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Winter 2026; Vol. 17, No. 4
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Winter 2026; Vol. 17, No. 4
2025 Collegiate Essay Winner: The Well-Tempered Keyboard Lab: Wellness Strategies for the Group Piano Classroom
“Take care of yourselves,” “stay healthy,” “be well.” If you have ever taught collegiate group piano courses, then you have probably offered this advice to your…
Winter 2026; Vol. 17, No. 4
2025 Collegiate Essay Runner-Up: Integrating Improvisation into Piano Lessons
Improvisation is valuable for a student’s musical development; however, piano lessons are typically focused on traditional repertoire and exam preparation, leaving little room for additional activities.…
Winter 2026; Vol. 17, No. 4
2025 Collegiate Essay Special Mention Undergraduate: Incorporating Granados’ & Albéniz’s Compositions into the Standard Intermediate Piano Repertoire
In his book Advice to Young Musicians, Robert Schumann wrote: “Reverence what is old, but have a warm heart also for what is new. Indulge no…
Winter 2026; Vol. 17, No. 4
Winter 2026: Editor’s Letter
The best pedagogy and teacher training programs prepare students to teach by steeping future teachers in theoretical frameworks (i.e., important educational and child development principles), offering…
Winter 2026; Vol. 17, No. 4
Book Review: Liszt and Virtuosity – edited by Robert Doran
Tales of the globetrotting exploits of Franz Liszt, astonishing audiences everywhere with his virtuosity, are frequently retold and enjoy the status of popular lore. They form…
Winter 2026; Vol. 17, No. 4
Winter 2026: Questions & Answers
QUESTION: I have a small group of six-year-old beginning piano students. It seems like their attention span is shorter than previous groups I've taught. Do you…
Winter 2026; Vol. 17, No. 4
Winter 2026: New Music & Materials
BEGINNING: Five-finger patterns & simple rhythms 1 EASY: Scales & simple syncopation 2 INTERMEDIATE: Beginning counterpoint & complex rhythms, Bach notebooks, Bartók Mikrokosmos I–II 3 LATE-INTERMEDIATE:…
Winter 2026; Vol. 17, No. 4
Winter 2026: Recording Reviews
Piano enthusiasts know Frank Glazer (1915–2015) as the first pianist to record the complete solo piano works of Erik Satie. The longtime Eastman School of Music…
Winter 2026; Vol. 17, No. 4
Pupil Saver: “The First Snow” from My Best Performances: Piano Solos, Book Four by Melody Bober | Storytelling as a Pedagogical Tool
As an immigrant arriving in Utah for college back in 2008, I still vividly remember my first encounter with snow on the Brigham Young University campus.…
Winter 2026; Vol. 17, No. 4
Essential Technique for Elementary Pianists
Traditionally, teachers have considered “technique” to consist almost exclusively of scales, arpeggios, finger exercises, and studies. However, if we consider the word “technique” in its broadest…
Winter 2026; Vol. 17, No. 4
Piano Teaching Evolution: Using Neuroscience and Group-Teaching Strategies to Engage Today’s Students
When was the last time a student actually practiced every day without being reminded? If you’re like most piano teachers, you’re probably doing the mental math…
Winter 2026; Vol. 17, No. 4
2025 NCKP Innovation Summit: Building a Community Vision for the Future of Piano Education
On July 23, 2025, The Piano Conference: NCKP (National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy) hosted the inaugural, groundbreaking Innovation Summit, a day that brought together 420 members…