Today is the birthday of Abigail Adams, wife of founding father John Adams. Ever since reading David McCullough’s book John Adams, I have been fascinated and inspired by this beautiful woman. Abigail was beautiful, witty and incredibly intelligent as evidenced […]
A Musical Tribute to Abigail Read More »
I was visiting Anne Crosby’s Piano Discoveries site the other day and found that she had uploaded yet more exciting games! She has now divided and organized the games into categories including: Beginner Concepts Interval Identification Key Signatures Notes, Ledger
More Games from Anne Read More »
by Kevin Costley There are many times in life that being a fast sight-reader comes in handy. Although I believe sight-reading is a natural talent for some pianists, it is a skill that others have to work hard to achieve.
Sight-reading Skills: Developing Your Sense of Touch Read More »
I adore Christmas music! As a matter of fact, I just started listening to Christmas music this week in addition to having my students begin working on Christmas pieces. I love the old classics, but I find it is easy
Free Christmas CD! Read More »
This is Part 2 of our interview with composer Mona Rejino. Read Part 1 here. 6. When you arrange a popular piece, do you use sheet music and re-score it, or do you listen to it and transcribe it? Both
Interview with Mona Rejino-Part 2 Read More »
Thank you to everyone who sent in questions for our featured composer, Mona Rejino, to answer. Such wonderful, thoughtful inquiries were submitted and I was able to group many of them together based on their subjects, making it easier for
Interview with Mona Rejino-Part 1 Read More »
I know that I am not alone when I say that Dr. Seuss was a brilliant writer and illustrator of children’s books. I’ve always enjoyed reading his books to children and my fascination with sounds makes it all the more
Creativity: “Oh the Thinks You Can Think!” Read More »
I was so encouraged when I read the article “Lapse” from New Music Box. It seems that composer Kevin Puts was performing as the soloist for his own premier of his Piano Concerto when he lost his place! Kevin writes,
Memory Slips of the Pros Read More »
Last week, I gave away the first of my erasable highlighters to 3 students who showed me that they were consistently “practicing smartly.” You can read more about how I structured this mini-incentive program here. I’m really excited about this
Making Music Come to Life: The Bear Read More »
Recently, I read an article on the Psychology Today website called, “How to be Creative: Can Creativity be Taught?” Though the article had some useful suggestions, something bothered me about this title. I realized that the reason I don’t
How to Revolutionize Rhythm in Your Studio
Learn how this rhythm curriculum gets rhythm IN students' bodies so it comes OUT in ALL their music! See why "It’s the best resource out there for teaching rhythms" and get your students "exponentially improving!"
