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12 Games You Can Play With Online or In Person Students of Any Age
30 minutes can feel like a long time for students. Especially online students. About mid-lesson, I like to take a two to four-minute break and play a game. These games…
Are Piano Lessons Really Worth It?
Are Piano Lessons Really Worth Your Time and Money? If your walk by my house on any given evening, you can hear me annoy my neighbors with my piano…
Sounds all Around
There are all kinds of opportunities to train your ear just walking down the street. I was out in Seattle a couple of weeks ago walking around when I heard…
9 Ways to Make More Money Without Raising Lesson Prices
I get it. I totally get it. Things are crazy right now and with inflation driving prices higher every week everyone is squeezed. Sticker shock at the gas pump and…
Free Music??
Free Music?? Ok, confession time… I know the title of this post is a bit of an attention-getter. But I doubt anyone would click on a boring title like “The…
Tips for Student Retention
The best way to keep your studio healthy and thriving is to keep your students coming back year after year. The fact is, that it is easier to retain your…
Piano Lesson Humor
“You may not be able to change a situation, but with humor, you can change your attitude about it”. Allen Klein Piano Lesson Humor I remember my very first piano…
The Pre-Recorded Holiday Recital
My last studio recital was supposed to be in-person but several people tested positive for COVID and two, it was moved to Zoom. It was OK but a few of…
Age-related Practice Guidelines
Keeping in mind that the ultimate goal is to create lifelong musicians and keeping in mind that I want my students to grow to love the piano, my objective…
What Is Happiness?
“Happiness is that feeling that comes over you when you know life is good and you can’t help but smile. It’s the opposite of sadness. Happiness is a sense of well-being, joy, or contentment. When people are successful, or safe, or lucky, they feel happy.”
Help! My Child Doesn’t Like Piano Lessons
Fact no.1 – Learning to play the piano is something so many people dream of doing. Fact no.2 – Learning to play the piano or any musical instrument takes a…
Help! My Student Isn’t Practicing!!
This is a summer like no other. The airports are packed, national parks are over full, and everyone is out and about. It’s no wonder, we pretty much lost last…
Teaching Students to Read Music
I tell my students that music reading is our burden to bear. I played the violin all through school and reading the treble clef one note at a time was…
Teaching Rhythm
“Music is organized sound, Rhythm is the timing of the.music. In time is where the music exists. Time is like the canvass, rhythm the brush strokes, and notes the colors.”…
Let’s Get Going – Tips for Getting Ourselves and Our Students Out of the Doldrums
It’s only Tuesday and it’s been a real challenge this week. Even some of my best students seem to be in Lala land. Forgetting notes and rhythms, losing music, playing…
I Love My iPad
In July of 2020, my father gave me an awesome gift. An iPad Pro. This was before the pandemic shutdowns and online teaching became my main way of earning my…
Teaching Students to Play by Ear
My very first piano teacher Mr. Herbert Sweet taught me to play popular music from the very beginning. I remember he would write out the melody and the chords to…
Making Online Teaching Easier
We have all been thrown into online lessons whether we wanted to be teaching online or not. I have been teaching online since 2016 when I moved from South Florida…
16 Qualities of a Good Piano Teacher
16 Qualities of a Good Piano Teacher? “Where love is deep, much can be accomplished.” Shinichi Suzuki I saw a post on Facebook today where someone was asking what…
Why Some Students Have No Performance Anxiety.⚘
Guest Post By Marlene Moore ( This may be the most important article you read this year.) Changes have happened with piano teachers during the past 20 years. This is…
Teaching Preschool Beginners Online
The good news is that they seem to have a vaccine for COVID. This means things may return to “normal” in the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, online teaching is probably bound…
24 Reasons I Love the Piano
I admit it. I wrote a post called “19 Reasons I Hate the Piano”. I guess I was feeling a bit annoyed that day. I started out playing the…
10 Tips for Teaching Transfer Piano Students
“Hello…Ms. Hall?” “Yes, this is she” “My name is Sherry I am looking for a new piano teacher for my daughter Angie do you have any openings in your studio…
The Arts… Who needs ‘em?
“We live in this world in order always to learn, and to enlighten each other by means of discussion and to vigorously promote the progress and the fine arts.” –Wolfgang…
No More Labels Please – Tips for Working With Special Needs Piano Students.
I wrote this post a while back and never published it. I was worried about being too…I don’t know…controversial. I totally respect the scientific community and all of those…
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