The Lesson Line is a newsletter providing special information for students taking Simply Music piano lessons through Potluck Creative Arts. Get useful tips to help make your piano lesson experience as successful as possible!
Fellow Simply Music teacher Shanta Hejmadi is also shortly about to host her studio’s Spring Recital. To help her students get ready for it, she’s just published a blog post with her Top Ten Ways to Prepare for a Performance. The advice she gives there is excellent not only for those preparing for a...
Simply Music recently asked me to contribute to their newsletter/blog “The Playground” by presenting an improvisation project. I created one that combines elements from a few of the projects I do with my own students. You may recognize those elements when you check out the project! The post also includes some general advice to...
I wanted to share some newly updated resources that will help make it easier to learn accompaniment pieces, especially those you choose for yourself outside of Simply Music materials. If you haven’t yet completed the two versions of Danny Boy in the Accompaniment 1 book, you can safely ignore all this, because it’s for...
Heading to the end of the year, here’s a fun video with a baby giving a “lecture” on the benefits of exposing young kids to the piano. Of course, I wouldn’t recommend the Hal Leonard method that she mentions (it’s what I used to teach myself), but I bet that baby Olivia wouldn’t either...
When it comes to the amount of new project work, your teacher always strives to take the Baby Bear approach — not too hot, not too cold, just right. If new assignments seem to be either too much or too little for you, there are options. The first thing you should do is optimize...
Here are two really inspirational videos. The first is of a girl who plays piano with no fingers on her right hand. The second is of an armless man who uses his toes to perform. I bet they spent a lot of time playing slowly and controlling the events! Leave a comment below.
John Cleese is not only a comedy legend, he’s also got an inquiring mind, interested in many things including how the human mind works. Below you’ll find an excellent video of a lecture in which he talks about creativity. One of the things he mentions is the “tortoise mind” and the importance of patiently...
Another of my writings has been republished by Simply Music, in their July newsletter. When I wrote, Why Simply Music Piano Lessons Are Easier Than Traditional Methods, I wanted to do a few things. Most obvious was making the case for why Simply Music was fundamentally more worth taking on, even for students who...
There’s a fun Virtual Keyboard on the web that lets you play with different instrument sounds, add drum beats, and even play chords. You can play notes with mouse clicks or, even better, with your computer’s keyboard. Check out the instructions. One great tip not mentioned in the instructions: you can play chords even...
Have you recently looked at Why We Do It — The Profound Benefits of Learning to Play the Piano? Even this is an incomplete description of the many benefits of piano. At an annual conference of Simply Music teachers this past January, a list of over 80 reasons to play piano was compiled! It’s...
