News

Does Piano Study Help Children in Other Aspects of School Study?

Written By Madeleine Crouch

We would like to thank Madeleine Crouch for this article about piano study and how it affects academic achievement. To read the full article, click here. Between August 5 and September 15, The Frances Clark Center is offering 20% off all full-length courses such as A Pianist’s Guide to Studio Management. Check out our other courses here and use this discount code to get 20% of your order: BLOG20B2S.

Did someone ever ask you, “How do you know that’s true? Did you read it somewhere … what proof do you have?” And you answered without hesitation, “I don’t know how, I just know it!” 

Piano teachers just know that studying music, especially the piano, is good for kids. We believe that piano lessons will help our students in their school lessons. We feel it in our bones that even the most reluctant student will, looking back on years of piano lessons, admit, “Sure I hated to practice, but my piano teacher taught me the self-discipline that made me the success I am today.” (Let’s not forget that an unabashed fan of music lessons now resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue!)

In 1993, the National Piano Foundation funded a study, Teachers’, Parents’ and Students’ Perceptions of the Role of Piano Instruction in Students’ Lives. Administering the project was Robert Duke of the University of Texas at Austin. 

Approximately one hundred piano pedagogy faculty from across the United States identified individuals in their geographic regions with reputations as excellent piano teachers. 170 of these teachers provided lists of their students, including parents, willing to participate. From the list of 2,642 students Dr. Duke selected a random sample of 951, then classified them to obtain relatively equal numbers of students within ability levels scaled from 1 through 10 and age groups from 4 to 18. The final sample included 124 teachers and 663 students and their parents from thirty states. Each student, teacher, and parent completed extensive questionnaires related to the student’s piano study and life in general. Questions covered attitudes and achievement related to piano and school, participation in extracurricular activities, expectations, and goals. What follows are some of the more interesting results of this research.

Excerpts from the final report of the National Piano Foundation Research Project

Robert A. Duke, director

First, it’s important to realize that the majority of students whose parents can afford private music lessons in piano are students who have numerous life advantages. The students in our sample were, for the most part, the children of well-educated, affluent suburban and urban professionals. The small numbers of minority children and children from lower-income households that we found in our sample serve as a reminder of the many children who could benefit from piano instruction – or other forms of educational enrichment for that matter – but are not being served by this important aspect of music education. 

The fact that parents choose piano study as an activity worthy of their time and money, in addition to or instead of dance, sports, etc., supports the notion that parents view music study as an important, life-enhancing experience for their children. 

The children in our sample are generally “good kids,” that is, they do well in most endeavors in which they participate. What is interesting about the relationship of piano to other aspects of these children’s lives is that, irrespective of their ability as pianists, nearly all of these children, and their parents and teachers, believe that piano study is worthwhile, enjoyable and capable of producing benefits beyond the acquisition of music skills.

Many parents who studied music privately and participated in school music groups as children continue to participate as adults. Music-making becomes something of a “family tradition,” and perhaps it is not surprising that these parents choose to provide their children with educational opportunities similar to those they had as children. 

We hope you enjoyed this excerpt from Madeleine Crouch’s article “Does Piano Study Help Children in Other Aspects of School Study?” To read the entire article, click here.

MORE ON STUDIO MANAGEMENT

Not yet a subscriber? Join for only $7.99/mo or $36/yr.
Does Piano Study Help Children in Other Aspects of School Study?
Back to Discovery Page

Piano Inspires Book Club Announcement

Written By Piano Inspires

As we approach the new school year, we invite you to join us for the Piano Inspires Book Club! The first book club will focus on Marvin Blickenstaff’s new book Inspired Piano Teaching. Learn more and register here.

Marvin Blickenstaff

Join author Marvin Blickenstaff and host Sara Ernst for a four-part, open-access series discussing Inspired Piano Teaching by Marvin Blickenstaff. Each meeting will cover one portion of the book, with guided conversation. Participants are encouraged to attend all four meetings, or attend as their schedule permits. All are welcome!

  • Tuesday, September 10, 2024, 11AM EDT | Introduction: Why We Teach – Foundational Principles in Piano Pedagogy
  • Tuesday, October 8, 2024, 11AM EDT | Exposition: Practical Teaching Principles in Piano Pedagogy
  • Tuesday, November 12, 2024, 11AM EDT | Development: Advancing Piano Pedagogy – Theory, Performance, and Technique
  • Tuesday, December 10, 2024, 11AM EDT | Recapitulation: Interpretation and Stylistic Performance in Piano Pedagogy

The first meeting (September) will center around foundational principles of music making and piano teaching, along with important questions such as “Why do we teach?” and “Why should students learn?” Participants are recommended to read pp. ix-23, and to prepare any questions or thoughts they would like to share.

