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Are You Keeping Lessons Relevant? [Chat with Paul Harris Part 2]

by Sean Wales

Welcome to Part 2 of our mini-series video chats with UK educationalist Paul Harris. Today we are exploring how you can keep lessons relevant and use your student’s imagination to creatively teach musical concepts. A couple weeks back we saw Tim and Paul talk about how to motivate your piano students. To recap, Paul Harris ... Are You Keeping Lessons Relevant? [Chat with Paul Harris Part 2]

03/27/2017 Read more

Best Selling Piano Teaching Resources of 2016 [according to our readers]

by Tim Topham

At the start of each year, I like to have a look at my Amazon account statistics to see what piano teaching resources (products and books) you have been purchasing through my links, reviews and recommendations in the last year. If you want a quick list of only the best resources for your studio, then these are ... Best Selling Piano Teaching Resources of 2016 [according to our readers]

01/18/2017 Read more

Inner Circle Member Spotlight: Karen Lien

by Tim Topham

Inner Circle “Member Spotlights” give you a sneak-peek at the progress of one of our community members. Get inspired by what they’ve achieved, be heartened by their struggles and get motivated and share in their plans for the future. You can find out more about Karen at her studio website. What does your studio look like? My studio is a happy place ... Inner Circle Member Spotlight: Karen Lien

12/05/2016 Read more

How to Engage Piano Students with Sensory Processing Disorder

by Kristen Raney

This post in the last in our series on Special Needs Piano Teaching. I hope that you’ve found this month’s conversations and articles helpful in your teaching. Please let other teachers know where to find this information and share links to it so everyone can benefit. Today’s guest post is from Kristen Raney, who talks about her experience as ... How to Engage Piano Students with Sensory Processing Disorder

10/03/2016 Read more

Early Childhood Music Teaching

by Tim Topham

Teaching early childhood music requires a different approach to usual piano lessons and, for many teachers, unless you've been trained in this area, working out the best way to teach really young students can be a huge challenge. So this month on the blog and podcast, we're focussing on teaching the youngest students, from around age 0 - 8 years, exploring how to give them the best educational outcomes and set them up for a life of music-making. Ready to learn more?

10/05/2016 Read more

TTTV060: Unpacking Autism with Clinical Psychologist Lydia Meem

by Tim Topham

[spp-player] As a piano teacher, you probably consider music to be your area of expertise. But we also have to wear so many other hats as well. When a student with special needs walks into our studio, we need to understand their diagnosis so we can teach them better. Sometimes we can feel completely in over ... TTTV060: Unpacking Autism with Clinical Psychologist Lydia Meem

09/30/2016 Read more
 

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Special Needs Piano Teaching

by Tim Topham

Feel more confident today teaching for special needs, with our tips, classroom strategies, method advice and more

09/29/2022 Read more

Unstructured Practice: Giving Students Time to Doodle

by Tim Topham

Welcome back to the first post of 2017! I hope you had a great break and are looking forward to the teaching year ahead. There have been lots of reports recently about a sudden awareness that our children have lost the opportunity to experience boredom. While most adults will fondly remember their childhoods spent roaming the streets on their ... Unstructured Practice: Giving Students Time to Doodle

01/16/2017 Read more

What’s your Piano Teaching Philosophy?

by Tim Topham

As teachers, we all have certain ways of doing things. We’ll teach certain pieces, we’ll put emphasis on certain aspects of teaching: technique, posture, reading, singing. We may be “exam” or “festival” teachers who always enter students for performance events. Perhaps your focus is on helping students play the music they want to or teaching sight ... What’s your Piano Teaching Philosophy?

09/19/2016 Read more

Online Piano Teaching

by Tim Topham

Have you thought about giving online lessons only to be overwhelmed by all the technology you'll need to purchase and learn to use? Have you written-off online lessons because of the importance you place on being able to physically help your students? This month on the blog and podcast, we're focussing on the ins and outs of teaching online: how to do it, what equipment you'll need, what the benefits are and much more.

08/03/2016 Read more

What The Research Says About Piano Practice and Motivation [Book Review]

by Tim Topham

I’ve learnt a few things about piano practice and motivation in my time as a musician and music teacher. Here are some of them: The most important thing we can teach our students is how to practice effectively Students need to be taught about practice methods including spaced practice, chunking, interleaved practice, etc. We all need to ... What The Research Says About Piano Practice and Motivation [Book Review]

08/15/2016 Read more

Why teaching music reading is the wrong way to teach piano [Part 2]

by Paul Myatt

In Part 2 of this series (click here for Part 1), I’m going to go into details about strategies that you can use to engage in a more multi-sensory approach to teaching including aural and music reading strategies and the importance of singing. Aural Strategies You may have some students who are very good readers. You, ... Why teaching music reading is the wrong way to teach piano [Part 2]

