Tag : practice hacks

Always on the hunt for new ideas for creative music practice, here are some resources that I’ve recently discovered: Choose practice tasks instead of playing from the beginning to the

Popcorn, Chopsticks, Flute? A recent research study at The Ohio State University (my alma mater) recently caught my attention. I knew from the title that this was going to be

Seasons greetings! This final week for lessons in 2017. My students will have two weeks of no lessons during winter vacation. Nonetheless, my students and I will still be practicing

Marking Rhythms (Miss It? Mark It! part 4) This is the fourth article in a series about “marking music,” providing visual solutions to problems musicians encounter during practice. Our brains

Miss It? Mark It! part 5 A new student arrived at her lesson this week with music beautifully colored. Last week, I had encouraged Madeline* to write in her music.

Scales can be mindlessly boring… or scales can be tolerable. (If I said playing scales was the most exciting thing in the world, you would know I was lying and you

“Woodshedding” is musician-speak for practicing, especially when working on difficult passages. Woodshedding is the process of isolating a hard section of the music and practicing it until the technical issues

Every lesson I teach is an adventure. I never know exactly what to expect when a student walks through the door. Flexibility and creativity are my best friends on lesson

Far more time is spent in the practice room than the performance hall. I have been teaching private music lessons since 1995. One of my primary goals as a teacher

Our brains crave novelty. Literally turning things upside down can give us the new perspective we need. Feel stuck in your practice? Are your kids complaining the music is “too