dawn's piano

It's time for another Sheet Music feature! This piece has been a very popular one in our studio this year after one student performed it in our Fall Recital. And I have to say, I'm loving the way it's motivating practice and musicality in young students.  A Million Dreams , arranged here for late beginning piano, offers young musicians the chance to play a solo that is familiar and sure to inspire. It will also stretch beginning pianists to play expressively and carry the melody between two hands. The use of the pedal provides an optional extra layer for later beginners.  You can listen to this arrangement, and preview the sheet music below. This music is published through Sheet Music Plus.   look inside A Million Dreams - Easy Piano Solo By The Greatest Showman. Arranged by Dawn Ivers. Solo Part. 4 pages. Published by Dawn Ivers (H0.401931-SC000017506). If you are intereste

Having a good instrument to regularly practice on is a key component of a successful piano experience. And this is something that I've touched on before in this blog post from a few years back all about choosing the right type of instrument (acoustic/digital) for your home practice environment. An acoustic piano is an excellent choice because you get the full action & resonance of the instrument. The flip side is that acoustic pianos require annual maintenance, and they can be more expensive to purchase up front. This is where used pianos come in, often students can find inexpensive or free used pianos available. So how do you know when it's worth it? What makes a used piano a good bet? Today's post is going to provide some tips into shopping for a used acoustic piano. Take a piano technician  If you're seriously considering an instrument, I'd recommend taking a piano technician with you. This is akin to having your mechanic look over a used car before pu

This one's for the other studio owners & private music teachers! Most of you who've followed the studio for any length of time will know that around this time last year I relocated from Southern California to Central Kansas, and rebuilt my studio in our new town. Going in, I knew that one of the things that would be vital when relocating was building awareness in the community and to get that crucial word-of-mouth going, so I did several things to get the word out locally with pretty good success. It definitely didn't hurt that the town I moved into really supports the arts, and there was more demand than current piano teachers in the area already. Within 3 months the studio had hit a good running capacity, and 6 months in enrollment was capped out with a waitlist.  Since then, I've often seen posts in the online music teaching groups from other studio owners asking for tips or advice on how to successfully rebuild their studios after a move, so today I'm

This past Saturday (April 27th) students of Dawn's Piano gave their Spring Recital, and if I do say so myself, I thought we had a terrific show! Being a studio that relocated just this year means that we had lots of beginning students participating in their first ever recital with a few seasoned intermediate students sprinkled in. I enjoyed seeing the confidence on stage, and the personality & musical expression of each student as they performed. It was fun to have them cheer each other on, and share compliments after the show during our Ice Cream Reception (which was earned when each student completed the 20 Piece Challenge!). Online students from the Pasadena area also had a live Recital on Saturday, where they performed in the joint studio recital of my former associate teachers Aki Saito & Mallory Byers . Dawn's Piano was represented by 5 students there, and I'm so proud of each of their progress in adapting to an online lesson format and continuing to grow i