Rhythm is foundational to everything else. It’s my number one priority for all new students, especially preschoolers. Young beginners might take a while to develop finger dexterity and might not be the quickest to catch on to reading, but with appropriate rhythm activities for preschoolers their rhythm can be rock solid. You’ll notice we…
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Rethinking Piano Exams Part 2: The Three Month Piano Exam Preparation Process
How long does the piano exam preparation process take in your studio? From start to finish – how long do your students spend working towards an exam? For many years, my students would spend 6 or up to 9 (!) months working on exam repertoire and scale requirements. I would tell myself that we would…
CKQC032: ‘Sunrise’ and ‘Moonrise’ improvisation solos for beginners
These two patterns are the very first ones in Create First Book 1. Both the duet and solo options are simple and beautiful. Although we always do improvisation at my studio from the beginning, I’ve been working to get my students to do more improvisation solos. Several of my students even did solo improv at…
Rethinking Piano Exams Part 1: Reconsidering Readiness for Piano Exams
There are many factors in how teachers assess readiness for piano exams. But one of the biggest ones has no place in the process, and that’s pressure from parents, students or ourselves. So let’s give this question a fresh look. When is a student ready for a piano exam? Is it when we know they’re capable…
CKQC031: Step & skip race on the floor staff
If you have a floor staff, you have to try this game with your beginner piano students. Steps and skips is one of those beginning concepts that if not understood, comes back to bite later down the track. If students don’t get directionality and intervals at this basic level – at some point their reading is…
Manageable Creativity in Piano Lessons with Monthly Focuses
Have you ever felt overwhelmed by all the possible stuff you could be including in lessons? Confused as to what to prioritise week-to-week? Monthly focuses or themes can be very helpful to make this more manageable. By deciding what topic you’ll cover with your students each month, and keeping it the same across your studio,…
CKQC030: Create note stem superstars with the ‘Note Stem Smash’ game
Note stem rules are one of those things that it’s hard to feign enthusiasm for as a teacher. I mean, they’re just…pretty dull right? Dull but necessary. That is until I created Note Stem Smash. This game is fast-paced, fun and is effective practice for all the note stem rules. The game is simple – sort…
How to Make the Most Out of Piano Student Composing Projects
It’s absolutely fantastic to see so many piano teachers starting to embrace composing and bring it into their lessons. But have you ever wondered how we can make the most out of these composing projects? Composing projects for their own sake are great, but with a few tweaks, we can use them to create even more…
CKQC029: Solfa identification aural exercise for beginner piano students
I brought solfa into my piano studio a few years ago, to help with sight singing. This has quickly expanded and I now try to include an aural exercise in every lesson. Sometimes things get in the way, but if I miss a week, it’s first on the agenda the following week. Doing an aural…
Leave Make-Up Piano Lessons in the Dust with these Two Pivots!
Make-up piano lessons are a hot topic for music teachers. For many, they take over their weekends, cause endless stress, and limit their earning potential. But what can we do about them? How can we stop offering them if that’s what parents expect? Moving away from make-up piano lessons is a two step process in…
