In this issue
January 2014; Vol. 6, No. 1
What Do We Do When Our Students Forget?
At my house, it takes a ladder to reach Richard Chronister's book, A Piano Teacher's Legacy. It is on the top shelf of the floor-to-ceiling bookcase…
January 2014; Vol. 6, No. 1
Piano As Art: An Interview with Shauna Holiman
Fascinating for anyone interested in the piano, music or art..." wrote John Rockwell, former Arts Critic of the New York Times. Brian Levine, Executive Director of…
January 2014; Vol. 6, No. 1
Piano Music Inspired by Art
Works of art make rules; rules do not make works of art.Claude Debussy With the rise of program music in the nineteenth century, composers of piano…
January 2014; Vol. 6, No. 1
Minor Scales: a Hug and a Kiss, or Just a Handshake?
During my first ten years of piano study, starting at age five, the term diatonic scale was never taught to me. Nor had I realized that…
January 2014; Vol. 6, No. 1
The “How-Tos” of Practicing
Probably the most important thing we can teach our students is how to practice. And, one of the most challenging things we teach is how to…
January 2014; Vol. 6, No. 1
Stretching a Lead Sheet
So, your students can play the melody and chords in a lead sheet...now what? Played at a medium tempo, this classic tune lasts about thirty seconds:…
January 2014; Vol. 6, No. 1
Learning Bach’s Short Preludes: A Sequential Approach
Johann Sebastian Bach's Eighteen Short Preludes are exquisite miniatures and exceptional teaching pieces that provide a necessary stage of development from the shorter works in the…
January 2014; Vol. 6, No. 1
Playing in “Country Swing” Style
Country songs often use quite simple chords, so let's start with a very straightforward chord progression using only chords I, IV, and V (including inversions to…
January 2014; Vol. 6, No. 1
Warm Music for Cold Days
Catherine Rollin's early-intermediate solo Winter Waltz (Alfred) is a heartwarming way to welcome the coldest season of the year. Its mature sound will inspire students to…
January 2014; Vol. 6, No. 1
The Other Pupils
In a perfect world, our only preoccupation as teachers would be with training our piano students. Unfortunately, we live in an environment where there is little…
January 2014; Vol. 6, No. 1
Twenty-First Century Pedagogy: A Whole New World Again
Do you have an iPad or some other type of tablet? How about a smartphone? Do you use them in your lessons? A large number of…
January 2014; Vol. 6, No. 1
January 2014: Questions and Answers
Q: What does the Teaching Artist movement have to do with me as an independent piano teacher? A: In the last column (November/December 2013), I responded to…