STUDIO LOCATION CHANGE – After 35 years of teaching piano in my home, I will soon have a cute little studio in my backyard. This makes me very excited to have my home and business separate, and when the piano teacher is happy, everyone is happy! It should be finished by September. My wonderful husband is doing all the work himself, and it is looking so cozy! He has finished the little covered porch area for parents/siblings to sit while they are waiting, and is now working on the inside paneling the walls. I have already purchased a new beautiful Pearl River 48″ upright piano for the backyard studio which has a gorgeous rich sound. Larry Harms at Houston Piano Company helped me pick out the perfect piano for my needs and they are holding it until the building is ready. I will give more information about the backyard studio as the time to “move” comes near.
SUMMER WORK – Students of all levels will be working on duets this summer along with their regular lesson work. Focusing on counting and playing a duet during the lesson takes some extra time so don’t be surprised if they don’t have as much material to practice as usual some weeks this summer. I promise we are working hard! Duets are very valuable and teach so many skills-
-playing with a metronome
-review counting basics, note values, time signatures
-playing with another person
-continuing to play even when you make a mistake
-listening! to the other player
-and they are fun. Piano can be lonely. My teacher and I often played duets at the end of the lesson to try new student duet releases and we found it very enjoyable!
LEVEL 5 AND ABOVE – These students will be playing through some possible performance songs along with their regular lesson work. They will also play a duet or two just to keep the ensemble and counting skills we have developed over the past years.
101 PIANO PRACTICING TIPS by Tracy Capps Selle -this ebook is on Amazon and is a very helpful resource. It is $2.99, and is free for Amazon Prime members. Besides practicing advice, the author lists apps and websites to supplement piano lessons. There are also apps for a metronome.
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