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András Schiff Beethoven Lecture Recitals | Wigmore Hall Live

by Tim Topham

Teaching Beethoven – tips from a pro If you have ever taught or learnt any of the Beethoven sonatas, you’ll know how important it is to hear and learn from other people about ways of approaching and teaching the music. In my own studies, I watched hours and hours of online tutorials and master classes to ... András Schiff Beethoven Lecture Recitals | Wigmore Hall Live

03/13/2015 Read more

How to WAKE UP a sleepy piano student!

by Nicola Cantan

I’m super excited to share this guest post with you by Nicola Cantan. Nicola runs a thriving piano studio in Dublin, Ireland and blogs at Colourful Keys. Nicola’s blog is all about effective practice, teaching ideas and motivating students and it’s great that she’s taken the time to write this article about firing-up those sleepy, over-scheduled piano ... How to WAKE UP a sleepy piano student!

03/04/2015 Read more

Get Unlimited Piano Sheet Music Copies with Studio Licences

by Tim Topham

Studio Licensing: legal music copying I’ve written before about my frustration with the restrictive and outdated copyright laws generally favoured by the big music publishers (see Finally! Digital piano sheet music copyright is starting to make sense), so I was excited to read my friend and colleague, Australian teacher, presenter and composer Daniel McFarlane of ... Get Unlimited Piano Sheet Music Copies with Studio Licences

02/23/2015 Read more

Piano music for teens: Groovy Beats by Daniel McFarlane

by Tim Topham

Never content to sit back and relax, Daniel McFarlane, a prolific Australian-based composer of contemporary piano music for students, has recently released a collection of new books called Groovy Beats.   As you know, I’ve been a fan of Daniel’s music for some time now and featured his music in a number of previous posts, ... Piano music for teens: Groovy Beats by Daniel McFarlane

02/18/2015 Read more

Quick Teaching Tip: Using a Telescopic Pointer

by Tim Topham

Using a telescopic pointer in piano lessons Just a quick update today. I was in the middle of teaching the other day when one of my colleagues noticed that I was using an extendible pointer to point at my student’s music. I hadn’t really thought much of it – I’d been using an old radio antenna for ... Quick Teaching Tip: Using a Telescopic Pointer

02/13/2015 Read more

Piano Teaching Q&A: Piano Pop Music | The Teaching Studio

by Tim Topham

What do you actually think about letting your students play pop music? When I was researching my PianoFlix Teaching Pop course, I came across this article from The Teaching Studio Blog by Jenny Bay. It is one teacher’s response to a question that I get asked all the time: “Why teach pop?” and it is a response that resonates ... Piano Teaching Q&A: Piano Pop Music | The Teaching Studio

02/10/2015 Read more
 

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Exploring Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas – On-demand Course | Coursera

by Tim Topham

Continuing my theme of great online training opportunities for piano teachers, I recently found out about another interesting free Coursera Course: Exploring Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas by American performer and teacher Jonathan Biss. This course takes an inside-out look at the 32 piano sonatas from the point of view of a performer. Each lecture will focus ... Exploring Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas – On-demand Course | Coursera

02/08/2015 Read more

Got awesome piano teaching ideas to share?

by Tim Topham

​Are you a piano teacher with a budding desire to write? Do you have a knack for sharing useful resources and explaining complex topics? Have you considered starting your own blog? Whether you’re already a published author or are just looking to share some cool piano teaching ideas with the world, I’m interested to hear ... Got awesome piano teaching ideas to share?

02/04/2015 Read more

AMEB Series 17 Piano | Best pieces Grades 4-6

by Tim Topham

Quick NavigationIntroductionGrade 4Grade 5Grade 6Conclusion & Where to buy Introduction This is the second in my 3-part blog series about the music in the new AMEB Series 17 publications released in November 2014. My first part, showing my favourite pieces for Grades P-3 is here.  In this article, I’ll be focussing on the music found ... AMEB Series 17 Piano | Best pieces Grades 4-6

02/02/2015 Read more

Online PD for Piano Teachers

by Tim Topham

The future of training? There is a place for both online learning and face to face, but being able to do this in a quiet spot at home away from the distractions and demands of school, and without the extra travel is a wonderful advantage. This is a quote from Gurdun Argropoulos, a German Teacher ... Online PD for Piano Teachers

01/29/2015 Read more

Bribery should not be used as motivation to practise – The Strad

by Tim Topham

Intrinsic v Extrinsic Motivation in Music Students Building on the ideas of one of my previous articles: Why extrinsic rewards are so bad for motivation, you might have missed this great article from string teaching magazine, The Strad. In it, a parent delves into some research about bribes, motivation and practice to come up with ... Bribery should not be used as motivation to practise – The Strad

01/28/2015 Read more

Free Jazz Improvisation Course | Coursera

by Tim Topham

Ever wanted to learn more about jazz improvising? Here’s a free 5-week online course that you can take from your own studio and featuring one of the greats of jazz improvisation, Gary Burton from the Berklee College of Music. Coursera is an education platform that partners with top universities and organizations worldwide, to offer courses online for ... Free Jazz Improvisation Course | Coursera

01/08/2015 Read more