About Inspired Piano Teaching

Inspired Piano Teaching is filled with practical advice on teaching students at all levels. It is dedicated to keeping inspiration and artistry alive for every student in every lesson. Topics range from proactive teaching, the interview, and the first lesson to technical gestures, guidelines to interpretation, and coaching a piece to performance. After reading the book, teachers will feel like they have attended a multi-day workshop with Marvin.

Purchase your copy today to read and participate in the Piano Inspires Book Club! Use code MARVINCLUB15 at checkout for 15% off list price.

Purchase Here

About the Author

Marvin Blickenstaff joined The New School for Music Study in 1999, and serves as co-director of the PEPS Program. Blickenstaff holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Indiana University, where he received both academic and performance honors. He is well-known across the country and in Canada for his frequent presentations at state and national conferences.

About the Host

Sara Ernst, PhD, is an active pedagogue and pianist, and Associate Professor and Director of Piano Pedagogy at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. For the Frances Clark Center, she is Director of Teacher Engagement and leads programming for NCKP: The Piano Conference.

Questions? Please contact teachereducation@francesclarkcenter.org.

MORE ON MARVIN BLICKENSTAFF

Not yet a subscriber? Join for only $7.99/mo or $36/yr.
Piano Inspires Book Club | Introduction: Why We Teach – Foundational Principles in Piano Pedagogy
Back to Discovery Page

How Do You Plan A Student’s Repertoire for the Coming School Year?

Written By Martha Appleby, Sara Krohn, Leanne Stehle Hedges, Lyke, James

We would like to thank Martha Appleby, Sara Krohn, Leanne Hedges, and James B Lyke for this insightful article about planning repertoire. To read the full article, click here.

Although few teachers of my acquaintance indulge in a languid state of inactivity during the summer, it is a time when we re-evaluate the progress of our students during the previous school year and determine what changes to make in the fall. September is the teacher’s New Year with all the feelings of guilt and resolutions for change and, more importantly, the opportunity for change. 

How to transform these resolutions into plans and specific repertoire for individual students for the coming school year is the topic to be discussed by the following three experienced teachers. They are sharing with you not only ideas and specifics for this kind of planning, but their commitment to the pedagogical value of learning to assess students’ progress and assign repertoire accordingly. 

These words struck fear into my heart!

By Sara Krohn

The words “plan” and “for the year” certainly take a lot for granted, don’t they? These words struck fear into my heart! While staring at the question, I thought about the 16-year-old transfer student I started teaching this year, who after five years of study still needs many first-year fundamentals. My 8-year-old learning-disabled, hyperactive student came to mind. Then the precocious 12-year-old appeared, who after one year of study is playing Clementi sonatinas. What a challenge, to plan in the face of so many variables! A long-term plan—now that’s a challenge which requires time and thoughtful preparation.

I like to think that I manage my time effectively. I plan repertoire for over sixty students in group and individual lessons. Unless I still want to be planning this year’s repertoire next May, I need a system for assessing my students’ skills and assigning their repertoire. So I have created a checklist of essential skills for students at a given level, regardless of age. This gives me a good overview of individual students’ strengths and weaknesses, and helps me design their repertoire over the long term. 

I call it my “Checklist and Repertoire” for piano students. This is a form which lists all the skills I consider important for a student at a particular level. The idea is not new; schools have been using an “Individual Educational Plan” (known as an IEP) for years. 

The sample below is one part of the “Checklist and Repertoire”. There is a separate page for each of the following areas: 

  • Rhythm
  • Fundamentals/Music 
  • Theory/Composition 
  • Technique/Pedal 
  • Expression/Style 

After assessing the student’s level in each area, comments are written beside each of the skills listed. For example, I might write “no knowledge,” “needs my help to do,” or “can do by him/herself.” Space is left to list pieces or exercises which address the particular skill which I feel the student needs to improve. Based on the age and interests of the student, I assign pieces reflecting a variety of styles. 

Since no student fits exactly into any given level, each student’s “Checklist” includes earlier levels, as well as the level the student is “supposed” to be in. For example, my 15-year-old transfer student is in level three for most of her skills, but her knowledge of basic chords in level one is poor. By glancing at her “Checklist,” I can see that she missed certain fundamentals along the way, and can address them through appropriate repertoire. Without my “Checklist” I’m sure that I would forget a few areas. With my “Checklist” I know that I am meeting each student’s needs. 

We hope you enjoyed this excerpt from Martha Appleby, Sara Krohn, Leanne Stehle Hedges, and James B Lyke’s article about planning student repertoire. You can read the entire article by clicking here.

MORE ON REPERTOIRE PLANNING

Not yet a subscriber? Join for only $7.99/mo or $36/yr.
How Do You Plan A Student’s Repertoire for the Coming School Year?
Back to Discovery Page

This Month in Piano History – August 2024

Written By Curtis Pavey
Composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Original photo found in the Library of Congress at this link: https://loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3c22324/.

