Are you a perfectionist? Do you cringe when you read a speling mistake? (sorry, couldn’t resist) Do you spend hours doing and redoing productive tasks…because it is never quite good enough in your eyes? Do you have a hard time letting things go?….knowing when enough is enough? Being a perfectionist or living with one can…
I wouldn’t recommend trying to self diagnose if you are suffering from a physical ailment, but when students begin to tell ME why they are stumbling through a scale, why they keep missing a sharp or why the dynamics aren’t going quite right, you can bet I am doing the touchdown victory dance on the inside. Self…
Have you ever sat down to play the keys and feel as if you are totally inept? I have been playing the piano for 4/5 of my life and yet I have those days periodically. Why does this happen to us? It can be frustrating and if it happens to be performance or exam day, it…
Play – have fun with your music. Review- always review what you did the day before and then build on it. Anticipate where you may have trouble before you begin so you can actively tackle that tricky spot. Calculate your progress – did you master the section you had set out to master today? Try…
It is piano lesson deja-vu. I am sitting with a student listening to a piece for the 4th week. The piece sounds exactly like it did last week and the week before. The phrase mark that blankets bars 6,7 and 8 has been ignored and the notes of the left hand are still being played…
When I was a child I asked a neighbour to teach me how to knit. I was determined to learn and went about learning the stitches with enthusiasm. I was working on a pair of slippers and could hardly wait for my piece to grow big enough to wrap around my small feet….
I always loved that song, “D’em Bones”. It’s a good reminder that none of our body parts work independently. They are all connected. I know what you’re thinking. I’ve got the lyrics all wrong. The jaw bone’s connected to the finger bones???? Ok, you got me.. that is NOT how the song goes….but in music class, that…
Have you ever worked with your child at the piano when you are stressed?…pressed for time?….trying to meet the needs of other family members?…cooking dinner? If your head isn’t nodding up and down then I am amazed!!! The lives of parents are busy…and that is an understatement! Ideally we would all love to do practicing when…
A few years ago as I sat in grade 9 typing class…yes it was actually a class at one point…I remember my teacher raising her eyebrows at me every time I looked at my fingers to type. Eventually she covered my hands with a piece of paper taped to the type writer so I HAD to…
If you took piano lessons from someone other than an MYC teacher or if your only music instruction occurred at elementary school, it is likely that you learned to memorize the patterns FACE and Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge. I have parents ask me frequently why I don’t use these phrases in my teaching. My answer….they…
