“There’s music in the sighing of a reed; There’s music in the gushing of a rill; There’s music in all things, if men had ears; The earth is but the music of the spheres” Lord Byron Historic houses can be fascinating. A glimpse into the past and a connection with history. I love wandering through the…
Just love what you are doing, and try to play more Lang Lang It is the school holidays here this week so my students are having a break from lessons. It’s the perfect time for me to catch up on my own playing and I’m really enjoying practising. What music do you currently have on…
Spoon-feeding, in the long run, teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon E.M.Forster If you think about it, contact time with students is very small. An average lesson is often between 30 minutes to an hour a week, leaving lots of time in between for students to work on their own. As a…
Perfectionism kills art. I find that if I criticise myself, it spoils the fun. You can get paralysed by analysis – it takes all the playfulness away Geri Halliwell Do you teach any perfectionists? A few years ago I inherited a piano student who was at the more extreme end of the scale. With one…
I’m an interpreter of stories. When I perform it’s like sitting down at my piano and telling fairy stories. Nat King Cole What a fantastic quote! Once upon a time, I was preparing a student for her exam! Everything was in place. All the notes and rhythms were correct but there was something missing. So…
It’s been a year full of music fun and adventures at Learnatune Games and I hope your students have enjoyed playing as much as mine have! Wishing everyone a happy and peaceful holiday season and looking forward to sharing more games in 2023.
Following on from the (totally serious!) blog post earlier about the ‘secret’ of playing the piano, I have found some great advice for flautists. If you want to improve then take the advice of James Galway … The quickest way to unlock your talent is to take the flute out of the box James Galway…
Are you learning or teaching the piano and want to know a secret?! Then this quote is definitely for you! Have I a secret about playing the piano? It’s a very simple one. I sit down on the piano stool and make myself comfortable – and I always make sure that the lid over the…
If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn Estrada Years ago it was normal for teachers to stand in front of a class of silent students and present what was to be learnt that day. Everyone was taught exactly the same thing in exactly the same…
I teach a lot of young students and we often use music games to reinforce what they are learning (as you may have gathered from my website!). I’ve noticed recently that you can actually tell a lot about a student’s learning style just by playing a game. Recently, for example, I was helping someone with time…
Many years ago when I was studying for a teaching diploma I read a really useful book by Susan Hallam and one part of it must have struck a chord with me (no pun intended!). I got the same book out for one of my own diploma students a few years after and realised I…
Life seems to go on without effort when I am filled with music George Eliot Hands up if you enjoy reading! As a student (which seems a long time ago now), I have happy memories of curling up on the sofa with a Victorian novel and a cup of tea, followed by penning an essay…
