Interesting Odds and Ends

Since this is spring break for most students and teachers, I thought I’d take a break from our usual routine and throw out a few random, but useful thoughts and links.

• PianoAntics.com – Anne Crosby, the composer who has created all of those great, professional looking games, has launched a blog that I’m sure you will want to follow!   This photo is from one of her posts.  Aren’t you curious?
• Didn’t Get that Role? Don’t Blame the Pianist – The WSJ had a funny and interesting article the other day about a New York pianist who has been an accompanist for 30 years.  I’m glad such a mainstream newspaper decided to give our profession a bit of coverage in this “Year of Collaborative Music.”
• Denley Music – I hope follow Dianna Denley’s blog as she has a number of interesting posts.  She found a great little “Recipe for a Successful Music Lesson” written by Karen Harrington (author of Piano Teachers Resource Kit) that’ll make you chuckle on this spring break.
• Repertoire Rules: How to Transition – This article is from one of my favorite piano teachers/composers/bloggers.  Elissa Milne gives great thought to her pedagogy and displays quite a bit of wisdom in every post she writes.  This article deals with helping to smooth the transition with “transfer students.”
• Piano Adventures’ Big Announcement – Did you get the letter in their latest release packet about a big announcement at the end of March?  Well, if you take a look on their website, you’ll see that the Fabers are releasing a second edition of some of their method books!
• Composition Corner and Inspiration Point – You might also want to spend a few minutes this spring break catching up on small ways to teach composition in your piano lessons as well as detailed lessons should you need this.  Inspiration Point is just a peek into what inspires me and I hope will inspire you as well.