Word of the Week
Rubato A flexible tempo
Posts
Recital Prep: Things Students Should Know
And here is the student part! Parents, take a minute to go over this with young children who will be performing. Students, we've covered most of this in class before you get to the recital, but give it a read-through anyways, just to make sure I didn't forget to tell you something important. ;) On Friday or Saturday before the recital, flag your books! Put a sticky note on the page with the song you are playing, so you can flip to it easily and quickly at the recital! If you have loose sheet music, make sure you have it with you (preferably in a binder and flagged, or glued to a piece of cardboard). If you're playing from a book, and you have a page turn and haven't memorized the second page, get your mom or dad to photocopy pages so you don't have to do a page turn. Unless, of course, you've already talked with me about having me turn your pages for you. (This does not apply if you're playing from memory, though it won't hurt to bring your books alon...
Recital Prep: Things Parents Should Know
Hey, everyone! Last spring I gave you the condensed version of this post. This year, you get the long version again. Please read to the end! I know you're probably going to think this is obvious... but please make sure your child is practicing. Especially if they're doing a duet. It's not going to help their confidence if they lollygag about practice until the week before the recital. It's one of those times when it's perfectly OK to be the mean mom (or dad). Trust me, it will be worth it. Make sure you and your family arrive at the church on time (a few minutes before 2:30 P.M.). Check the address ahead of time, so you know where you're going! Please be respectful of church property while we are there, and remind your children not to run in the sanctuary, play with things in the church, etc. If the church has hand sanitizer available, ...
Word of the Week
Una Corde The left pedal Fun fact: Una corde actually literally translates to "one string"! This is because una corde refers to the quiet pedal. On a grand piano, the mechanism for making the sound quieter is to shift the keyboard and hammers slightly to the side. Then the hammers, instead of hitting the three strings attached to each key, only hit one!
Word of the Week
Langham Slowly What makes thus word unique from other words like Largo and Adagio? It's in German! Most music vocabulary words, including Largo, Adagio, Lente, and Andante (all different ways of saying slowly) are Italian words. However, a number of great composers were from modern-day Germany, and so every once in a while, we may encounter a German music term instead of an Italian one. Cool, huh?
Blogging Changes
Hello, everyone, Well, you've probably noticed. I haven't blogged much in the last few months. When I started blogging in 2018, it was to make sure that the studio had a strong online presence that I could use to reach potential customers. I also have always enjoyed writing, and it wasn't hard for me to come up with things to write about. Fast forward to 2025. My student count is strong, I now have a social media presence via Facebook, and I'm no longer feeling the need to push myself forward in the advertising field as much. Plus, there is another factor... and that's that I've nearly run out of things to say, at least, for the time being. I always dread seeing these kind of blog posts on the blogs I like. Because you know, once you reach this point, that it means an end. But the fact is, blogging no longer fits into my life -- at least, not regular blogging. There are some things you will st...