Piano Inspires Kids: A Look Inside the Autumn Issue
Discovery homeSign up for email updatessubmit a question Exploring the piano through improvisation unlocks endless creativity, and the Autumn issue of Piano Inspires Kids equips young pianists with exciting new tools to ignite their musical imagination. In addition to the print magazine, students can explore...
How Do You Incorporate Group Teaching into Your Work with Elementary Level Students?
Keyboard Companion Autumn 2001; Vol. 12, No. 3
by Kathleen Murray When I moved to Appleton, Wisconsin, in the fall of 1986, my proposal to teach beginning piano to children in small groups was met with a great deal of skepticism. I had made it clear during my interview for the piano pedagogy...
Making practice records work
May 2014; Vol. 6, No. 3
There was a sign in my college piano professor’s studio which said “Practice smarter, not harder.” For a determined undergraduate who had no background in good practice habits, these were wise and important words. In fact, my work as a teacher is devoted to showing...
How Do You Teach Fluent Reading on Ledger Lines Between the Staves?
January 2009; Vol. 1, No. 1
In the Spring 2005 issue of Keyboard Companion, the Music Reading Department addressed the teaching of reading ledger line notes above and below the staves. In this issue, we are focusing on ledger lines between the staves. Although many methods begin reading with these notes surrounding Middle C, this ambiguous...
When using an intervallic approach, how do you develop faster note recognition? – Expanding on the “blueprint”
January 2010; Vol. 2, No. 1
If were asked to name the most frequent mistake made by teachers, I would cite the belief that a method or set of materials is complete in and of itself. This belief inevitably leads to some frustration with the materials, and teachers may even abandon...
How do you teach technique to beginning piano students?
May 2016; Vol. 8, No. 3
Beginning piano technique: Back to basics “He’s just trying it out, so he doesn’t need an expert teacher. We’ll just go to the most inexpensive teacher we can find until we know he likes it.” How many times have we bristled at this kind of...