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Showing posts from February, 2021

Spring Video Recital

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I've decided to go ahead and plan one more video recital for our year-end Spring performance this year, and am hoping to have a big in-person concert for our Fall 2021 performance! To tune in on the 24th, just head over to  www.facebook.com/dawnspianostudio  and look for the video premiere right at the top of the page. I will also post a youtube video for anyone who is not a facebook user, and will be sure to share that on this website. Invite friends and family using our Facebook Event , and all viewing instructions and links will also be posted in the event page as they are available.  Please share your encouragement in the comment sections or with the performers directly. The validation that these performance opportunities bring goes a long way to build confidence in sharing our music with others.  We'll record the student performance pieces showcasing what students have learned during our lessons in the week or two before the show, so all you have to do that day will be to

Learning to use Music as an Expressive Outlet

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One of the things that makes me happiest as a piano teacher is when a student comes in for lesson and tells me they were playing a song, just because. Maybe it helped them feel better on a hard day, maybe they were celebrating a good day, or maybe they just needed a mental break from another task and turned to music as a creative outlet, or even just a boredom buster. One of music's most valuable impacts in my own life is as a form of self expression, a safe place to work through tricky feelings and a space to exercise some creativity. In today's post I'm going to look a little closer at some of the ways we can be sure that students are learning to use what we do in piano lessons to express ourselves, so that when we eventually stop lessons, they'll retain music as a part of their expressive toolkit. Play music you love. Compose. Improvise. The first step to connecting to music on a personal level is knowing what you like. Students should listen to music regularly, find