One year ago I taught my first online piano lesson. I felt like a 2nd grader attempting for the first time to bowl in a lane with no bumpers.  "I normally get a strike! Why is my ball in the alley? What is going on?" I was used to hearing students playing on my in-tune piano, in a quiet space without interruptions. I quickly adapted to hearing students on out-of-tune pianos, in a house full of chaos, through the computer which distorted or muted every note they played!  We've come along way! Thank goodness, the sound quality of online platforms to hear music has improved immensely! L ..read more

Studio preparations for fall...getting ready for both in person lessons and virtual lessons.   Piano Studio for in person lessons. Virtual Studio.         ..read more

Un-imagined, unexpected and full of adaptation describes our current lives.  What I have come to understand, though, is that music is still thriving! I am so grateful to all of my students and their parents for their patience and perseverance during this time. Many students have inspired me by practicing more than usual. We got through the spring with virtual lessons and performances:  our studio participated in a live virtual format for Federation and National Piano Guild, both of which were surprisingly free of technical difficulties. We managed to keep our high school group perfor ..read more

Please join Lisa and me and a few of our students as we showcase some of our favorite new intermediate pieces from the Bastien New Tradition Series. Thank you to MTNA for putting together this virtual conference which is free for all piano teachers! Enjoy!   ..read more

I have loved using the free practice app that comes along with each book in the Bastien New Traditions series for on-line teaching! It is providing students with a musical model to follow at home when practicing and during lessons! I am asking students to have it available during lessons. A great exercise for teaching a new piece has been to have students listen to the piece on the practice app while watching their music and counting aloud. Students are hearing a great recording of the piece in real time while I'm with them so we can address questions and get started together on new music. Als ..read more

It's not quite winter but it feels like it, even in southern California! Snow Upon Snow is a beautiful new piece written by Lisa which evokes the peaceful feeling of a first snow! I love this intermediate piece because of the sophisticated melody line which makes it a perfect piece for a student of any age! This video shows one of my high school students performing in rehearsal and recital. Happy Winter ..read more

I like to teach my high school students as much as I can about how to work with beginning piano students. I really enjoy hearing about their first teaching experiences and what kinds of challenges arise. In the following video, I give a new teacher some tips for helping students to learn to play in rhythm ..read more

  This new piece has become a favorite with students and at recitals! It is an early intermediate level, in 5/8 time ..read more

One of my basic goals as a teacher is making sure that students have an opportunity to work together. Scheduling time for students to collaborate can be challenging! In this video, I share the easiest way I know of to provide time for students to work together! ~Lori ..read more