With the recent quarantine, I had a chance to learn more about how to add items to the site. So now you can check out some of the games we have and hopefully they will help you as a vocalist, actor/actress and piano player. Go to the Free Resources. Enjoy. More are coming soon. Thanks for your support.

This week was my first week of online lessons and I will say that I learned some new tricks that I hope will be helpful to anyone teaching. I'll make the points simple. Don't just "Be Prepared", as Boy Scout pledge or Scar's song. Be more than prepared for poor internet connections, to do a phone lesson when the student or parent may not have Skype or Messenger on FB (which are the platforms I use, since I don't have an iPhone), set yourself with a new option to teach lessons. Plus handling what a kid might ask and you have to improv on ways to help them. Find as many ways to engage all students. I always try, yet I will have to identify other options for the rest of the week and beyond. Enc

Within the nine years of teaching piano lessons through our studio, I've always been blessed to find "easier" songs to help that succeed. Some of them may not be familiar songs, yet have a fun tune to play and listen too. One of the songs has been The Chocolate Song by Martha Mier. First off the cover has great artwork with a chocolate milk shake, cookie, cake, pie, ice cream all having a party with dancing. Really love the lively colored art. So amazing. The yummy song is in the C position and uses 3/4 time signature. The melody is repeated separately in the right and left hand, in an ascending and descending manner; yet also attempts to sneak some fun 2nd's that are easy to identify in the

With all of the uncertainties in life now, for those of us who teach lessons, this is a time to learn more about how to teach online. I've done some lessons using Skype and FB Messenger in the past 9 years. They have done well for what we need. Yet I've also heard more about Zoom lately. When I get a chance, I want to check it out. What I want to share are about amazing piano teachers who have been doing lessons online and where to find information about it. There are so many game options from composecreate.com, where Wendy Stevens shares great ideas to check out. Her blog about 5 Long Distance Piano Games is the best. In fact, had a few chances to do some of these ideas. You can check out J

At the beginning of the year, I came across a piano duet called Syncopate Sam by Martha Mier, through Alfred Music. The duet is actually uses two pianos, which is great when the first keyboard we obtained is used during the lessons. Need to find more ways to incorporate the first keyboard. When I first heard the song, I was hooked and very impressed by the music. Martha Mier's song is in the key of C, yet utilizes many accidentals that bring out jazz and ragtime. Each part has amazing melodies and harmonies that will get your students and those who hear may want to tap their toes, even move around a bit. When I found this song, I knew exactly who the song was for. When I showed him the song,

This is Bree Alexander. She is a high school student and has been taking lessons for over a year. In the journey of her lessons, she has been bitten by the composing 'bug". In fact, she has recently created some music in the last month. During the month of January and February she has been working on two originals, that are fun and different, not conventional. She uses tones, including 7th and unusual chords that will make you wonder. Her first song was called Winter Blues, where she expressed what gives her the blues during winter. Her next song is called Match. When I asked her why she called it that and if she actually meant a match. She said it sounded like a fun title and she was referr

The past weeks have been busy focusing on working at schools for Middle School Festivals and finally got done on Saturday, playing for 40 band and vocal students. When I got home, I needed to rest. Now life is a bit back to "normal". When teaching people to play piano, we must always think of ways that will help each student succeed. Once we start learning how a student learns, we can always provide ways to help them succeed. One of the ways I try to "teach" and share from personal experiences and observations, is composing. In fact, even with beginning piano students, I use some games and activities to help them create a song. They really enjoy the ideas. You could find "My Song" from susan