This past week, a major milestone happened in my life—I officially attended a conference as a piano teacher!
I was fortunate enough to be chosen as a recipient of a full-tuition waiver scholarship to attend the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy in Lombard, Illinois. Thanks to Dr. Richard Van Dyke from the Cincinnati Music Academy, and Dr. Vanessa Cornett-Murtada, Director of Keyboard Studies at the University of St. Thomas, for my scholarship! I sent them each a thank you letter but despite my sneaky badge peaking of everyone I walked past at the conference I didn’t get a chance to meet and thank them in person. I convinced my girlfriend Clare (she teaches piano also, in fact, the first time we met was in our piano pedagogy class—she came in late) to take advantage of the super affordable student rates still available to her and come along with me to the conference. However, because we didn’t trust ourselves to behave alone in a hotel room and didn’t want to pay for separate rooms—I dragged my mom to the conference too! It was an awesome four days surrounded by other piano teachers who are truly passionate about their profession, listening to workshops and master classes by some of the best piano teachers in the world. A couple days in my mom was already asking about coming back for the next conference because we all learned so much. While at the conference I had the opportunity to meet and chat briefly with a few of the speakers after their workshops:
Kevin Olson, he’s a prolific composer and arranger for FJH Music Company. He talked about the new series of method books that he and his wife wrote and other repertoire that’s out. I also really enjoyed learning about his family and his mission trip when he was in college.
Jane Magrath, she’s got so many volumes and works published with Alfred Publishing that I’m not even going to bother listing them. If you take piano lessons, chances are you’ve played from one of her curated volumes. I think her most indispensible publication for piano teachers is probably the Pianist's Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature by Jane Magrath (this is an Amazon affiliate link, so I get like a quarter from Amazon if you purchase the book through it but I highly recommend this book for all piano teachers. Even if you don't use this link, you should find and buy it on Amazon).
On one of the last workshops I attended, I met Wendy Stevens! She writes a widely popular blog for piano teachers at www.composecreate.com with lots of essential reading for piano teachers, especially on healthy business practices. You can tell she’s giving invaluable information for teachers because the two workshops she gave were filled and a lot of people lined up afterwards to ask her more questions. I was the last person but she was still kind enough to chat with me despite running short on time to get lunch before catching her plane.
This conference really was a great experience that I feel all piano teachers should have periodically if not regularly. I don’t know how other teachers do it at the conference; going with two other people allowed us to split up and listen/record/take notes at different workshops happening at the same time. If you went by yourself…HOW DO YOU DECIDE ON ONLY ONE WORKSHOP TO GO TO AT A TIME?!
I don't think it's possible, which is why I hope that's a question I never have to answer! Were you at the conference too? How was your experience? Tell me about it in the comments! Don't forget to join us and like our studio's facebook page!
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First order of business, just wanted to wish all the mothers, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! Our family is meeting up with my brother and his wife near where they live to eat dinner together and celebrate :)
So in a previous post, I've written about why piano is the best instrument to begin music studies and private lessons with. You can learn about the different reasons here: Best First Instrument. Here's a different perspective! A guest post from Joseph Primavera, a guitar teacher and performer in Philadelphia. He brings insight and expertise on the guitar that I don't have and make comparisons between piano and guitar that I've never even thought of; he also points out things about the piano that I've just taken for granted.
It's actually quite common for studnents to want to quit piano lessons; it's a bit like when a kid gets a puppy and then later realizes that the thing poops, pees, howls, and needs to be fed and trained otherwise they become little monsters.
Messing around and playing random notes on the piano is easy, but to get proficient at it takes hard work. What kind of lesson do you think kids learn if at the first sign of work and hardship they're allowed to quit piano lessons? "Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit" - Vince Lombardi Jr.
In a previous post I talked about the importance of parental support in a student's musical journey and mentioned my own story of wanting to quit piano--unsuccessfully, thanks mom. Recently I've stumbled on a couple more related posts and videos that I'd like to share with you!
Have you ever wondered what somebody with a Ph.D. in Education thinks about music education? Well I'm here to tell you--your wait is over!
Okay, even if you've never wondered that in your life, my brother recently passed his dissertation defense and received his Ph.D. in Education from the University of California, Irvine. If you want proof, to the left is a picture of him making his presentation in for the professors. As you will see, his writing is a lot more research-y than my blog posts, enjoy :)
Many people are already aware of the more 'scientific' benefits of piano lessons; studies of increased brain development and intelligence have been well-documented by various researchers.
However, there are other awesome benefits that come with taking piano lessons that are talked about less often--benefits that I feel are more important and beneficial than the scientific ones--mainly, the character that results from continued lessons. Improved brain development takes months; character building take years. With that in mind, I'm starting with what I think is the most important character trait that results from years of piano lessons.
“Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.”
Winston Churchill |
FreshStart Piano Studio in Irvine offers piano lessons for beginners between the ages of 4-adults and a fresh start for intermediate & advanced students. Enroll in piano lessons now!
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