IN JANUARY the whole studio worked hard learning some great music. We had some new songs including a lovely duet called “Down a Country Road” based on a Beethoven theme and a new advanced version of the jazz song “Blues in the Night”. We also played some of the studio favorites like Hot Potato Boogie, Someday, End Game, Katy Perry’s Firework and Beethoven’s Moonlight.
I have slowly been transitioning a lot of students into a new set of teaching books. Several students have volunteered over the last 6 months to “try” these books and the reviews have all been positive. The first 3 books have lovely and amazing duet parts to EVERY song. This has strengthened the ability of the students to feel the rhythm of a song in an amazing way. (It sure beats using a metronome.) Plus they are just so fun to play we find ourselves sometimes going over and over them at the lessons, and then we have to share them with the folks at home. The students are proud of their work and make every effort to get it right. I feel like this set of books is pretty magic and I bet a lot of these duets will be played in the next performance.
Of course these books are not suited for all students so I am careful to make sure it is a correct fit before I move them into the new brand. I always try to keep the lessons “personalized”.
You may have noticed with a lot of the students that I am having them review one or two songs in addition to their new music. I feel like this will give them a stronger foundation for progressing through the books.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
The date for the performance has been set for Sunday November 8 for early evening, at Houston Piano Company.
Houstonpianocompany.com
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