Suzanne Schons

Clavier Companion

Winter 2021: First Looks: New Music

 (S) Five Easy Piano Sonatas and (S6) Five Famous Piano Sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven When new piano majors come to my college studio for their first lessons, one of my initial tasks is to discuss and assign them new repertoire. Unfortunately, many of these students were previously conditioned to work from photocopies, si...
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Suzanne Schons

Autumn 2020: New Music and Materials

(S3) SAPLINGS: 21 INTERMEDIATE PIANO SOLOS published by Red Leaf Pianoworks  While presenting at and attending the Canadian Music Teachers Conference last summer in Winnipeg, I was introduced to a new collection hot off the press called Saplings. This collection is written with the intermediate pianist in mind and features eleven Canadian...
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Suzanne Schons

Teaching with My Music Staff During COVID-19

A lifeline for many teachers during their sudden change- over into online teaching has been the exchanges on various social media forums of teachers generously sharing their tips, ideas, and experiences. A frequent recommendationI have seen mentioned for getting organized and teaching online during COVID-19 has been the web-based studio management ...
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Suzanne Schons

Spring 2020: New Music & Materials

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Dennis Alexander's Concertino for the Young is an attractive and engaging solo with piano accompaniment that closely mimics classical concerto style. This work, accessible for a later-elementary piano student, is written in typical concerto form with fast first and third movements and a slow second movement. Traditional concerto elements also inclu...
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New Music and Materials Suzanne Schons Carmen Doubrava Ann DuHamel Jacob Fitzpatrick Meg Gray Adrienne Wiley book reviews Dennis Alexander Timothy Brown Wynn-Anne Rossi Carolyn Miller Nikolai Kapustin review
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Suzanne Schons

Brain and Learning Myth Busters!

Good teachers want to help students learn as efficiently and effectively as they can. Unfortunately, misconceptions about the brain and learning are rife in education (not to mention corporate training programs and late-night infomercials promising to unleash 90% more brain power), which can cause confusion, waste valuable time and financial resour...
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Susan Geffen

November/December 2018: New Music Reviews

(S3-4) Big Phat Jazz Piano Solos: 10 Big Phat Band Classics, arranged by Gordon Goodwin. (S3-4) If you're not familiar with the name "Gordon Goodwin," you probably haven't played in a high school jazz band in the last fifteen years or so. Goodwin's music has achieved near ubiquity in the jazz e...
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Susan Geffen

September/October 2018: First Looks, New Music Reviews

jingle-bells (S1-2) Jingle Bells, arranged by Wendy Stevens.
New Music Reviews Editor's note Ho, ho, ho! The holidays are on the horizon. We know how it is for piano teachers (we're teachers ourselves). We frantically run to the music store, hoping to snag our favorites before the teacher with 120 students cleans out the inventory. Clavier Companion is here to help. This issue's holiday reviews will help you...
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Susan Geffen

March/April 2018: First Looks: New Music Reviews

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(SE3-4) Fantasia del Tango: 6 Original Piano Solos and 1 Duet, by Eugénie Rocherolle. Fantasia del Tango augments The Eugénie Rocherolle Series with a volume of tangos by a perennial favorite pedagogical composer. Dedicated to Kathleen Theisen, the seven pieces in this collection (six solos and one duet) pres...
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Tango reviews Eugénie Rocherolle Ann DuHamel Astor Piazzolla improvisation Suzanne Schons Martha Mier Peggy Otwell Edwin McLean music reviews
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Susan Geffen

Jan/Feb 2018: First Looks New Music Reviews

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(S1-2) 24 Short and Easy Pieces, Op. 1, Alexander Reinagle. Teachers and students enjoy Reinagle's pieces both for their charming writing and their accessibility to elementary students. Reinagle's biography, moreover, is a fun and interesting one that connects traditions of European classical music to life in the United States. Reinagle is tho...
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Susan Geffen

New music reviews: November/December 2017

(S3) From Sight to Sound: 6 Original PIano Solos, by Randall Hartsell.  Randall Hartsell composed From Sight to Sound to express the "interconnectedness of nature and our lives," and this collection contains six reflective pieces characterized by melodic simplicity and harmonic richness. The collection capitalizes on the piano's capacity for c...
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reviews Randall Hartsell George Gershwin repertoire First Looks music reviews Sara Ernst duets Brent Edstrom Ernest Kramer Brenda Dillon Phillip Keveren folk music Suzanne Schons adult learners arrangements
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Susan Geffen

New music reviews: September/October 2017

Happy Holidays! (S1-4) We Three Kings, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and Deck the Hall Hoedown, arranged by Wendy Stevens. For teachers wanting some fun and creative options to spice up their holiday recitals, three new arrangements by Wendy Stevens are fantastic choices. "We Three Kings" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" even invite the audienc...
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Susan Geffen

New music reviews: July/August 2017

Bastien New Traditions All-in-one Piano Course by Lisa, Lori, and Jane Bastien  James Bastien's series Bastien Piano Basics has been a beloved staple in many piano studios for decades, and now, for a new generation of students, Bastien family members Lisa, Lori, and Jane have written Bastien New Traditions All In One Piano Course. Levels Prime...
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Susan Geffen

New music reviews: March/April 2017

(S1-4) Signature Solos, Books 1-5, selected and edited by Gayle Kowalchyk. Students and teachers are in for a lively musical journey, with brand-new compositions by favorite Alfred composers, all in one collection! Students will learn pieces by beloved composers including Dennis Alexander, Melody Bober, Martha Mier, Wynn-Anne Rossi, Robert D. Vanda...
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Susan Geffen

New Music Reviews: January/February 2017

(S3) Preludes to Mastery, Books 1 and 2, by Chrissy Ricker. Chrissy Ricker's two books of preludes provide a fresh and varied assortment of pieces in Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary styles. There are twenty preludes in the two volumes; each is in a different key, thus offering students exposure to keys they might not visit often. Boo...
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Rebecca Grooms Johnson

What does research tell us about the learning process?

from the series: Issues and Ideas: Perspectives in Pedagogy Rebecca Johnson, Editor One of my favorite comics in the Columbus Dispatch is called "Zits." As you might surmise, it is about a teenaged boy and his often befuddled parents. Occasionally, when his mother is particularly at a loss she opens a door in his forehead and peers in to see w...
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Piano Magazine is the leading resource for pianists, piano teachers, and piano enthusiasts. We bring you informative, interesting, and inspiring ideas on all aspects of piano teaching, learning, and performing. The official name of Clavier Companion magazine was changed to Piano Magazine in 2019.

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