Category Archives: Uncategorized

Fall Studio is Full

I had an amazing time camping and backpacking in Utah at the end of August.  Sometimes it’s strange to take such a long time away from playing piano and making music, but it helps to come back to it refreshed and excited.  Nature is a great muse!

Bryce Canyon in Utah

With most of last year’s students returning to lessons this year, and nearly 20 students on my wait list, I am unable to offer any more spots to people interested in lessons at this time. I do have some resources to help people in their search – feel free to contact me to ask about these resources or get advice on finding a program and teacher that matches with you or your child’s learning styles.

Memorial Day – No Lessons

There will be no lessons on Friday, May 25th or Monday, May 28th for the Memorial Day weekend. I’ll be using the long weekend to go backpacking in the White Mountains. We made it to the top of Mt. Isolation during last year’s trip, and despite some wet weather had a lovely time. Here’s to spending time outdoors!

Vacation – March 22-28

I will be away on vacation from Thursday March 22 through Wednesday March 28, so there will be no lessons during that time.

Although there is no school on Friday March 30, I am still available for lessons. Please let me know if you do not plan on attending. Thank you!

Possible Snow Day March 7, 2018

Arlington is right on the rain/snow line for today, which makes predicting the evening weather conditions difficult.  If a parking ban takes effect in Arlington, all lessons are cancelled for the day.  Since there is a Winter Storm Warning in effect, lessons may be cancelled during the day without penalty.  Any money previously paid towards today’s lesson will be put towards the next unpaid lesson.

February Vacation

I will be out of the office on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (February 19-21) so there will be no lessons and I will be unable to answer emails. Make-up lessons are available on Thursday Feb. 22 and Friday Feb. 23.

One great highlight for me is a trip to New York to see the Metropolitan Opera perform Parsifal, a 5-hour Wagner opera. I can’t wait to tell you all about it when we’re back! Have a great vacation week.

I spy with my little eye…

IMG_4074One of the neatest things about practicing before my lessons begin is that my students get a chance to look at my music.  We often have conversations about the notation, usually about how big the piece is – “Wow, that’s so many notes!” or “That song must be really long!”  But I also try to have them spot things that they already know – middle C, quarter notes, sharps and flats.  Think about the way children learn to read: Along with books they can read on their own, it is helpful to have books above their level around so they can see what books are like for adults and look for words or symbols they already know to give them confidence in their abilities.  The same experience rarely happens in music learning.  Students often look ahead in their own books and want to talk about whichever song is at the end, but unless they have someone else in the house who has played at a higher level, they won’t be exposed to reading more advanced music until they can play it.

So what can I do to expose more students to more advanced notation?  Musical I-Spy!  I’ll put out a different page of music every week for students who are waiting for their lesson to look at and examine on their own.  I finished putting it together yesterday, just in time for next week’s lessons!  Be sure to look for it in the beanbag room 🙂

Piano Party!

Our Piano Party on Sunday was a rousing success!  Now that we’ve had a few of these informal performance gatherings, many students came knowing exactly what was going to happen and gave some wonderful support to those students who were new to our get-together.  Highlights included:

  • Songs from “Phineas and Ferb” and “Home Alone”
  • A son-and-mother duet
  • Some sneaky “what did I change?” tricks involving the damper pedal and repeated notes
  • Playing a song from memory
  • A few renditions of a classic Beethoven tune
  • Students composing their own songs after the performances were done

After the playing was done, we all had snacks and spent time socializing as a group.  Piano can be such a lonely instrument to practice; I’m so glad we had this chance to get together and celebrate how much fun it is to play for others!