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Teaching To The Test: A Rant
One of my adult students, whose grandchildren are taking piano lessons, came to me with concerns that the children were not doing anything in their lessons that wasn’t a part of their end of year...
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We Don’t Need No Stinking Board Games
“We don’t play board games in my studio.” I’ve been told this many times over the years. The reasons have varied. Piano learning is serious business. I don’t have time to organize games. I hate playing...
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Great Finds: Dances, Beethoven, & Billie Holiday
Lara Downes, A Billie Holiday Songbook “My take on this music, as a classical pianist paying tribute to a jazz icon, is also a tribute to the unique diversity of music, …evolving , absorbing the sound...
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Piano Maker’s Corner: Pianos Inside Out
In this edition of Piano Maker’s Corner, Daniel Ley and his crew have given us a fun quiz to see how many piano parts we can identify correctly. Enjoy! Image 1 Image 2 Image 3 Image 4 Image 5 Image 6...
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PA Shorts: Did I Do Good?
I have been doing some judging for various evaluation programs this spring. I love hearing the students. Mostly they are proud of their accomplishments but a little nervous too. I know they want me to...
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Stepping Off The Page: Nocturne in Eb Major
Deanna Witkowski is an active pianist and composer, has 5 albums to her credit, and currently holds the piano chair in the BMI/New York Jazz Orchestra. She won the Great American Jazz Competition in...
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Charging The Enemy
The fortune read: Keep on charging the enemy so long as there is life. I pinned the scrap of paper to the bulletin board beside my desk where, every so often, my eye catches it and I start to ponder...
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Playing With Wolfgang: Stories, Images, Colors, & Characters
“What is going on in this passage?”, asked my new teacher. I responded by giving him what I thought was a crackerjack harmonic analysis. “Yes, he said but why?” I said some things about building and...
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Occupational Octaves: Revolutionizing Piano for Special Learners Part 1
My name is Lee Stockner and I am the inventor of the first true and fully functional special needs, user-friendly musical language, the publisher of an 8-book piano curriculum, and the creator of a...
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Vintage PA: Yodeling Puff The Magic Dragon
It started with a performance of a method book piece with the word Yodel in the title. “It sounds weird,” said my young student, “and I don’t understand why that B is there.” “Do you know what yodeling...
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PA Shorts: A Pianist, A Halfpipe, & A Snowboard
“Amanda,” I said, “You have to spot your landings before you get there!” She looked at me for a minute and then said, “Ohhh….” We talked about the fact that when playing from memory you must know what...
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Kick It Up With Jennifer & Gail: Summer Lesson & Camp Activities
TaDa! This week Jennifer Foxx, the power behind Music Educator Resources, and I are debuting our first Blab. And, we each have a freebie for you designed just for the occasion! What’s a Blab? It’s a...
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The Sound of One Leaf Falling: Relativity in Music
Over the holidays, my husband and I took a daytrip to Madera Canyon, near Tucson. We had a very warm fall this year and so, at 5000 plus feet, the aspens were just losing the last of their leaves. I...
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Artist Portrait: Shai Wosner
It’s good for your health as a musician to be in the company of other good musicians. I don’t think I could really exist as a musician without that. And, pianist Shai Wosner practices what he preaches!...
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