August 8, 1857

French pianist and composer Cécile Chaminade, whose work inspired the creation of numerous women’s musical organizations, was born on this day in Paris. Her initial musical studies were with her mother, but Chaminade also studied privately with members of the Paris Conservatoire faculty after her father prohibited her official enrollment.1 Her career became established and around 1900, her numerous published compositions and rising fame led to the creation of musical organizations across the United States called “Chaminade Clubs.”2 During her subsequent tours to the U.S., she performed extensively for these clubs.3 In 1913, she was the first female composer to be awarded the Légion d’Honneur, a significant recognition for her musical contributions. She passed away on April 13, 1944 in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Chaminade was a prolific composer and wrote approximately four-hundred compositions, half of which are for the piano.4 Looking for a Chaminade piano work at the early-advanced level? Check out Chanson bretonne, Op. 76, No. 5 performed here by pianist Lynn Worcester Jones.

Pianist Lynn Worcester Jones performs Cécile Chaminade’s “Chanson bretonne,” Op. 76, No. 5.

August 15, 1875

Also celebrating a birthday in August is British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, who was born on this day in London. Coleridge-Taylor studied violin and composition at the Royal College of Music.5 He was one of the first recognized Black composers of Western art music, and he inspired many Black composers in the United States with his success. Although he primarily resided in London, he toured the United States in multiple visits to conduct his works with choral societies throughout the country.6 During one of these trips, he met with President Theodore Roosevelt.7 In addition to his work as a conductor and as a musician, he served as Professor of Composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Trinity College of Music.8 One of Colerige-Taylor’s most famous piano works is his arrangement of the spiritual “Deep River” as part of his Op. 59 set, Twenty-Four Negro Melodies. Enjoy this recording by pianist William Chapman Nyaho.

Pianist William Chapman Nyaho performs Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s “Deep River” from the Op. 59 set Twenty-Four Negro Melodies.

August 24, 1787

Violinist Michael Barenboim and his father, pianist Daniel Barenboim, perform Mozart’s Violin Sonata in A Major, K. 526.

On this day, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed his Violin Sonata in A Major, K. 526. This sonata, his penultimate in the genre, was published in Vienna and contains three movements. The bustling “Molto allegro” movement in 6/8 time is in sonata-allegro form and contains exciting scalar passagework for both the violin and the piano. A highlight from this movement is the development section where imitative gestures between the piano and violin drive the musical energy to the recapitulation. The “Andante” movement follows and features the piano prominently. Despite being in D major, the minor mode is heavily emphasized in this movement beginning within the first eight bars. The “Presto” finale ends the piece with bravura from both instrumentalists. Interested in listening to this sonata? Listen to this recording by pianist Daniel Barenboim and his son, Michael Barenboim.

August 25, 1742

Carlos Seixas, a Portuguese composer primarily known for his keyboard music for the harpsichord and organ, died in Lisbon, Portugal. During his lifetime, Seixas served as an organist at important venues such as the Coimbra Cathedral and the Royal Chapel in Lisbon where he worked alongside Domenico Scarlatti.9 Surviving reports from the time indicate that Seixas was an extremely prolific keyboard composer who wrote over 700 keyboard pieces, but only a fraction survived.10 While the cause of this is unknown, many believe that many works were destroyed in an earthquake that struck Lisbon in 1755.11 Curious to hear Seixas’s music performed on a Portuguese-style harpsichord? Listen to this recording of Seixas’s Sonata No. 50 in G Minor performed by harpsichordist Robert Woolley.

Harpsichordist Robert Woolley performs Carlos Seixas’s Sonata No. 50 in G Minor.
OTHER RESOURCES YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
Not yet a subscriber? Join for only $7.99/mo or $36/yr.
Cécile Chaminade’s Album des Enfants: A Treasure Trove of Intermediate-Level Teaching Pieces
Sources
  1. Marcia J. Citron, “Chaminade, Cécile,” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 20 July, 2024, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000005388.
  2. Citron, “Chaminade, Cécile,” Grove Music Online.
  3. Citron, “Chaminade, Cécile,” Grove Music Online.
  4. Citron, “Chaminade, Cécile,” Grove Music Online.
  5. Stephen Banfield, Jeremy Dibble, and Anya Laurence, “Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel,” Grove Music Online, 16 Oct. 2013; Accessed 20 July. 2024, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002248993.
  6. Banfield, Dibble, and Laurence, “Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel,” Grove Music Online.
  7. Banfield, Dibble, and Laurence, “Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel,” Grove Music Online.
  8. Banfield, Dibble, and Laurence, “Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel,” Grove Music Online.
  9. Klaus F. Heimes, “Seixas, (José António) Carlos de,” Grove Music Online, 2001; Accessed 20 July, 2024, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000025354.
  10. Heimes, “Seixas, (José António) Carlos de,” Grove Music Online.
  11. Heimes, “Seixas, (José António) Carlos de,” Grove Music Online.

