I'm so blessed beyond imagination to celebrate Small Business Saturday through my studio Potentials Music with 14 years of service. Thank you is just the beginning. I wish I could say more, yet thanks for believing and participating in a small business. If you or you know of anyone who is interested in voice, piano and acting lessons, please reach out to me. I would love to know how I can serve you, your family and your business to fulfill your ultimate potential. Hope you ge

Just wanted to take a moment to say thank you. You're a blessing to the family and me. We're filled with gratitude for your support this year, plus past years. Truly hope you have an amazing Thanksgiving, celebrating with family and friends. May this and others be some of the best Thanksgivings to all. Here is a YouTube of a piano solo of "Great is Thy Faithfulness", by William M. Runyan, arranged by Lily Topolski, as we delight in the gifts the Lord has blessed us with each

Last week I had a theme in my head and was able to write out the ideas as quickly as I could. This short piano solo incorporates staccatos, swing and a tremolo of a C7 chord at the end of the solo. The theme is light, fun and filled with Jazz, as you can picture the Elves dancing. The vast majority of each measure has a Half Rest in beats 3 and 4 in the Treble Clef. The Bass Clef consists of I and V chords in the key of C Major. The mf expresses the joy and mood of the Elves

When I first started teaching, I was working for a company called TakeLessons,in California, that went out of business last year. They provided teachers with students, whether in person or online. One of the students who took one lesson with me was auditioning for a music theater opportunity in Wichita. The young lady was eagerly excited about the opportunity to audition, hoping for a "glamorous role". The new student was "tone deaf", putting it kindly, yet my words were some

November 14th and 15th was the performance of Matilda Jr, that I was blessed to accompany and choreography three of the songs: School Song, Bruce Part 1 and Revolting Children. I'm beyond grateful to serve the staff and students. The video started a bit later into the show, yet I hope you enjoy the portion available. What an incredible opportunity each student put into the show. This was a show that the Drama, Music, Art Teacher or I really didn't know well. Yet to be honest,

As we celebrate today, honoring those who have or are currently serving, may you know what an incredible blessing you are to all of America. You're dedication, service, willingness to lay your life down for your country is truly appreciated, a blessing to know that you are protecting all Americans. We live in a time where wars and rumors of wars continue, yet we're so grateful for your service. This is YouTube from 5 years ago that features all four Branches Music in a medley

Yes. Here's why I'm sharing these story. LOL. Yesterday while teaching a newer voice student, I was going to focus on their breathing by having them lay down on the floor and I was going to put some light piano books on the students stomach to focus on getting the student to breath better with their diaphram. After the student laid down, the mom said that the student doesn't do well with this exercise laying down, even though the student has done yoga before. So I had to make

This week I finally took a risk, doing something scared, playing through and making the final video of Gnomes by Modest Moussorgsky, from the Pictures at an Exhibition. It's not perfect, yet it's workable. I still have tons of work, yet grateful to get to this point. Hope you enjoy what I've learned. Maybe one day I'll return to the song. Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy has been on my "radar" for many years and I finally took the risk and "did it scared". I'm so blessed to ha

I started in late August with my piano and voice students on Halloween songs. Here are two short songs: Monsters Everywhere and the main theme of In the Hall of the Mountain King. I gave them another song, yet so proud of them for trying these short pieces. What did your students learn for Halloween? Would like to know. Thanks for your support. Blessings.

This week I'm introducing some ideas that are definitely bigger than myself regarding to vocal and piano selections. I'm working on letting each vocal student decide a song and they will lead it and the rest of the vocal/piano students will be the "back-up". The piano students will learn some duets, trios and quartets to play with each other. I'm really excited about this event. Yet I'm curious what are some of your favorite Christmas Songs? I know it's only October, yet we h