I had to share this precious photo sent to me by a “music mom”. I am sure this little student was overcome with exhaustion after a particularly productive practice session. I wonder if she was dreaming of playing at Carnegie Hall?
Want to be a great musician? “Play” music every day! Between baseball, soccer, art class, dance class, doctor appointments, school work, laundry and dishes, shopping, visiting family and all the other goings on of the busy families of today…when are we supposed to fit practicing in? Ideally students need to be spending time every day working on…
Rhythm is a pretty important component of music. Without it, music would be pretty boring. For anyone out there who is not sure what rhythm is, sing any song…tap “the way the words go” on your knee…this is the rhythm. For many young musicians, rhythm is the trickiest part of a piece to master since…
This month I had a Canadian composer visit my students and the students of a colleague. Tyler Seidenberg was born in Oakville and while in highschool began a compositional journey that culminated in a series of solos/duets for piano. His work is both interesting and challenging for the growing musician. I often hear “sweet” from students during an intro to…
I love the saying “you don’t know what you don’t know” because it is so true. How can you know something you have never learned or experienced or been told? When I was a teenager I wanted to learn to drive a standard. A friend agreed to teach me, but when my first question was…
I was walking through a park one day with a friend, enjoying a beautiful day when our conversation was interrupted by the sound of a revving engine and flying gravel. When we turned toward the parking area we noticed a gentlemen struggling to reverse out of his parking spot. His front tires had dug impressive…
My students are familiar with the phrase, “the metronome is your friend!” It is a phrase I find myself repeating frequently. Usually the phrase is greeted with a moan or an eye roll or an “I know”. Despite this,I still repeat the phrase with the hope that eventually my students will realize yes, the metronome really is their…