Banfield, Stephen, Jeremy Dibble, and Anya Laurence. “Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel.” Grove Music Online. 16 Oct. 2013; Accessed 20 July. 2024. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002248993. 

Citron, Marcia J. “Chaminade, Cécile.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 20 July. 2024. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000005388. 

Heimes, Klaus F. “Seixas, (José António) Carlos de.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 20 July. 2024. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000025354. 

Back to Discovery Page

Breaking Out of the House of Corrections

Written By Craig Sale

We would like to thank Craig Sale for this insightful article about preparing students for their practice. To read the full article, click here.

I will always remember Frances Clark stating that our lessons should not be a “house of corrections.” Instead, she felt we should do all we can to ensure a week of successful practice so that the student returns the next week prepared for more growth and learning. I hold fast to this approach to teaching and believe that a teacher’s greatest obligation is to adequately prepare the student for each new discovery, piece, or activity. However, at the next week’s lesson, improvements will need to be made. Reality shows us that, even with our best efforts, students often return to the next week’s lesson with issues that need resolving.

Rather than simply correct the student’s errors, how can a teacher provide helpful, impactful feedback? Frances Clark encouraged “an honest approach to evaluating them and their work.” She added, “If we say, ‘Okay!’, ‘good!’, or ‘great!’, indiscriminately, students never get a clear picture of where they stand. It is important to say clearly how they are improving and why, and what needs improving and how.”1 Even when we heed these words, we run the risk of turning the lesson into a litany of corrections.

Elvina Pearce proposed giving the student an “active role” in evaluation: “I believe that students who are allowed to participate in this kind of…procedure at the lesson will be more apt to implement the resulting practice suggestions at home than they will those offered solely by a ‘talk-and-tell’ teacher who does most of the orchestrating of the lesson happenings without much input from the student.”2 After considering the advice from these great pedagogues, it is clear that honest feedback that involves the student can help us break out of the “house of corrections.”

Feedback on Technique

The teaching of technique, at any level, depends on engaging, informed feedback from the teacher. Technique is often a student’s least favorite part of a lesson. There can be many reasons for this, but one is most likely the fact that the feedback from the teacher tends to be critical rather than positive—an unappealing topic with frequent negative feedback. However, even this challenging area of study can be saved from the “house of corrections.” Involving the student in the evaluation and feedback can go a long way toward making technique study engaging and productive.

This approach can be started even at the beginning of study. At this early level, students can have established goals for how their technical work should sound, feel, and look. When the beginning student is presented with a good model, the feedback on their technique can and should become a collaborative effort. If the student has seen and felt what firm fingertips are (the first joint near the end of the finger), they can be asked to evaluate their own fingers. This is far more meaningful than having the teacher criticize the weak finger joint.

When taking this approach, it is important that the teacher first asks the student how they think they did. For example, if the student has an exercise or repertoire passage that uses staccatos, it is most effective if, before they play, they are asked to listen for these crisp staccatos. The student may not be as critical as desired; they might be too hard on themselves; or their area of focus may not really be relevant to the problem at hand. Regardless of these things, the teacher must first address their response—it must be valued and respected. Then, the teacher can add their thoughts, perhaps throwing new ideas into the mix, but always by having the student try the new things and having them evaluate how the new technique feels.

We hope you enjoyed this excerpt from Craig Sale’s article “Breaking Out of the House of Corrections.” You can read the entire article by clicking here.

Notes

1 Frances Clark, Questions and Answers; Practical Advice for Piano Teachers (Kingston, NJ: The Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy, 1992), 16. 

2 Elvina Pearce, The Success Factor in Piano Teaching: Making Practice Perfect (Kingston, NJ: The Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy, 2014), 17. 

MORE ON PREPARATION

Not yet a subscriber? Join for only $7.99/mo or $36/yr.
Breaking Out of the House of Corrections
Back to Discovery Page

US Subscriptions

Written By

Print + Digital

$4/month billed annually
($48/year)

Print Delivery of four issues of Piano Magazine
Webinar Archives
Inspiring Artistry Video Library
Exclusive Discounts
Subscriber Events

Never miss an issue. Automatically renew.

Digital

$3/month billed annually
($36/year)

Webinar Archives
Inspiring Artistry Video Library
Exclusive Discounts
Subscriber Events



Never miss new content. Automatically renew.

Monthly

$7.99/month billed monthly
(95.88/year)

Webinar Archives
Inspiring Artistry Video Library
Exclusive Discounts
Subscriber Events



Never miss new content. Automatically renew.

