#parents

Between Lessons:

A Blog for Piano Students

& Piano Parents

Welcome! This is a place where piano students and their parents can find information to help them make the most of their piano study experience.

If you’re a piano student, you’ll find reminders of ways to make the most of your practice time. If you’re a piano parent, I’ll help you learn how to make the most of your investment in piano lessons.

If you have a question you’d like to have addressed in a blog post, please let me know. And, please share the blog with others outside of our studio who might benefit from reading it. Thanks for reading!

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Sounds of the Season

Christmas is almost here and everywhere you turn, there is holiday music playing. Whether your style is the Christmas classics of Bing Crosby, the jazzy instrumentals of Mannheim Steamroller, the newest offerings of pop stars such as John Legend, or the soundtracks of Charlie Brown or the Polar Express, everyone seems to love hearing the same old favorites, year after year. Christmas is a time when music can instantly bring back memories of holidays past. Many students love t

Ready, Set, Play!

The stores have been filled with back to school promotions for weeks. Schools post their list of “must have” items for each grade. Summer growth spurts have parents scrambling to buy new clothes and shoes. Everyone is getting ready for a new school year, filled with fresh starts and high expectations. A new year in the studio also requires some preparation. Here are a few suggestions to help your child have a successful year of music study. Make sure you have all of the music

Partners in Practice

Regular practice is a key ingredient in a piano student's development and success. No one would argue with that, right? And yet, many students have a hard time establishing a regular home practice routine. While some children go to the piano without being prompted to practice, others often seem to be reluctant participants in the process. Here are some tips to help parents and students work together to make practice time a more enjoyable, productive, and "tear-free" time. Sch

Practice Pointers: Work Zones

It seems these days that regardless of the time of year, there’s one thing you can count on when driving: sooner or later, you’re going to encounter those orange barrels and cones that signal you’ve entered a work zone. Those are the places where a pothole needs to be filled, new pavement needs to be laid down, or perhaps even an entirely new roadway need to be constructed. We brace ourselves for a delay, slowing down or maybe even coming to a complete standstill. And althoug

Are you pursuing a Busy Badge?

Let’s take a little informal survey: when someone greets you and asks how you are, what do you say? I’ve recently been paying a lot of attention to the responses to this question, and have noticed a slightly disturbing trend. More often than not, the answer goes something like this: “Oh, I’m so busy!” Or, “We're just so busy this year!” Or, “Our kids’ schedules are just crazy – we’re always so busy!” My husband and I raised three children, so I get it – we all want to expose