Yesterday was the first in many months of quarantine in-person lessons in the studio and oh boy, did I miss all that live interaction! Even with all health protocols in place! To make the first lesson special for my beginners I created cards for listening activity. The concepts high/low, fast/slow, and happy/sad are too abstract […]
20
Aug
Aug
Accidentals shouldn’t be difficult. And today’s unicorn-themed printable was created to prove that. It will help to unravel the secrets of naming the black keys. Either you are introducing the students to sharps, or only flats or both accidentals, this worksheet will make the learning fun. Accidentals success There are a few simple rules to […]
13
Aug
Aug
When the students are familiar with the whole and half steps it is time to present them with the formula of major scale W – W – H – W – W – W – H and role of the accidentals in creating the major scale. Step 1 Write down the 8 note sequence from […]
06
Aug
Aug
When I was a piano teacher fresh from the college I had trouble understanding how to keep the variety of piano and theory concepts up to date when the lesson is only 30 min. Not until my younger child was born I realized: just keep reminding what is what and the concepts are going to […]
30
Jul
Jul
Intervals anyone? Actually, I love teaching intervals. It is my favorite concept. I do some prep work by introducing skips, steps, and repeats at a very early stage of learning piano. I cannot recall a single student who didn’t like or didn’t get intervals. And as you know the intervals are a crucial component of […]
23
Jul
Jul
Do you have a student who is a good note reader but when it comes to high pitches everything gets “too hard” and boring? Please note that some younger students just haven’t developed space and dimension sense yet. It is still hard for them to imagine the continuity of the staff. Therefore ledger line notes […]
16
Jul
Jul
How many of you had a student who is scared of sharps and sharp note reading? The younger generation calls it a hashtag 😃, which makes us smile, right?! I do introduce my students to sharps early, in the first year of studying piano and use my full arsenal of visual, kinesthetic, and digital tools […]
15
Apr
Apr
Welcome to Start Piano Studio blog. Today we are entering the realm of online piano lessons. We do know that online lessons may not be your favorite way of teaching the piano and arguably the most effective one. However, there are times when they are the only way and we are here to help. How […]
10
Mar
Mar
Improvisation is a key to sparking creativity and maintaining interest in the process of studying piano. Unfortunately, piano improvisation is commonly neglected in piano lessons. Not because teachers do not value it, but because we all are on a schedule, exams, recitals, festivals, and squishing in a little bit of fun and silly is not […]
05
Mar
Mar
Hello and welcome to our blog exploring the questions piano teachers and owners of the home-based piano studios often ask. Have you ever considered using an app for scheduling? There are many paid scheduling products on the market. And one day we will have a separate article about some of them so stay tuned! Today […]