As we logged in to our site to publish today’s article I glanced up at the “post count” and had to do a double-take… Trevor and I have now written 950 piano teaching posts! At a time of year when people are more apt to pause and reflect, this moment was certainly not lost on us.
That’s 950 times we’ve had the privilege of being a small part of your piano teaching day. 950 times that we have sat down to write a post in the hopes that we’d bring you a smile, a sigh of relief, a helping hand, a boost, or a “thank goodness… I needed something to do today”. And it’s 950 times we’ve had the opportunity to connect with you personally through our blog or social media pages.
As we head into the holidays, Trevor and I wanted to take a moment to thank you for being a integral part of building the Teach Piano Today community that we dreamed of when we first started this blog: a positive, proactive, happy place for piano teachers to re-charge, learn and grow.
We love having the opportunity to get to know so many of you so well. Each time an email pops into our inbox, it’s as though it’s coming from a friend. In an age when the internet is so firmly intertwined in our day-to-day life, it shouldn’t really phase us that we get the chance to chat and check-in with teachers from places as wide-spread and varied as Ireland, Hong Kong, South Africa, Iceland, United States, Germany and Canada (all often within a one hour period) but it still makes us frequently stop and shake our heads in amazement. What a fabulous thing it is that we can truly gain a global perspective on piano teaching so easily.
And so… while we’re in this reflective sort of mood we thought it would be helpful to provide you with the “ultimate Teach Piano Today round-up”; 7 of our most popular piano teaching posts from 2016. Did you miss some? Did you forget about some? Did you love some and want to read them again? Here they are!
The Top 7 Piano Teaching Posts of 2016
How To Teach Your Piano Students To Read Notes Without Drilling Flashcards. These 8 note-reading strategies “struck a chord” with our piano teaching community (receiving 1.2K Pinterest pins!) and provided teachers with a wide array of note-reading strategies they could use with the varied learning needs in their studios. If you’re sick of flash card drills, check out these new and inventive ways of teaching note reading.
The Piano Teaching Gadgets I’ve Used For 16 Years. Have you ever wished you could take a sneak peek into another teacher’s studio? In this post I shared the teaching tools that have lived beside my piano for the past 16 years. Everyone wanted to know how rubber rats found their way into my piano lessons. And with over 50 comments from teachers sharing their own helpful “gadgets”, this post is full of great stuff.
After Watching This Video You May Never Ask Your Piano Students To Clap Rhythm Again! Our readers loved our rock-solid idea for teaching rhythm that we call “track tapping”. It works for students of all ages and is the best way I’ve found for students to the rhythms in a new piano piece. I’m still seeing videos on social media of students using this strategy! If you have a student who struggles with rhythm (or if you just want a new way to approach your rhythm teaching) read this post.
With These Piano Parent Stickers, Home Practice Is Sure To Improve. Stickers for parents? Yes! This printable was a massive success in studios around the world; giving parents an easy way to be proactively involved in their children’s home practice.
A Rockin’ Arpeggio Duet To Change Teens’ Attitudes Towards Technical Work. Arpeggios used to be dry and boring… until we shared this awesome duet that turns arpeggio practice into an awesome-sounding piece! Teens went crazy for the music, and teachers loved the amount of practice that happened as a result!
This Is What The Perfect Recital Welcome Speech Looks Like. Your piano recital is one of only a handful of times when your entire studio population is gathered under one roof. Taking full advantage of this captive audience and delivering a brilliant recital welcome speech can accelerate your studio growth and contribute to a long, full, and healthy musical career. Not sure what to say? We’ve done the hard work for you in this post that you can literally “print and use”.
Composer Trading Cards… An Easy and Fun Way To Include Music History In Piano Lessons. I struggled for a long time wondering how to include music history in my lessons. But out of this struggle came our Composer Trading Cards. Piano students everywhere began building a beautiful collection of these free printables AND they had a blast learning music history at the same time! This post contains links to all of the trading card sets we created this year plus a fun game you can use to review your students’ composer knowledge. Stay tuned for more cards in 2017!
And Now, We Want to Hear From You!
