I thought I would feature a resource that I love to use with students when they are learning or reviewing major and minor scales. Do you hold group activities? Make it a race and see which team or student can put a scale you shout it, first! It's perfect for...
Getting to Know Our Students- Fun Ice Breaker Activities to Kick Off the School Year!
Back to school is just around the corner. For some much closer than others. Regardless when your fall semester begins, it will be here before we know it! I think it's important to get to know my students beyond the time I spend teaching them. I want to know what makes...
Be Our Guest: Using STEM Based Projects in the Independent Music Studio
Disclaimer: The affiliate link included in this post does not affect your purchase price or the creators royalties in any way. Thank you for your support and happy teaching! It's been awhile since I have had a guest post on the blog and I'm excited to introduce our...
Feature Friday: Composer Time Capsules
One of my favorite group lesson activities was one I did over 10 years ago, composer time capsules. Time capsules are a fun way to not only learn about someone but they are a great way to remember interesting facts and stories. A couple years ago I started to make my...
Discovering the Insides of the Piano
If your students are anything like mine, they are often curious as to how the piano works. When they come for lessons, many of them will stand up and look inside the grand as they play a note totally fascinated at what is going on inside. I use that as an...
Let’s All Make a Drum!
Back in 2011, I had the opportunity to participate in a 3-day Roots of Rhythm workshop given by Dr. Craig Woodson of Ethnomusic and Frank Thompson with AZ Rhythm Connection. In this workshop, we learned about percussion instruments from around the world within their...
Establish an Engaged Learning Environment
Engaging our students can sometimes feel overwhelming especially when a teacher might be feeling a bit burned out. But did you know that when we truly engage our students in their learning we can also be engaged in our teaching? And visa versa. This is because...
Light Up The March From The Nutcracker
Last week was our first week of our Nutcracker Christmas camp. One of my favorite activities is using flashlights to help the kids learn about the musical form. Before we bring out the flashlights, I have them pick out the A, B and C sections. Before camp, I had...
Christmas Camp: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!
I just love this time of year. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas.... I LOVE Christmas music. It just has a way of lifting the spirits and I do not mind it one bit when I hear it in stores, restaurants or radio a little bit "early". Matter of fact, I was having...
Practice Makes Perfect or DOES It?
You know the old saying, Practice Makes Perfect? Well as teachers we know better but do our students? It's not enough to just tell our students to practice, we must show them what practicing should look like. Some students might think playing a piece over and...