3/4 Time
I like to suggest students go home and listen to some music in 3 to get the feel for it, and this can be a wonderful opportunity for the whole family to get involved. Even if you do not read music or play music, you can count to three. Find some great songs in 3/4, put them on, and try to find the beat, now count. 1, 2, 3—1,2,3, etc. Maybe teach your kids the waltz!
In a Rut?
In a rut? Talk to your teacher, or give me a call. I would be happy to chat about it. And let’s set some goals to get you out of it! One of the best reasons to be in private lessons is that a skilled musician and experienced teacher will notice things in your musical development that you won’t. They are a second and more objective set of eyes and ears. They can always help you find new directions to move in, new concepts to learn, and new fun to be had.
Listening: Melody
In this short post I focus on listening to melody. If you’ve just found this post, you may want to start here. Range: What is the range of the music as a whole like, is it low, medium, high? Does it stay […]
Listening: Tone
How do you listen? There’s so many excellent works written on listening to music. I’m not offering anything new. In fact, at the end of this little series I will list some worthwhile reading for serious, deep work on listening. This here is to help any music student, even our very little ones. Parents as […]
What Are You Listening To?
I’ve spent some time looking online for various different practice logs this week, just out of curiosity. There are many, and most are pretty much the same; day, time, length of practice, what you practiced, maybe someplace for a parent to sign off. These things are all well and good and if you or your […]
So your child started piano?
So your child started piano? How do you help them along the journey? That’s a great question! The more you are involved the more they will value it and know you are cheering them on! Well, here’s a great tool to master those fingers on our Vimeo page. Why not run this with them a […]
Some Suggestions for Shaking up Your Scales
As we have discussed many times on the blog and as we constantly teach and reiterate in the classroom, scales are far more than just a series of notes. Scales are the foundation of music. Practicing them then is something that is not just important, but necessary. But practicing does not have to be boring […]
Keeping Your Scales at Your Fingertips
Many of our students that have been with us for a while have learned quite a significant number of scales. 48 foundational scales (12 major, minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor), five additional modes x 12, and the blues scale alone makes 120 scales! We need to practice them all. We need to know them. […]
A Five Minute Practice Routine
This practice routine is for the student that may be unlikely to even sit at the piano or take out their instrument. Have you ever had a child that just doesn’t want to practice at all? I have used this with a handful of students, and some actually do it! And it works if they […]
How to Develop a Practice Routine Continued, with Example Routine B
Here is another practice routine example. Again, this is just an example. This one is for students that may not be willing to practice four days a week, or maybe they are super busy and finding three days is a challenge. This is still 45 minutes of practice in a week! A lot can be […]