Print + Digital
(One Year)

$4/month billed annually
($48/year)

Print Delivery of four issues of Piano Magazine
Webinar Archives
Inspiring Artistry Video Library
Exclusive Discounts
Subscriber Events

This option will not renew automatically.

Digital
(One Year)

$3/month billed annually
($36/year)

Webinar Archives
Inspiring Artistry Video Library
Exclusive Discounts
Subscriber Events



This option will not renew automatically.

Body Mapping in the Piano Studio

Written By Kay S. Hooper

We would like to thank Kay S. Hooper for this insightful article about body mapping. To read the full article, click here.

On the count of three, point to the place where your upper arm meets your torso. One, two, three!

See Figure 1 below and find the place where you pointed. Most people point to the spot marked A, which they call the shoulder. If you did this, you are in good company.

However, this company is off the mark. The first joint of the arm is at C, the place where the collarbone (clavicle) meets the breastbone (sternum.) This joint is named the sterno-clavicular (S-C) joint because it is the meeting place of these bones. You can see this joint in Figure 2.

To find this joint, place the second finger of your right hand in the hollow at the top of the breastbone. Now move it toward the left in a slightly downward direction. You can feel a bone meeting the breastbone with a joint that may feel like a small crack. Keep your finger on this joint and move your left arm. What movement do you feel under your finger? Now freeze this joint and move your left arm. Does your arm move easily? Does it move at all?

If you’ve never had a Body Mapping experience before, you just had your first lesson. Body Mapping is the process of clarifying structures designed for movement.

If you encountered confusion about the first joint of the arm, the Body Mapping process of exploring joint movements and studying accurate images will help you correct this confusion.

When William Conable was teaching a class in Alexander Technique at The Ohio State University, he helped students find natural coordination through this hands-on process. Unfortunately, when they returned to practicing with their established patterns, they lost the ease of movement they had experienced during class, and he wondered why this was happening. Through keen observation and query, he discovered that they were moving according to misunderstandings about their structures. These misunderstandings are called “mismappings.” When these confusions were corrected, their movements improved.

We hope you enjoyed this excerpt from Kay S. Hooper’s article on body mapping. You can read the entire article by clicking here.

MORE ON BODY MAPPING

Not yet a subscriber? Join for only $7.99/mo or $36/yr.
Body Mapping in the Piano Studio
Back to Discovery Page

The Benefits of NCKP: The Piano Conference and Why You Should Attend

Written By Marvin Blickenstaff

We would like to thank Marvin Blickenstaff for this article about the benefits of The Piano Conference: NCKP. Want to learn more about The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025? Click here to read about next year’s conference and submit a proposal. Want to hear more from Marvin Blickenstaff? Join our book club beginning September 10, 2024! Learn more and register here.

Marvin Blickenstaff at NCKP 2019.

If memory serves me correctly, I have attended every NCKP since its founding by Richard Chronister some 25 years ago. The memories of those conferences remain vivid in my mind, and I am a better piano teacher for having attended those events. The presentations have been informative and inspiring. The performances have been spine-tingling. And the teaching demonstrations have changed my teaching in many ways. I am confident that those who have attended would agree that NCKP is the best of its kind. 

Every piano teacher who can possibly manage to attend this summer’s outstanding program should do so. The variety of sessions offers something for everyone, whether you are a teacher just beginning your career or are a seasoned professional. We all need the stimulation of meeting with like-minded professionals, hearing inspiring performances, learning from the best in our field, and having our horizons widened through outstanding lecture presentations. We often feel isolated in our own studios, and NCKP offers the opportunity to dialogue with teachers from around the country and profit from that professional connection.

I guarantee that you will find your time at NCKP well worth the effort. You will come away from the conference with a new perspective on the importance of your role in the lives of your students. You will approach your teaching with renewed vigor and ideas on how to improve your work with your students. You will be inspired by the performances you hear and the information gleaned from the lecture presentations. You will learn!

A bit of advice: attend each session with equipment for taking notes. There will be so much information shared that you cannot retain it all in your memory. Take notes. You need those notes to remind you of what you have experienced. A Conference Proceedings will be published, but your notes are the most important documentation of what you have experienced.

I look forward to seeing you this summer at NCKP in Chicago. You’ll find me sitting in the front row (with my pen and notepad!)

I guarantee that you will find your time at NCKP well worth the effort. You will come away from the conference with a new perspective on the importance of your role in the lives of your students.

Marvin Blickenstaff
More by Marvin Blickenstaff
A Tribute to Marvin Blickenstaff and his Pedagogical Legacy
Back to Discovery Page

The Body and the Beat: Developing Rhythm through Mindful Movement

Written By Lesley McAllister

We would like to thank Lesley McAllister for this insightful article on rhythm and movement. To read the full article, click here.

