3 November Piano Lesson Ideas + Free Thanksgiving Printables
Looking for some November piano lesson ideas to use with your students? I’ve got three activities to share today, including two free Thanksgiving piano worksheets and a fun way to decorate your studio for the month! Here in the U.S., November is all about Thanksgiving. And while our piano lessons are probably getting pretty busy […]
Christmas Composing Activity for Beginning Piano Students
What if your piano students could give someone a song for Christmas? This Christmas composing activity helps beginning students create a little holiday song they can play for a parent, grandparent, or someone special. With Christmas Compose With Dice, students roll a die to choose melody notes, write them on the staff, and hear their […]
7 Christmas Piano Lesson Ideas for the Last Lesson Before Break
The last piano lesson before Christmas break is always a little different, isn’t it? Students are excited about the holidays, everyone’s counting down to vacation, and let’s face it, focusing on regular lesson material isn’t exactly at the top of anyone’s priority list! But that doesn’t mean we have to abandon learning altogether. In fact, […]
Teaching Piano Chords: A Simple Trick for Memorizing Triads
If you’ve ever introduced major triads to an elementary piano student, you probably know this scenario: They play C major. Wonderful! They play G major. Great! They play D major…wait a minute. Something doesn’t sound right. Oops! That’s D minor. Most students can HEAR when they’ve accidentally played a minor chord instead of a major […]
Christmas Piano Lead Sheets for Beginners: A Better Way to Teach Holiday Songs
Looking for Christmas piano music that’s easy enough for your beginning students but still sounds like the holiday songs they know and love? Christmas piano lead sheets are a fun way to introduce beginners to playing familiar holiday favorites while exploring chords and simple left-hand accompaniments. And here’s the best part: students don’t need to […]
A Better Fit for Older Beginners? Inside the Chord First Piano Method
If you’ve ever taught a teen or adult beginner and thought, I wish there were another option besides putting them straight into a traditional beginner method, this one is for you. Over the past couple of years, I’ve spent a lot of time looking at piano methods for older beginners. I’ve compared methods, tried different […]
Fall Music Worksheets for Piano Students [Free Printable PDF]
Looking for some fun fall music worksheets to reinforce music theory concepts with your piano students? Whether you’re working with young beginners who are still learning their finger numbers or more advanced students who need a little extra practice with intervals and scales, a seasonal worksheet can make ordinary music theory review feel a little […]
How to Teach Lead Sheets to Piano Students
Many piano students spend years learning to play exactly what’s written on the page, but real-world musicians often do much more than that. They improvise, accompany singers, play by ear, and create their own arrangements. Lead sheets are a fantastic tool for developing these skills. By combining a simple melody with chord symbols, lead sheets […]
Fun Piano Interval Activities for the First Weeks of Lessons
Every piano teacher knows the feeling. A student returns after summer break and sits down at the piano ready to play. They remember where Middle C is. They remember a few note names. They might even remember most of their favorite pieces from last spring. But then you ask them to identify a simple interval […]
Faber Piano Adventures Grand Level 4 All-in-One Review: What Piano Teachers Need to Know
If you’ve ever wished that the Faber Piano Adventures series had an all-in-one option for intermediate students, your wish has officially come true. This month, Faber released the brand new Piano Adventures Grand Level 4 All-in-One Intermediate Book, combining the Lesson, Theory, Technique, and Performance books into one large volume for upper elementary and early […]
