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by Tim Topham

In today’s episode, we’re speaking with one of Australia’s most-loved composers, Kerin Bailey. Kerin shares his musical background, influence of jazz music, and thoughts about effective ways to teach jazz skills and chord progressions to students. We’ll also hear Kerin demonstrate on the piano from his improv system for teaching, and give you some takeaways ... TC220: Jazz Perspectives with Composer Kerin Bailey

by Tim Topham

Lucinda was trained in a traditional classical system, but when she realised that she couldn’t even play Happy Birthday at a party (without sheet music) she felt a little cheated. Why couldn’t she do something so simple after all these years of study? She wished that someone who had these playing by ear skills would write ... CPTP110: Why Every Student Should Know Happy Birthday with Lucinda Mackworth-Young

by Tim Topham

Hooktheory is a truly innovative site. It looks at harmony from a completely different perspective than traditional music theory. This is what happens when you bring together three engineers with a shared passion for music. By analysing the underlying chord progressions of thousands of pop songs – these guys are not simply learning what makes for a ... CPTP088: 15,390 Pop Songs and Counting: The Hooktheory Story

by Tim Topham

When it comes to teaching pop piano, I’ve heard it all. Teachers cite these six barriers for getting into pop teaching time and again. But today I’m going to bust these myths. I get why you might be reluctant to branch into this area. Especially if you’ve bought into any of these preconceptions about teaching ... CPTP087: Top 6 Myths of Teaching Pop Piano

by Tim Topham

If you’ve been following my writing for any length of time, you will be aware that I’m passionate about helping students learn the music they want to learn. Part of that approach will naturally involve pop music because it’s the kind of music that 9/10 students are listening to at the moment. Students often want ... Integrating Pop Piano Teaching into Your Studio

by Tim Topham

Why write about teens? I decided to write a short series about teaching teens because there seems to be a lot of teachers out there for whom teaching teens is becoming a bit of a struggle. You might have read their posts on piano teaching groups, wondering aloud why teenagers don’t want to have lessons ... The Real Reason Teens Are Quitting Your Studio – Part 2