Movement, for children, is necessary for learning. Young bodies are fine-tuned sensory receptors collecting information, curious and eager to explore the world around them.1 The young child is in a period of sensitivity for gaining kinesthetic and sensory awareness, along with awareness of their own thoughts and emotions—which sometimes seem overwhelming. Learning through movement allows children to engage in joyful, intuitive experiences that lead to productive listening habits. This playful engagement keeps students attentive to their bodies while allowing abstract concepts like rhythmic notation to grow from natural experiences.

The joy of moving and responding to music is inborn, as seen in babies who dance by moving their bodies to music even before they can walk. There are strong two-way connections in the human brain between our auditory cortex and motor-control center.2 The rhythmic impulse is the driving force behind all music, and students who do not develop a strong sense of pulse early on in their musical studies may later lack melodic shaping, fluency, and momentum; in short, they will not sound musical.

Yet, for many teachers, the ways in which we work with rhythm are more mathematical than musical; students may learn to “count,” but not to truly feel the rhythmic drive in their bodies. The emphasis should not be just on rhythmic reading, but also on listening and responding to rhythmic patterns. While any musical concept can be experienced as whole-body movement, it is ideally suited for the internalization of pulse and the experience of contrasting tempi, meters, and rhythmic patterns.

The Benefits of Mindful Movement

When rhythmic practice is combined with slow, integrated movement, and particularly when used in correlation with the breath, the benefits are magnified. The positive impact of mindful movement on cognitive, physical, and emotional skills has been well-documented in research, with physical benefits including improved coordination, body awareness, and postural stability.

Mindful movement also boosts concentration and attention, increases memory, and improves the set of mental skills called “executive function skills,” which include the ability to plan, organize, and stay focused on tasks while resisting distractions. It enhances myelination between the two brain hemispheres, allowing for integrative processing across the whole brain, and relieves stress, resulting in better listening, comprehension, and retention of concepts.3

There are even musical benefits, too. Mindful movement increases auditory processing and responsiveness and assists with the development of the vestibular system or the inner ear, which is involved not just in balance and spatial orientation, but also in language processing and sound discrimination. With these benefits, mindful movement is particularly beneficial for children with special needs including those with ADHD, sensory processing disorder, anxiety, and autism.4

We hope you enjoyed this excerpt from Lesley McAllister’s article “The Body and the Beat: Developing Rhythm through Mindful Movement.” You can read the entire article by clicking here.

Notes

1 Carla Hannaford, Smart Moves: Why Learning is Not All in Your Head, 2nd ed. (Salt Lake City, UT: Great River Books, 2005), 92.

2 Adriana Barton, Wired for Music: A Search for Health and Joy through the Science of Sound (Berkeley, CA: Greystone Books, 2022), 36.

3 Lesley McAllister, Yoga in the Music Studio (New York: Oxford, 2020).

4 Lisa Flynn, Yoga for Children: 200+ Yoga Poses, Breathing Exercises, and Meditations for Healthier, Happier, More Resilient Children (Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2013), 56.

MORE ON HEALTHY MOVEMENT

Not yet a subscriber? Join for only $7.99/mo or $36/yr.
The Body and the Beat: Developing Rhythm through Mindful Movement
Back to Discovery Page

Exhibitor Sample Profile

Written By The Piano Conference: NCKP
Piano Inspires Kids icon

Piano Inspires Kids

Booth: 101

  • https://kids.pianoinspires.com/
  • Piano Inspires Kids is a quarterly print magazine from the Frances Clark Center. Join us as we explore the world through the music, cultures, and people that connect us together.
  • Primary Contact Name: Sarah Leonard
  • kidsmag@pianoinspires.com
Contact Us
Download PDF

Promo Code: NCKP2025

10% off subscriptions and single issues until 8/5/2025.

Giveaway: Enter our daily raffle at the booth for a chance to win a one-year subscription to our interactive piano curriculum.

Booth Schedule:

4:00pm on July 28th: Meet the editors!

11:00am on July 29th: Giveaway winner announced

Play

Do You Use Summer Lessons for Special Reading Activities?

Written By Richard Chronister, Mary Ann Lenti, Berdine Ehrman

We would like to thank Richard Chronister, Mary Ann Letti, and Berdine Ehrman for this insightful article on summer reading activities. To read the full article, click here.

Both writers for this issue’s Music Reading Department take the view that summer is special for piano students. A good case can be made for discontinuing the regular curriculum and making sure that summer study is something that makes the coming autumn a thing to look forward to rather than a thing to dread. 

I think that one of the most important aspects of this summer-difference is that the activities mentioned below are inherently reader builders. There is a vast difference between knowing how to read and being able to read fluently. Reading drills which ask students to name notes (saying or writing), to draw intervals, to spell chords, are drills on how to read; they are not drills in actual reading. The only thing that can truly be called a reading drill is reading a piece of music (notes, rhythm, dynamics) and even then, it is reading only if the piece is played in what could realistically be considered a tempo. Reading and playing slowly and carefully is for working out new repertoire; it contributes little to learning to be a fluent reader—unless the slow playing of a passage or piece is instantly followed by faster, in tempo, playing. 

