To celebrate completing the first month of piano lessons for this school year, I held a piano photo contest for students and families in the studio. Below you can see all the entries. Please vote for your favorite picture. The owner of the winning picture will receive a $10 Amazon gift card!
Tag: music lessons
If A Piano Could Talk
Wisdom From J.R. Ewing of the TV Series, Dallas
“Never pass up a good chance to shut up.”
Those are the words I heard J.R. Ewing say as I watched the TV series Dallas a few days ago in an episode from this past season. You just never know when you are going to hear a bit of wisdom like that! It was such an unexpected comment – he was speaking to his son about business negotiations – that I had to rewind it just to hear it again!
Of course I relate most things to music, music teaching, and/or parenting. I think the statement applies to all three, actually. Great musicians know that there is much beauty in well placed silence. Great music teachers know that deliberate moments of silence allow students time to understand more deeply, to explore, and to create. These same moments of silence are what give life to music and allow the notes to breathe. Great parents know that when we are silent we can hear our children speak – not merely by their words, but by their actions and by the way they respond to various situations.
So, kudos to the writer or writers responsible for this magnificent line! And now here is my chance to shut up.
Guest Post on Quaver Music
Summer Piano Short: Cool Chords
As promised, here is this week’s Summer Piano Short. This quick piano lesson online will show you how to get a bigger, cooler sound out of a major chord by making one simple addition. Click here to print a copy, and in case you missed the Arpeggio Summer Piano Short check that out as well. It will help you with this one.
This is the 4th and final post in the Summer Piano Short series, but if you would like to see more Summer Piano Shorts, leave a comment below and I will look into my
BIG BOX of PIANO SECRETS and pull out a few more!
Are You A Piano Parent?
Summer Piano Shorts: Octaves
Here’s another quick and fun piano exercise piano students can learn on their own! This activity shows how octaves in the left hand can be used to make their songs sound better. Try it out! Print a copy of it here. Come back next Monday for another Summer Piano Short!
Great Book: Lang Lang – Journey of A Thousand Miles
I just finished reading Journey of a Thousand Miles: My Story by Lang Lang with David Ritz. This book literally drew me in from the first to the very last page. I did not want to put it down. When I had to put it down, because life was calling, I wondered what would happen next in this great classical pianist’s story. There was not a moment of disappointment.
As I read of his struggles and the extreme sacrifices his parents made to help him master the piano and the passion he himself has for music I was inspired. Honestly, it made me want to rush to the piano and practice – sincerely practice. And that’s exactly what I did several times in between chapters.
“Hearing” Lang Lang tell his story of being a piano student in China was mind-boggling at times because it is so different from the way we do it in America. There is a different depth to the process of musical learning and commitment to the craft than what I have experienced. It makes me wonder what kind of musician I would be if I had grown up in China. Would I be happy? I’m not sure. Would I be exceptionally skillful? Maybe. Lang Lang points out some wonderful differences that Americans have culturally as well. The freedom to be yourself, to express yourself in unique ways is one thing that Lang Lang speaks of discovering once he came to America. I enjoyed reading between these two worlds through Lang Lang’s eyes.
One of my favorite quotes from the book:
“Remember, it is easy to be a pianist, all you have to do is move your fingers. But to be a great pianist you have to use your mind.”
I think this is a great read for every piano student, piano teacher, and piano parent.
Pinterest Idea Of The Week: Quarter Rest
Source: badideatshirts.com via Dana on Pinterest
A Piano Student’s Thoughts on Playing
One of the misconceptions about piano lessons is that they are only for girls. This amazes me since most of the very famous composers were men – hello Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, etc. Also, most of your top concert pianists and jazz pianists are what? Men. Don’t get me wrong – I know that women can hold their own at the piano. I’m a living breathing example of that! However, this myth that piano lessons are a girl thing to do is far from the truth and it has to be stopped. Listen to what one of my rising 6th grade male students has to say about piano lessons. When I heard this, it made me so proud to be a piano teacher.
Kids & Keys 