As we head into a new year of blogging and resource-creation, we want to hear from you! What did you find most helpful on the Teach Piano Today blog this year? What was a smash-hit in your studio? Share in the comments below.
We hope you enjoy the weekend with your family and friends and are surrounded by light, love, great food and music. Merry Christmas from Andrea and Trevor 🙂
Thank you so much for everything you do! Have a very merry Christmas. 🙂
Thanks for reading our blog Becky! Happy Holidays to you as well 🙂
Really appreciate all your hard work and scarifice to help us be better piano teachers. Blessings to you and yours! Merry Christmas!
Thank you Diana! 🙂 Hope you can enjoy some relaxation this weekend!
Hello Andrea & Trevor,
A lovely post, thank you. I just finished my third recital yesterday AM and your paint chip composition was a part of the program. 2/3 of my students are kids 5-14yrs while the other third are adults 40-70yrs. I love the paint chips! The wee ones created ‘motifs’ and I have a 10yr old student (5 mos of lessons) who created a beautiful piece based on her chosen icy blue color trio. One of my adults created a lovely piece based on ‘purple flowers’.
I’ve purchased your composition book which I’ll start the kids on in January. I’ve also been reading a lot of your posts on technique which admittedly is a teaching weakness for me…in fact I’ve just ignored it :p! That stuff was always so dry so it bored me to tears. Your integrated story approach makes it fun for me and therefore my students. It’s a springboard for my dramatic silliness :)!
Happy holidays you two!
Jennifer Marlow (Nova Scotia)
Hi Jennifer – so happy to hear that student compositions were such a large part of your recital – that’s fantastic. What a great way to really show your students that their creativity is real and appreciated. I’m sure they’ll love the Curious Case of Muttzart and Ratmaninoff – it will help them take their motive-making to a new level 🙂 Merry Christmas. PS – Nova Scotia is gorgeous – we were there 9 years ago and loved it!
Many Thanks for all the tools and tips and of course your Music sheets… Looking forward to 2017…
Merry Christmas all the way from South Africa..xx
Hi Magali – Merry Christmas to you as well! Thanks for supporting our blog and our resources 🙂
Hi Andrea and Trevor!
I look forward to receiving your awesome emails every day! Many thanks for all your ideas, games, music, printables and most of all inspiration! May you have a Magical Christmas and I look forward another wonderfully musical year ahead!!!
Debra
Hi Debra – Thanks for letting us pop into your inbox each morning! Merry Christmas and best wishes for a new year to come 🙂
Thank you for all you and Trevor do to make teaching and learning to play the piano more interesting and enjoyable for teachers and students. Blessings to you and your family!
Thanks Jan! We appreciate your support of our blog immensely 🙂
thank you so much for sharing these winners again.
I used the recital welcome speech as the backbone for my opening comments in the spring. I felt so confident and was very well-prepared without blabbering on and on.
Best wishes for a very Merry Christmas.
Thrilled to hear it Patsy! Merry Christmas to you as well 🙂
Wow, don’t know how you narrowed it down to 7:), but it’s always great to get a review because I can’t keep all of your wonderful ideas in my head!!
Thanks for ALL you all do.
Wishing you and your family the best of holidays.
Looking forward to another creative year in 2017!
Thank you Barbara! Merry Christmas to you 🙂
Thank you! I just found your blog about 3 months ago and now I count it as one of my top three resources for finding creative ways to teach and effective ways to run my studio. And Wunderkeys is the most fun I’ve ever had. Thank you for all you do and may God bless you and your family this Christmas, in the New Year and every day going forward.
Thanks so much for your kindness Deanna! Thrilled you’re excited about WunderKeys and happy that you found us!
Thank you so much for all your wonderful ideas, sharing, and encouragement! You’re a blessing!
Have a great new year!
Happy New Year to you as well Laura 🙂
I discovered your blog last summer and found everything really useful! My students loved your Halloween and Christmas rhythm cards so much they all made their own versions! We also used them to teach improv with. I also found your arrangements and songs were really helpful supplement songs 🙂 Thanks!