary to give your students a gift during the holidays? Certainly not, but personally I do find joy in getting something small and fun to make my students smile.

Here’s what I’m thrilled to have found for this year: these accordion fold music ornaments!

Note: This blog post contains Amazon affiliate links. Thanks for supporting my work!

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Reviews

Review: MagSafe Tripod Stand for iPhone

Joy Morin

Today, I’m sharing a review of a tool I have found extremely useful as a piano teacher and blogger over the past couple of months: a MagSafe tripod for my iPhone. I have found it SO useful, in fact, that I wish I had ordered one much sooner!

Read on to learn more and/or watch my short video review below.

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Professional Development

Zingerman’s ZingTrain Workshop: “Managing Ourselves”

Joy Morin

Two weeks ago, I attended a two-day seminar called, Managing Ourselves, hosted by a business known well here in Ann Arbor, Michigan called Zingerman’s Community of Businesses (or, ZCOB, as they are fond to say). I had a great time at this seminar, and am excited to share few highlights and takeaways with you!

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Composition

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

Joy Morin

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

Joy Morin

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.

Continue reading “40 Ways to Use Notion as a Music Professional” →
Studio Business

Joy Tries to Convince Daniel to Try Notion

Joy Morin

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

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!).

Continue reading “Early Bird Rate Expires Soon: Organize Your Life with Notion, an Online Workshop with Amy Chaplin & Joy Morin” →
Studio Business

Freebie: Lesson Attendance Sheet Updated for 2024-25

Joy Morin

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

Joy Morin

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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