Building Strength and Finger Independence

If you’ve ever watched an accomplished pianist play, you may have been amazed at the way her fingers moved quickly across the keys — even when playing a complicated piece of music. It looks so easy, doesn’t it?

If you are working with a younger beginner, however, chances are you’ve realized that there’s a lot of work that goes into building that kind of strength and dexterity in a person’s fingers! Your student may become easily frustrated when trying to play each note one-at-a-time, with a different finger. It might seem impossible for a 5-year-old to keep his fingers round and firm while striking a piano key. Continue reading “Building Strength and Finger Independence”

May Member of the Month

Meet the Martin  family from Kincardine, Ontario, Canada a small town on the shore of Lake Huron.  Pastor Brian and wife Heather have three children Liberty who is 8 years old, Caleb  who is 7 years old, and Elijah who is 2 years old.

What’s your musical background?

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Pacing Piano Lessons: Is My Student Ready for the Next Lesson?

One thing that is unique to online piano lessons is that while I teach all the concepts, music and theory in the program, I do rely on parents to help in pacing the program for the student. I have parent guides and checklists to help with this, but I want parents to feel completely comfortable when it comes to answering the question, “Is my child ready for the next piano lesson?” Continue reading “Pacing Piano Lessons: Is My Student Ready for the Next Lesson?”

March Members of the Month

Meet Yenson, Fabienne, and their daughters Eva age 7 and Matilda age 3. They are from a lovely village in Cheshire not too far from Manchester in England. Eva is student in the Busy Kids Program while her mom, Fabienne is part of the Busy Moms program and just recently Matilda has tried out the preschooler program! Continue reading “March Members of the Month”

January Member of the Month

Meet the Dauenhauer Family of 8 from Texas! Dustin, DorothyAnne, Aidan (12), Aliyah (10), Daniel (8), Liam (5), Evan (2) and Avery (2mo). This Busy Family loves travel, baseball and shopping! Busy student Aidan is enjoying lessons and has even composed a song with his mom!
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Reducing Performance Anxiety

As a piano teacher, I make sure my students have many opportunities to share their musical gifts through piano recitals, playing for church or school talent shows. Even with my online students, I provide an online recital hall and suggestions for holding recitals at home. But what if your student suffers from performance anxiety? Continue reading “Reducing Performance Anxiety”

When a Student Can Play By Ear…

Sometimes students will come to me for piano lessons with a strong ability to play by ear in place already. It could be that the student has spent time listening to favorite songs on iTunes and picking out those melodies on the piano. Alternatively, a student might hear me play a piece of music she is working on in a lesson and, rather than reading the music, rely on her memory of what the piece sounds like in order to learn it.

It can be difficult to figure out how to approach teaching a student like this piano.

Do we completely ignore theory and technique and musical scores in favor of just learning pop hits by ear?

Do we start from the very beginning and scrap all the pop music in favor of meticulous theory and music-reading? Continue reading “When a Student Can Play By Ear…”

November Member of the Month

Meet Jessica and her family of six from Utah. She and her husband have two sons and two daughters between the ages of 2-12. This musical family loves the outdoors, if they aren’t outside this family is enjoying a board game or movie night.

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Let’s Talk About Piano Technique.

Technique is not a very exciting word. I am envisioning your eyes glazing over at the computer screen as you read the words “piano technique”.

Believe me, if I could come up with a sexier word to introduce this topic, I would!

Even though it sounds rather boring, piano technique is super duper important. And there is SO MUCH to it. Continue reading “Let’s Talk About Piano Technique.”