A green scrapbook full of newspaper clippings tells of the excitement surrounding the 1960 grand opening of the New School for Music Study in Princeton, NJ. "New Music School to Open in Princeton in September," "New School has Workshops for Piano Teachers,""Frances Clark Announces Opening of the New School for Music Study," and ...

This video shows the introduction of a new piece in a group class online. The students work through the preparation steps as a group, practice the piece on their own, and play for the teacher to receive feedback.Music Featured: "On Tiptoe" from Music Tree 1, AlfredTopics: Elementary StudentsOnline Group PianoReading and RhythmStudent Independence E...

Group classes are a vital form of interaction in the time of COVID-19.Now more than ever before, students cherish opportunities to see familiar faces, interact with peers, and make music with others. Online group classes can operate in much the same fashion as in-person classes with careful planning and creativity. A detailed lesson plan is importa...

Preparation and Presentation Context: Pieces that are helpful to have experienced or played before approaching this one Burgmüller - ArabesqueRossi - Atacama DesertAtwood - SonatinaKabalevsky – Clowns Get Ready: Creative activities to explore before the first encounter with the score, to prepare a student for deeper engagement and more immedia...

Preparation and Presentation Pieces that are helpful to have experienced or played before approaching this one: Burgmüller - ArabesqueRossi - Atacama DesertAtwood - SonatinaKabalevsky – Clowns Creative activities to explore before the first encounter with the score, to prepare a student for deeper engagement and more immediate success: What is a Ba...

Often, in my teaching, I find that I become bored with a piece or activity before my student does. I am excited to move on to the next new concept, new piece, or new technical skill. I constantly have to remind myself that the student hasn't been teaching piano for many years, they only come once a week to their lesson, and they just haven't experi...

"Successful teaching at the early levels means three stages: Preparation, Presentation, and Reinforcement " – Marvin Blickenstaff  Below is a list of phrases or activities that might be seen or heard in a lesson. See if you can decide which item belongs in each of these three categories: Preparation, Presentation, and Reinforcement. "Let's sig...

"Teaching is not what you say or do. Teaching is what you have the STUDENT experience in your presence." –Sam Holland  What do we want the student to EXPERIENCE in the lesson? I don't have to think about it very long to come to the conclusion that what I want my students to experience through their lesson is good music. Regardless of where the...

 "Plant a purple moment in every lesson."—Marvin Blickenstaff Marvin Blickenstaff is one of my very favorite people! He is a brilliant teacher and just as brilliant at teaching all the rest of us. Best of all, he is kind, generous, humble, and simply one of the best people you will ever meet. One of the things I appreciate most about Marvin is...

Frances Clark was right when she said, "All students are transfer students. Even if our students are our own, the teacher we were last year is different from the teacher we are this year. In fact, the teacher we were last week is different from the teacher we are this week!" We are always changing and our students are always changing." We do change...

Earlier in the year, I established a private discussion group on Facebook with four teachers from around the country— Monica Allen, Laura Beauchamp-Williamson, Rebecca Pennington, and Scott Price. Our goal was to have some conversations about music reading which would lead to the sharing of ideas and resources. It is important to know that the...