dawn's piano

I am so excited to dive into the '18-'19 school year starting next week. And one way we'll make it fun heading into the fall is with a practice challenge.  Last year was my first year trying out a studio-wide practice challenge, and I loved the energy and motivation that it brought to my piano students throughout the year. Even my most reluctant practicers had spurts where they were goal-driven and focused on working pieces to completion. So I'm doing it again this year!  Now, I know that the studio is just starting back up, and I'm trying not to be too overzealous. So here's my challenge to each of this year's students:  Learn 20 pieces by the end of the term on April 26th. And that's it. Now I know the first question my students will ask when I introduce this to them is "what do I get if I do it?"  Well, I have answers.  If you complete your 20 piece challenge, you will get: A certificate of achievement presented to you on-stag...

One of my favorite times of year in the studio is when we get to dig into composing. And it's a favorite of a lot of students too! The Young Composers Project has been a summer highlight in the studio since 2013. In that time, in  addition to composing & recording hundreds of student pieces, these students have also had great success learning to do professional looking notation using noteflight.com .  Now I know that there are other  music notation programs that may be more comprehensive in certain ways , but let me tell you why I've chosen Noteflight for student compositions. Noteflight is user-friendly & has a very intuitive interface . The site is incredibly easy for today's tech savvy kids to use both on desktop and mobile devices. I've had students as young as 4 participate in Young Composers who are able to type out their music with just a little bit of teacher guidance. And as students progress into needing to use more notating tools or expressio...

One of my favorite songs as a child was "Tale as Old as Time" from Disney's Beauty & the Beast. I'm going to date myself here, but this was the first movie I saw in theaters when I was 4 years old. And I remember it vividly. I already loved books by that age, so Belle was instantly my hero. . . Anyways, back to the music: Tale as Old as Time is a lovely piece, with a simple, timeless melody that is full of nostalgia for so many in my generation. And with the new live action movie coming out last year, it has seen a definite resurgence in popularity with kids again. What I'm sharing today is a late beginner/early intermediate piano solo that I did for a student several years ago when she had asked to learn this piece and I couldn't find just the right thing that I wanted for her level. I probably could have looked longer & harder ended up finding something that would've worked, but since I do enjoy arranging music I decided instead to sit down a...

Almost as soon as I arrived in McPherson, Tiffiney Harms, area piano teacher, invited me to join MAPTL (McPherson Area Piano Teachers League) and to participate in running their upcoming brand-new Espressivo Piano Camp. I eagerly accepted both invitations.  I have wanted to do a piano camp for several years now, but being a traveling teacher in Southern California made finding a place to host a camp a bit tricky. My associate teacher Mallory & I brainstormed possibilities a few times, but weren't able to come up with any options where we'd be able to reserve a location AND keep the cost affordable for parents.  So needless to say, I was thrilled to participate in Espressivo Piano Camp's first run the week of June 4th through June 8th. Here's a bit of what we were up to: Performance Class - Students were taught how to approach a performance with confidence, musical expression, performer's ettiquette & increased focus. The weeklong camp wrapped up ...

I know, I know it seems like the summer has just started. But the 2018/2019 school year kicks up in August, and that means the piano studio's session starts then too! As of July 1st, enrollment for students who would like to begin in the fall is officially open.  You can view the studio tuition & policy sheet for the 2018/2019 school year here .  And I've got a couple great ways for new students to meet me, learn more about the studio & get a discount on your first month of tuition: Free Trial Lessons If you would like to set up a free trial lesson to try it out before the fall session starts, we can definitely do that. Just send me an email using the contact form .  (Potential students who set up a free trial lesson & then enroll before the Open House will also be eligible for 15% off their first month of lessons.) Open House There will be another Open House on July 28th where anyone is welcome to stop by between 12pm-7pm to preview the teaching...