Students must read some new music in tempo every week, every day of every week, if they are to become the fluent readers everyone of them is able to become. This, I think, is the most important aspect of the summer programs you will read about here. May I urge you to also include some of these ideas in your year through curriculum. Producing fluent readers remains our second priority, close behind our most important goal—fostering the joy of making music at the piano.

“Gimme a break”

By Mary Ann Lenti

Ah, summer vacation – the very sound of it conjures up images of hammocks, fishing poles, a sandy beach. It means, for teacher and student alike, a welcome change from the activities of our work-a-day year. 

“Gimme a break” is the order of the day for using the summer for special reading activities. There are no recitals coming up, no homework for Freddy to rush home to, and no need for a meat and potatoes meal. Here’s a light summer menu of reading activities from which to choose.

​POPULAR MUSIC

​It is very exciting for children to create, with their own hands, the same soaring melody that lifted E. T. across a moonlit sky. And with the ascent of some fine composers into Hollywood’s elite, there is much music of quality from which to choose. 

The editor’s work is crucial here. Some companies throw together the latest hits in what they call “easy piano” format—more often than not, these are plagued by total lack of fingering, narrow margins, minimal space between staves, chords requiring a hand like Rubinstein’s, rhythms requiring a knowledge of calculus, and a texture consisting of unison playing on page one followed by chromatic double thirds and octaves on page three. 

To insure success, begin by examining pop collections by your favorite pedagogues. For example, Alfred’s Basic Adult Pop (or Jazz, or Western) Song Piano Book series comes in several levels, and contains clearly printed, logical, and well-fingered arrangements suitable for your 2nd- and 3rd- year younger students as well as your adults. 

The Music Pathways series (Carl Fischer) also has a Something Light collection which covers blues, boogie, western, rock, and pop. Again, this is intelligently arranged and edited, and will insure a successful reading experience. There are many other pedagogic collections from which to choose. 

If you prefer sheet music of specific student favorites, Bill Boyd’s arrangement for MCA of Somewhere Out There is a good example—clearly printed and fingered, creating a big effect with simple means. There are no big stretches, and no chordal endings to rival The Great Gates of Kiev. Ditto for Felfar Music’s Linus and Lucy.

Piano Duets

As one half of a piano duet team, I have championed the use of duets for reading motivation from coast to coast. Not only does the student have to keep going (since neither wind, nor rain, nor “mess-ups” will stay the teacher from the final cadence), but the student also learns valuable lessons in balance, rhythm, and ensemble. 

There are countless volumes of wonderful duets for reading, but my personal favorites are by Diabelli, in which the primo part stays in a five-finger position. Both the Melodious Pieces, Op. 149, and the Pleasures of Youth, Op. 163 yield more dynamism from a stationary position than seems possible. For student motivation, there’s nothing like sounding like a hundred bucks on twenty bucks worth of effort.

We hope you enjoyed this excerpt from Richard Chronister, Mary Ann Letti, and Berdine Ehrman‘s article about reading activities during summer piano lessons. You can read the entire article by clicking here.

MORE ON MUSIC READING

Not yet a subscriber? Join for only $7.99/mo or $36/yr.
Do You Use Summer Lessons for Special Reading Activities?
Back to Discovery Page

Piano Inspires Kids: Musicians and Athletes: What Can They Learn from One Another?

Written By Stephen Pierce

The Summer 2024 Issue of Piano Inspires Kids is coming soon! Subscribers will be receiving the print issue in their mailboxes in the coming weeks. Not yet a subscriber? Click here to receive the issue and give the gift of music to the musicians in your life! Keep reading for a sneak peek into the Summer Issue.

Want to learn more about Piano Inspires Kids? Watch our webinar, “Inside Piano Inspires Kids: A New Publication of the Frances Clark Center” with Co-Editors-in-Chief Sara Ernst and Andrea McAlister: click here.

MORE ON PIANO INSPIRES KIDS

Learn more and subscribe
Piano Inspires Kids: An Interview with Co-Editors-in-Chief Andrea McAlister and Sara Ernst
Back to Discovery Page

This Month in Piano History: July 2024

Written By Curtis Pavey

July 1, 1950

Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, whose work in music education made a lasting impression on the field, died in Geneva, Switzerland on this day. He completed studies in Geneva, Paris, and Vienna, working with the likes of Fauré, Delibes, and Bruckner among others. Early on, he became fascinated with rhythm, and while working at the Geneva Conservatoire, he began developing his influential method known as eurhythmics.1 His ideas were presented in 1905 at a conference in Switzerland, and from there, his work rapidly spread throughout the world.2 In addition to his work in music education, he composed a number of works for chamber and orchestral ensembles.

