teaching Tag

We are fortunate here at CSM to have studio rooms that are large. This has allowed us to let our instructors bring their pets to lessons and so several of our staff members bring their dogs into work with them daily. This policy generates a terrific interest and conversation with the students and also creates a trust between the teachers, students and their families. Many...

Read More

By Jamey Mann A commonly over looked aspect of learning an instrument is performing. Often new students will feel insecure about their playing, feel like they are never ready, may be prone to stage fright, or some teachers may not offer their students performance opportunities. Lack of performing can be detrimental to learning an instrument because it takes away one of the main goals of making...

Read More

piano ribbonIt’s a New Year, and maybe you have students at your studio who are ready to start fresh and get into a consistent practice routine. Or maybe, YOU are hoping to light a fire underneath your students in anticipation of spring recitals, competitions, festivals or masterclasses.

Performances alone may be enough to motivate some students; for other kids, the reality of blundering through a piece in front of a group of people doesn’t phase them, and they’ll continue forward with lackluster practice habits.

I happen to love holiday and Christmas music, and it is not just that the melodies are so classic and they conjure up wonderful old memories of enjoyable times growing up with my family and church in a rural Virginia farming community. What I’ve discovered as a piano teacher is the power of one of those old melodies to actually change a young life.  It...

Read More