Are you looking for fun ways to teach music history to piano students? Trying to integrate music history into games or activities so that your students get a rich well-rounded music education? I’ve got you covered. There are so many different aspects of music that we need to teach. Music history tends to be one…
Practice & Performance
Effective piano practice is one of my passions as a piano teacher. Make the most out of your students' practice time with these freebies, ideas and insights.
Creating Piano Practice Pros Part 4: The 3 Levels of Piano Practice
We all know that there’s practice, and then there’s practice. What many students think of as practice is actually just playing. They play each piece from start to finish, maybe a couple of times, then they call it a day. That’s not really practice. It’s basically a humongous waste of their time. Sure, they’ll eventually…
Creating Piano Practice Pros Part 3: What to do when you’ve tried it all
As we dive deep into piano practice this month, I wanted to answer the question that’s on everyone’s minds: what do we do when nothing works? What’s the magic solution when a kid just will not practice? Ha, if only right? If there actually was a magic practice wand, I’m sure the teacher who invented…
Creating Piano Practice Pros Part 2: Home Practice Instruments
Does this story sound familiar? A student is struggling with technique, they’re clearly not practising enough and for some reason, they keep getting lost looking for middle C…months into lessons! You try everything. You play games, you colour code, you connect what they’re doing to their favourite TV series and, nothing. Then you see a…
Creating Piano Practice Pros Part 1: Practice Routines and Regularity
Ah, practice. The number one topic piano teachers say is a struggle. How do we get kids into a practice routine so they’re practising consistently and effectively? What can we do that we’re not doing already? The problem with practice, is that it has many facets and we need to be able to tackle every…
How to organise your digital piano teaching resources (so that they actually get used!)
We all have it. The shameful folders, binders or Dropboxes of unused teaching resources. It weighs down on us and sneers: “Why aren’t you using all these awesome ideas? You’re clearly not as creative a teacher as you think you are.” You might even have some of my piano teaching resources sitting in that heap (be…
Battling Imposter Syndrome and Becoming a Confident Piano Teacher
Do you ever feel like you’re not a “real” piano teacher? Like somehow you’re an imposter? Are you lacking in confidence in your teaching and your business? This is certainly how I felt for the first 10 or so years of my teaching. I mean, who was I to teach this stuff? It hadn’t come…
First Year Goals for a Preschool Piano Student
Many teachers are starting to take on their first preschool piano students. Some are successful, some aren’t, and most just don’t know if they are! What counts as good progress when we’re teaching 3-5 year old piano students? It’s important to get our own goals right so that we can feel good about our students’…
Solfa for Piano Teachers…for Beginners
The mention of solfa can strike fear into the hearts of many piano teachers. Their head is filled with questions and curiosities, and concerns about their own singing abilities. But solfa can be a fantastic tool to have at your disposal and it doesn’t have to be difficult or scary. And you don’t have to…
3 Simple Rules for Creating Rapport with Your Piano Students
Teaching is about relationships. That’s doubly true for one-on-one piano teaching. So how can you create the rapport with your piano students that you need to have a great relationship? Follow these very simple rules and you’re sure to have better rapport with your piano students. Relationship building honestly doesn’t have to be difficult, it’s…