July 13, 1955

In Lenox, Massachusetts, the Beaux Arts Trio made their performance debut, beginning an international performance career lasting fifty-three years. The trio was originally formed with pianist Menahem Pressler, violinist Daniel Guilet, and cellist Bernard Greenhouse. Pressler remained the pianist throughout the group’s existence, however the string members included violinists Isidore Cohen, Ida Kavafian, Yung Uck Kim, and Daniel Hope as well as cellists Peter Wiley and Antonio Meneses. The Grammy-nominated trio recorded nearly the entire piano trio repertoire within the Western canon before dissolving in 2008.3 Enjoy this recording of the ensemble performing Maurice Ravel’s Piano Trio.

The Beaux Arts Trio performs Ravel’s Piano Trio.

July 19, 1759

Pianist Olga Kleiankina performs the first movement of Marianna Auenbrugger’s Sonata in E-flat Major.

Viennese composer Marianna Auenbrugger was born in Vienna, Austria. Marianna and her sister Katharina Auenbrugger were accomplished keyboardists of the time; both studied under Antonio Salieri and were well known to Mozart and Haydn.4 Haydn, who dedicated multiple pieces to the sisters, once wrote about them stating, “the approval of the Demoiselles von Auenbrugger … is most important to me, for their way of playing and genuine insight into music equal those of the greatest masters. Both deserve to be known throughout Europe through the public newspapers.”5 Although Auenbrugger’s compositional output was exceptionally limited due to her short lifespan (1759-1782), her Sonata in E-flat Major is frequently performed. Enjoy this recording by pianist Olga Kleiankina.

July 22, 1987:

Natalie Hinderas, one of the first major Black classical concert pianists, died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on this day.6 Hinderas, originally from Oberlin, Ohio, was born into a family of musicians. Her father was a professional jazz musician and her mother was a classical pianist who taught at Fisk University.7 Hinderas studied at the Oberlin Conservatory before pursuing further studies with Olga Samaroff at Juilliard and Edward Steuermann at the Philadelphia Conservatory. She toured worldwide, performing throughout North America, Europe, and Africa. Among her significant accomplishments is a recording of works by African American composers such as R. Nathaniel Dett, George Walker, and William Grant Still.8 In addition to her remarkable performance career, Hinderas served as a professor at Temple University in Philadelphia from 1966-1987. Below is an excerpt from her celebrated recording which features George Walker’s Piano Sonata No. 1.

Pianist Natalie Hinderas performs the first movement of George Walker’s Piano Sonata No. 1.
OTHER RESOURCES YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
Not yet a subscriber? Join for only $7.99/mo or $36/yr.
The Body and the Beat: Developing Rhythm through Mindful Movement
Sources
  1. Lawrence W. Haward and Reinhard Ring, “Jaques-Dalcroze, Emile,” Grove Music Online, 2001; Accessed 11 July 2024, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000014181.
  2. Haward and Ring, “Jaques-Dalcroze, Emile” Grove Music Online.
  3. Menahem Pressler, “Beaux Arts Trio,” Menahem Pressler’s Official Site, Accessed on July 11, 2024, https://menahempressler.org/beaux-arts-trio.html.
  4. Sylvia Glickman, “Auenbrugger [D’Auenbrugg], Marianna von,” Grove Music Online, 2001; Accessed 11 July 2024, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000047884.
  5. Glickman, “Auenbrugger,” Grove Music Online.
  6. “Natalie Hinderas, 60; Played Classical Piano,” New York Times (New York City, NY), July 23, 1987. https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/23/obituaries/natalie-hinderas-60-played-classical-piano.html.
  7. “Natalie Hinderas Collection,” Temple University Libraries, Temple University, Accessed July 10, 2024, https://library.temple.edu/finding-aids/natalie-hinderas-collection
  8. “Natalie Hinderas,” New York Times.

Glickman, Sylvia. “Auenbrugger [D’Auenbrugg], Marianna von.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 11 July 2024. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000047884.

Haward, Lawrence W. and Reinhard Ring. “Jaques-Dalcroze, Emile.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 11 July 2024. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000014181.

“Natalie Hinderas, 60; Played Classical Piano.” New York Times (New York City, NY), July 23, 1987. https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/23/obituaries/natalie-hinderas-60-played-classical-piano.html.

“Natalie Hinderas Collection.” Temple University Libraries. Temple University. Accessed July 10, 2024. https://library.temple.edu/finding-aids/natalie-hinderas-collection.

Pressler, Menahem. “Beaux Arts Trio.” Menahem Pressler’s Official Site. Accessed on July 11, 2024. https://menahempressler.org/beaux-arts-trio.html.

Back to Discovery Page

Search
piano inspires logo, black with colored stripes in the tail of the piano