07/18/2016 Read more

Why chopsticks are more than just a handy eating utensil

by Tim Topham

One of the ways that I always stress that teachers can most easily and effectively build rapport with students and start creating a lasting relationship is by meeting them where they are at and finding out what new students can already do. This means that when you start a new student, the most important question ... Why chopsticks are more than just a handy eating utensil

04/18/2016 Read more

Encore: A must-have new graded repertoire collection for your studio

by Tim Topham

Finding good collections of music at graded levels can be quite a challenge and so I was really excited to explore and review the ABRSM’s Encore Collection which was released last year. I actually can’t believe how long it’s taken me to get into these books – lots of things have unfortunately taken priority since they ... Encore: A must-have new graded repertoire collection for your studio

03/28/2016 Read more

Piano Practice Guides for Motivating Students [Free Resources]

by Roberta Wolff

Have you ever wondered how a student’s practice diary or assignment book can best support their development as a musician or if there’s even any point in writing things down each week? Have you ever wondered if there are better ways that you can guide your students to practise effectively during the week? Many of us ... Piano Practice Guides for Motivating Students [Free Resources]

02/23/2016 Read more

The Magic Question: “How Do You Practise?”

by Andrew Ingkavet

  Practising a musical instrument is a process that needs to be learned. It’s just like learning how to study any subject in school. In fact, good instrumental teachers should consider themselves teachers of “practice” just as much as teachers of “piano” or “trumpet”. How often do you teach students how to practise? And have ... The Magic Question: “How Do You Practise?”

02/03/2016 Read more

The 10 Commandments of Teaching Pop

by Tim Topham

Want to know the 10 rules that I always follow when teaching pop music to today’s students? I’ve called the list my 10 Commandments of Teaching Pop and you can find it below.   The 10 Commandments of Teaching Pop Ask them what they want to learn. The first and most important commandment! Make sure you ask ... The 10 Commandments of Teaching Pop

01/18/2016 Read more

Flipped Practice: Can YouTube encourage effective practice?

by Paul Myatt

You’ve probably all heard about the “Flipped Classroom” and “Flipped Learning”. But what about about “Flipped Practice”? Just last week one of my students who is in year 6 at school (11 years old) and about to complete his Grade 4 piano was given a chord chart for the Jazz band at school. Even though I’m ... Flipped Practice: Can YouTube encourage effective practice?

02/08/2016 Read more

Don’t Just Play It: Teach and Compose It with Tim, Leila & Bradley [Pop Webinar]

by Tim Topham

 Times they are a-changin! Are you finding that more and more of your students (and their parents) are looking for a more contemporary focus in their piano lessons? Are you struggling to maintain and build your studio numbers in an area with lots of teachers doing much the same thing as each other? Are you ... Don’t Just Play It: Teach and Compose It with Tim, Leila & Bradley [Pop Webinar]

12/18/2015 Read more

How learning guitar made me a better piano teacher

by Tim Topham

Question: Why is learning guitar so popular? Answer: Because it’s easy to sound cool and play great music in just a couple of lessons. What can piano teachers learn from this? Can we use a guitar-teaching method and apply it to piano? The backstory Back when I was working as an outdoor education teacher on an ... How learning guitar made me a better piano teacher

07/13/2016 Read more

When piano class is a battle of wills with that teenage boy!

by Anita E Kohli

Today I’d like to introduce you to Anita Kohli who teaches in Mumbai, India and writes for us about a topic that readers will appreciate is very close to my own heart: teaching boys. Teenagers of either gender can be a challenge to motivate at times and Anita gives some great tips for dealing with difficult students. ... When piano class is a battle of wills with that teenage boy!

12/04/2015 Read more

6 Mistakes I Made When I Started Teaching Piano

by Tim Topham

We’re all still learning. Even the best teachers who have been teaching piano for decades will tell you that you will never stop learning. And that’s great, because it means we’re always trying to better ourselves, even if we make mistakes along the way. I want to get personal and share the top six mistakes ... 6 Mistakes I Made When I Started Teaching Piano

05/11/2022 Read more

Piano Teaching and Studio Business Tools

by Tim Topham

HERE ARE THE TOOLS WE USE, updated for 2021 Here’s our short list of best tools to manage and run a studio teaching small business, website, and accomplish daily teaching. There’s a few extras, too, if you’re looking at recording and producing your own content.   If you’re looking for training: online courses, webinars, coaching ... Piano Teaching and Studio Business Tools

12/09/2015 Read more

My new go-to piano sheet music resource: Noviscore

by Tim Topham

Do you sometimes find it hard to source good-quality arrangements of piano sheet music (especially pop) that your students actually enjoy playing, that actually sound good and that are fun to teach?

10/29/2015 Read more

How to pass an AMusA Diploma exam

by Tim Topham

If you’re a teacher or student living in Australia, you will no doubt be aware that the AMusA (Associate of Music Australia) is considered one of the benchmark qualifications for performers and teachers in this country and is a qualification to which most advanced classical students rightly aspire. It is a Diploma-level music exam equivalent to ... How to pass an AMusA Diploma exam

09/09/2015 Read more