Everyone in the music world knows that even though Halloween hasn't come, we're starting to select Christmas music for our piano students. This year I'm a bit later than usual, as I try to start looking at the beginning of October. LOL. Always wanting to try to figure out the best options for students. Yet wanted to share four options to consider for your students, that I arranged. The first three are fairly easy to play hopefully in a couple settings. The first selection is a short arrangement of Dance of the Reed Flutes by Tchaikovsky, from the Nutcracker. The song is for a student who is learning some of the notes on the Grand Staff, plus the song has 2 part harmony. How fun. The second s

In the past couple years I’ve created a fun “mad lib” type of Halloween activity that focuses on reading, writing and composing. That is always fun and great for kids today. When they get a chance to read a story, write and compose they are developing their cognition in new ways. The first one is called Halloween Friends, where you need to print off the cards and story. They will pick a card and write down what the creature or Halloween concept is. With the last one on the list, the students decide who is taking everyone to Halloween Town. The second one is a Fill in the Blank Composing, where students fill in the blanks with their ideas. Once they fill in the blank, have can go to the piano

In the almost 10 years of teaching lessons through the studio, we have always done events at our church or a small amount of times we've done some community event, which is always fun. With the pandemic, we have only done one event in the summer time with voice and acting students with an outside event. The students performed in the car port while our audience sat in the back yard with their lawn chairs. In a couple weeks we're going to do one of our largest outside event ever. Our voice and acting students are sharing some music from the Nightmare Before Christmas and other songs. Really looking forward to the opportunity to demonstrate what the students have been working on with our second

Growing up in a small Baptist church here in town, taught me many aspects as a musician. We sang lots of hymns every Sunday and Wednesday or anytime we meet. Over the years many of the older hymns still minister to me: In the Garden, How Great Thou Art, Jesus Loves Me (my favorite). Yet one of my top favorites is a song by John Newton, Amazing Grace, which tells the story of what we were like before Jesus and how amazing grace. can and will always change us. The incredible back story of why John Newton create the best and possibly most recognizable hymns is worth check out. Yet wanted to share about an arrangement I found that is great for early Intermediate piano students by Jennifer Eklund

Here are some more fun Halloween songs to check out. Hope you enjoy them. Want to say what a blessing to have such incredible composers who create music that is fun to teach and the students love. Thanks is just the beginning to these amazing musicians and composers. What are your students learning for Halloween and Fall Time? Are you planning an event this Fall? If so, how are you going to have an event? Online, in person, outside? Would enjoy hearing what you're doing. Thanks for your support. Blessings. The Spider Who Would Not Die by James L. King III The Halloween Costume Blues Skeleton Waltz Chrisanne Nahum The Haunted Theater Lisa Donovan Lukas

Just wanted to share a beautiful song by Wendy Stevens from composecreate.com called Rested. The lyrical song is perfect and fitting for where our world is with unrest. We need to play and hear music that will calm our spirits and make us whole. This song does just that. The short one page song from the Feeling Fine short sheets is definitely needed in this world. The melody is so mesmerizing, making you relax with the gentle sounds presented. The rhythms are not complicated with the quarter, eighth and sixteenth notes in the treble clef and the chords in the left hand resonate with the fitted melody. Most of the song is mezzo piano, yet one line has brings a bit more sound to mezzo forte as