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!).
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.
Recently, I have received a handful of email inquiries asking for updates about my 2024 Piano Teacher Retreat. So I thought I should at least send out a quick blog post here now that the details are finally coming together!
I’m pleased to announce the dates for my 2024 retreat:
Both retreat offerings will be held here in the Southeast Michigan area – just outside the wonderful town of Ann Arbor and about a 30- to 45-minute-drive from the Detroit Airport.
Every year, I choose a theme for my retreat — something I’m interested and passionate about and think would make a great topic for us to explore in large and small group discussions and activities. Here is this year’s theme:
2024 Piano Teacher Retreat Theme:
EXPLORING IMPROVISATION AND COMPOSITION IN PIANO LESSONS
Together, let’s strive to expand the role of creativity in the piano lessons we teach. During this retreat, we’ll explore ways to guide young pianists to compose their own pieces, make their own improvisational changes to existing pieces, and create new music using what they know — including rhythm patterns, tonal patterns, and/or harmonic progressions. During group discussion and activities with fellow piano teachers, you can expect to engage in important conversations about creativity and MLT (Music Learning Theory), discover composition/improvisation resources your students will enjoy, and experience the joy of creativity in a variety of forms for yourself!
If you are looking for a professional development opportunity for this summer, I hope you’ll consider my retreat. This unique, small-group getaway experience is designed in every way to rejuvenate you and your teaching.
I will be sending out the event details to my separate “retreat” email list (so that I don’t spam everyone here). If you’d like to learn more, please join with your email address HERE. I’m very excited to share the full details with you very soon!
Hard to believe, but ColorInMyPiano.com just turned 15 years old! Hooray! Let’s celebrate with our annual 20% off sale — details below.
I started this blog back when I was a graduate student anticipating my upcoming graduation. My goals were to give back to the piano teacher blog community I benefitted so much from and to become a better teacher, writer, and thinker through blogging.
Here we are, 15 years later, and I find myself staying true to those same goals. I love being part of the piano teaching community online, and I find writing and sharing to be a worthwhile pursuit — even when the demands of life make it hard to find the time. 🙂 I appreciate you, dear readers, for sticking with me. Thank you for being part of this journey with me.
I’m so pleased to announce that registration is now open for the online workshop Amy Chaplin and I are hosting next month.
Amy and I have been working behind-the-scenes every week to plan a very special event for you and pass along our systems and methodologies for using Notion to make our lives easier as a piano teachers and music professionals. If you like the idea of getting the various areas of YOUR personal and professional life together into a centralized dashboard and digital workspace, please consider joining us!
To learn more about our online workshop and register, view our page with the details HERE.
(Pssst… Just so you know, a special early-bird discount is going on now. So, don’t delay! We hope to see you online March 8-9!)
Just a brief note from me today — I wanted to point you a Piano Pantry podcast episode that just dropped from my pal, Amy Chaplin. In this episode, Amy goes on a deep-dive comparing the two productivity apps, Evernote and Notion.
If you know Amy at all, you know that organization is a strength and passion of hers. She’s been a longtime user of Evernote as a tool to capture notes, ideas, and documents. As she describes in her podcast episode, when Notion came on her radar, however, she moved the majority of her Evernote content over to the Notion. In this episode, she also points out the main differences between Evernote and Notion and WHY she decided to make the switch. She also lists examples of how she uses Notion in her daily life.
Take a listen to Amy’s Evernote vs Notion episode (or read the transcript) HERE. And feel free to check out more episodes from her Piano Pantry podcast HERE.
Have a great weekend, friends!
PS: In case you missed it — I published my in-depth Introduction to Notion blog post last week. And Amy and I are working hard right now to prepare a special event: a two-day, online workshop where we help you build your own centralized digital workspace in Notion as a piano teacher. It’ll be held Friday, March 8 and Saturday, March 9, 2024, from 10:30am to 1:30pm Eastern each day. We are planning an AWESOME event with lots of bonus materials and Notion templates that you won’t want to miss. Please mark your calendar, and stay tuned for registration info soon!
Just wanted to let you know about an online workshop by pal Amy Chaplin of PianoPantry.com and I are offering in a couple of months. We’ve both really gotten into using a program/app called Notion as a digital workspace to organize our lives and get things done. And we’re really excited to share all about it and help YOU get started with Notion, too!
We’ll have more details for you soon, but for now we wanted you to save these dates in your calendar. The online workshop will take place over two days, Friday, March 8 and Saturday, March 9, 2024, from 10:30am to 1:30pm Eastern each day. There will also be a bonus follow-up Q&A session a week later, on Friday, March 22. We are planning an awesome event, and you won’t want to miss this!
Stay tuned for more details, as well as my upcoming blog post sharing why I love Notion and how I use it in both personal and professional aspects of my life.
In a couple of my recent posts about silent film recitals for piano students, I mentioned my latest publication — a set of easy pieces for young silent-film pianists. But I didn’t give it the full announcement it deserved. So, here it is! Today, I’m pleased to tell you more about this collection of pieces I composed during the second half of 2023.
Yesterday, I hosted a Zoom walk-through session of my new book, Keys at Play,Book 1. I enjoyed being able to share my work, and appreciated the positive feedback I received afterwards!
In case you missed it, I did record the session and am passing along the replay video link for you to watch at your leisure.
As stated during the session, I hope this walk-through feels like someone sitting beside you and talking through the book with you. I hope this helps you decide whether my book will be useful to you and worthwhile to integrate into your teaching – as it has been for me and my students.
Enjoy the walk-through, and thanks so much for your interest in my work!
PS: I have ideas for another Zoom session with a different focus I’d like to offer in the next month or two. Stay tuned for details by joining this separate Keys at Play email list.
I have an announcement to share today — one that’s been a long time coming. I won’t beat around the bush. I wrote a book! It’s called Keys at Play, Book 1: 88 Progressive Pieces for Pianists of All Ages. And it’s available for order now, across the world, in hardcopy form.
After a three-year hiatus (due to the pandemic and having babies!), my piano teacher retreats are back! I’m excited to invite you to attend a retreat for piano teachers taking place at my home this summer.
Piano Teacher Retreat is a three-day getaway for piano teachers to connect, recharge, share, and learn from each another. During this unique experience, you will have opportunity to contribute and benefit from collective wisdom during group discussions, interactive activities, as well as relaxing downtime. You’ll leave you feeling inspired and connected, with newly formed friendships and fresh ideas for your teaching.
Just a short note today: I’d be remiss not to tell you about my annual blogiversary sale celebrating ColorInMyPiano.com having just turned 14!
Use the promo code 14YEARS now during checkout between now to receive 20% off all teaching resources in my shop (good through March 22, 2023). There’s a variety of games, sheet music, and camp curriculum resources to explore. Click here.
