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What can teachers bring to the classroom, that has increasing value? | Douchy’s Blog

by Tim Topham

How does the internet impact on how you teach? If you’re an Australian educator, you may well have come across Andrew Douch and his excellent education blog. He writes compelling articles, many focussing on the intersection between technology and education. This recent post is about the general changes taking place in education as we move from ... What can teachers bring to the classroom, that has increasing value? | Douchy’s Blog

10/26/2014 Read more

Webinar: Getting Started with Online Piano Lessons

by Tim Topham

Ever considered online piano teaching? I was really interested to hear recently that well-respected teacher and presenter Dr Melody Payne from Virginia USA will be presenting an online webinar for piano teachers all about how to teach online piano lessons. Keep reading for a special offer for topmusic.co subscribers. In this increasingly connected world and ... Webinar: Getting Started with Online Piano Lessons

10/21/2014 Read more

Take a track walk: getting students to slow down

by Tim Topham

Slow practice: the importance of precisionI was chatting with a colleague at the end of last term regarding teaching students about slow practice. He let me in on a great secret about F1 racing drivers that we should all share with our students...especially the speed demons! At this time of the year in Australia most students ... Take a track walk: getting students to slow down

09/22/2014 Read more

Making the most of the AMEB Manual List | The Piano Teacher Magazine

by Tim Topham

How should I use the Manual List? While the Australian Music Examinations Board  (AMEB) releases music books for each grade level whenever they update their exam syllabuses, there is a wealth of other great pieces listed permanently in the syllabus under the “Manual List”. Remember that the exam books for each grade only feature around three ... Making the most of the AMEB Manual List | The Piano Teacher Magazine

08/26/2014 Read more

Top 3 Most Innovative Rhythm Teaching Resources

by Tim Topham

Teaching rhythm to students can be a challenging experience. Some students just seem to get it, some students really struggle to even feel or keep a steady pulse. Some students are great at copying rhythms, others like to work it out for themselves. Some understand rhythm best when it's explained metrically, others like to think ... Top 3 Most Innovative Rhythm Teaching Resources

08/22/2014 Read more

Piano Repertoire for Students | Live Videochat with Joy Morin

by Tim Topham

Choosing Repertoire for StudentsI've just found out that Joy Morin from Color in my Piano Blog has started recording some regular Google Hangouts (online group chats) with other piano teachers on a number of really interesting topics including choosing repertoire, piano technique and business sense. I've just finished watching her latest video about choosing repertoire for ... Piano Repertoire for Students | Live Videochat with Joy Morin

08/14/2014 Read more
 

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Motivating teens with PianoMaestro

by Tim Topham

How do you motivate teen beginners? We all know that video games are pretty popular with teens, particularly boys. So trying to convince them to do their piano practice when there are far more fun things to be doing online can be a real challenge. Enter PianoMaestro – a really handy app that basically turns learning ... Motivating teens with PianoMaestro

08/03/2014 Read more

Top 5 most influential piano teachers online

by Tim Topham

Online Piano Teachers and Bloggers  Do you ever feel overwhelmed with the amount of great information you could spend your life reading online about piano teaching?    While narrowing down a list of the most influential teachers to only five was always going to be difficult, it has also been a really interesting exercise.   ... Top 5 most influential piano teachers online

07/20/2014 Read more

From Pixels to Paper | eBook review – All about music reading software

by Tim Topham

Everything you need to know but were afraid to ask about using technology to read/access/create music! I have to admit that I wasn’t sure that I could learn much more about using technology to view sheet music – it’s something I’ve done with my iPad for years. I’ve blogged about it, I’ve taught others how to do ... From Pixels to Paper | eBook review – All about music reading software

07/11/2014 Read more

Quick Video: Making Scales Fun with DecideNow!

by Tim Topham

Spin the wheel! I’ve recently been having fun with my students using a nifty little app called DecideNow. I posted about it a while ago on my Facebook page, but thought a quick little 2-minute video might be the best way to explain how I actually use it in my studio. Have fun with it and let me ... Quick Video: Making Scales Fun with DecideNow!

06/12/2014 Read more

AirTurn | Hands-free iPad page turner for musicians

by Tim Topham

Looking for a wireless page turner? I recently had the pleasure of trialling my first iPad page turner and it’s fair to say that I’m hooked! As most readers will be aware, I’m fairly tech-savvy and have been using an iPad in my teaching for many years (see my post: Best iPad apps for piano teachers). However, I’ve only ... AirTurn | Hands-free iPad page turner for musicians

06/03/2014 Read more

HookTheory – hands down THE BEST new resource for music teachers

by Tim Topham

What I’m about to share with you is one of the coolest and most useful things I’ve found on the internet for music teaching. Ever. No, it’s not an app, and no, I’m not being paid to write about it. It’s just really unique…and brilliant. If you’re a music teacher and you’d like to teach ... HookTheory – hands down THE BEST new resource for music teachers

05/17/2014 Read more