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Ideas for Keeping Online Piano Students Over the Summer
Summer is coming, and it’s a tough time of year for piano teachers even when we are not going through a global health crisis. I (along with many others) am…
Free Piano Teaching Games You Can Use Online
Online Piano Games I am so very heartened by people’s response to the pandemic. So many people are pitching in to help. I want to help too, so I am…
Favorite Piano Teaching Books and Resources
I compiled a list of favorite piano teaching books and resources with the help of many colleagues. These are the books piano teachers recommend and use daily in their studios. The list features resources for beginning through later-intermediate piano students.
19 Reasons I Hate the Piano
19 Reasons I Hate the Piano What!!! You ask. What do you mean you hate the piano? Didn’t you just write a book called “The Happiest Piano…
2020 Answers
Celebrate 2019 and Look Forward to 2020 I promised I would post my answers to the questions. So here they are. What were some of the high points of…
Parents: Why Your Child Must Practice the Piano
I wrote this post “Parents: Why Your Child Must Practice the Piano” for pianoparents.net I thought it would be a good idea to share it here as well. Getting…
Piano Studio Program Statement
In my book “The Happiest Piano Teacher in Town” There is a chapter about the piano studio program statement. I believe most teachers already have a studio program statement. Teachers…
Words Have Power
Warning I have to warn you that the content of this post may seem like a no-brainer for those who are naturally positive people. For others, it may seem a…
Piano Students with Challenging Attitudes
My second son Johnny is musically gifted and like his mom he loves music. He has always been a super-sweet kid, although when he was younger, he was a bit…
Teaching Piano Lessons to Family and Friends
It goes without saying that some of your students will come to you because of people you know or are friendly with—friends of your children or children of co-workers, etc….
Beginning Piano Improvisation Activities
This post will explore beginning piano improvisation activities and why improvisation is so important. Objectives, For students to feel comfortable making their own music. To inspire creativity. To build confidence…
Practice Makes Progress
Chapter 18 – From “The Happiest Piano Teacher in Town-Empowering Teachers to Inspire Students” Practice makes progress. “Our aim needs to be the nurturing of children. The moment we rigidly…
Teaching Piano When Life is Stressful
No one ever talks about this, but teaching piano lessons can be hard on days when you are stressed, sad, or overwhelmed with concerns outside of the studio. It’s difficult…
Scripted Communication for Sticky Situations
It’s easy for me to know when boundaries are being crossed. I can feel it. It feels…well, bad. My blood pressure goes up, I lose sleep I feel angry. Maybe,…
The Value of Independent Piano Work
My goal as a teacher is to make myself unnecessary. I am happiest when I see my alumni playing music they have learned without my help. However, getting students to…
Ten Ways to Make Your Piano Studio More Profitable
I don’t know about you, but I feel like things are getting more and more expensive and money is getting harder and harder to come by. As piano teachers, we…
Make Time Fly While Teaching Piano Lessons
If you never feel bored, tired, or burned out while teaching this post is not for you. If you could use a little help to “Make time fly while teaching…
Still trying to Please Everyone? Stop it! You Can’t.
I had almost forgotten. It’s been a little while since I’ve been hit with a dose of negativity. Things have been going pretty well lately. I got a job at…
What Kind of Piano Teacher are You?
What Kind of Piano Teacher am I? Take the Quiz below In my last blog post “Still Trying to Please Everyone? Stop it! You Can’t” I describe an incident…
Love Will Keep Us Together
I have one, most all-important wish for every person (adult or child) who comes into my studio to begin piano lessons. That is, that they fall in love with the…
10 Ways to Make Your Piano Studio More Profitable Without Raising Rates
I don’t know about you, but I feel like things are getting more and more expensive and money is getting harder and harder to come by. As piano teachers,…
How and Why to Teach Folk Music to Piano Students
Folk Music, by definition, is the music of the people. It is simple enough that the average person can perform it and it reflects the lives and concerns of its…
10 Great Piano Teaching Games Using Chopsticks
Like most teachers, I always have an eye out for things that I can use when I am teaching. I came across a great set of twenty Chopsticks in the…
How to Draft a Piano Studio Policy
There are always questions coming up about studio policies. Recently I was asked to help draft a studio policy for the Arts Center where I teach. The idea was to…
Create Your Own Hands-on Piano Piano Activities
Hands-on is Helpful. I live in Cleveland Ohio in the U.S. There is a large and vibrant classical music community here due to the presence of the Cleveland Institute of…
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