Balance for your life … Creativity for your studio.
You know that most of the time your student spends with their instrument is not with you. This leads to an interesting challenge for music teachers. Teaching how to practice during lesson time … without holding students back from new repertoire.
With the end of the year just around the corner (or so it seems), many of our students will be getting a bit wiggly on the bench, perhaps a bit teary-eyed at staying inside on a sunny day, and in general wanting to do something just a little bit different.
One of the favourite warm-up activities we did in my studio this year was rhythm warm-ups. I wanted my students to feel a steady pulse as they played piano, but I also wanted them to improvise with rhythms so when they saw them in their music it was easier to recognize. I wanted a warm-up that kind of did it all. This week, I am sharing the warm-up with you!
Chords are the backbone of music. Yet, how many of us take the time to teach our students about chords? Not as part of their technique exercises or on a theory page, but as an element that makes a song … well, a song. And, how many times do we sing chords so we can play chords?
Composing opens student’s eyes to what music really can be. Not just from an emotional point of view, but also a technical point of view as well. So, what is the trick to composing with students during online lessons? It just takes a few tweaks from what you might do in an in-person lesson!
If you are looking for a last minute idea for group or private lessons, making a Christmas ornament might be a great option for your studio!
Wouldn’t it be nice to know exactly which piece would give your student practice with a concept? Without spending precious prep time looking through a bookshelf? AND … to give your students choice in their repertoire. It seems like too much to ask from our bookshelves, right? And yet there is a way to quickly …
Continue reading “How to Give Your Students Choice in Repertoire”
This time of year, we always hold a Halloween or autumn group lesson in my studio. It’s a great time to get together, for new students to meet returning students, & inject a change in our routine right about when students need a change in scenery. Why have group lesson? It didn’t take very long to …
There is a reason there is a cat tax on social media. Many people love our feline friends. Do you have a cat lover in your studio?
Sam’s Life is a collection of rote pieces for the cat lovers in your studio!
How we learn. That’s what we, as teachers, really want to know because it lets us know how to best teach.
As I watched my kids complete some of their daily tasks I got to thinking about teaching, of course. I wondered, “Should we let students make mistakes or should we correct everything right away?” My thinking has changed over the years, both in teaching and parenting.
