Piano teaching advice never gets old. You can read an article that Andrea wrote 7 years ago or an article that I wrote last month and they will be both be useful.
If you did, however, set out to read all of Teach Piano Today’s posts you’ll likely be retired before you get through them all!
Last year alone, we wrote 131 piano teaching articles. Combine that with previous years, and our blog is closing in on 1500 posts.
That’s why it is important for us to bring you a “best of” at the end of every teaching year.
Today we are sharing Teach Piano Today’s Top 5 Posts From 2020. If there is only one thing you do between now and the start of lessons… reading these posts should be it 🙂
Teach Piano Today’s 2020 Year In Review
2020 was a crazy year. Andrea and I had to scrap a lot of exciting family plans. Because of this, we spent way more time at home than we could have ever imagined.
While we missed out on some adventures, we made the most of our time!
In addition to writing 131 piano posts, creating hundreds of piano printables, hosting 40 virtual piano recitals, composing 12 digital piano books, creating 48 digital piano games, and launching the brand new WunderKeys website…
…we also published some of our most exciting piano resources yet, including:
1. WunderKeys Intermediate Pop Studies For Piano 3
2. WunderKeys Elementary Piano Lesson Book 2A
3. Andrea And Trevor Dow’s Timed Note Reading Tests For Piano, Book 1
4. Andrea And Trevor Dow’s Timed Note Reading Tests For Piano, Book 2
5. Andrea And Trevor Dow’s Playing With Note Printing Activity Book For Piano
6. Andrea And Trevor Dow’s Technical Exercises For Note Reading Success, Book 1
7. Barnyard Brooke And The Magical Motives: Primer Piano Storybook Composing
8. James B. Daring And The Magical Motives: Primer Piano Storybook Composing
9. Penny Petticrew And The Magical Motives: Primer Piano Storybook Composing
In No Particular Order, 2020’s Top 5 Posts
1. 19 Ways To Inspire Parental Involvement In Your Piano Studio
Without parental involvement, running a successful studio is a real challenge. You only see your students once a week; the rest of the time, their piano teaching success depends on home practice.
Use these 19 tips to inspire parental involvement in your studio.
2. Use This Note Reading Assessment During The First Week Of Lessons
Piano student assessments are the most neglected areas of piano pedagogy. This year we intend to focus more on helping you assess your students to guide their learning.
But until then, you can get started with this very helpful note reading assessment.
3. Zoom Piano Recitals Are Here To Stay: Your How-To Guide
What would a “Best Of 2020” list be without a nod to online lessons? Virtual lessons were the greatest challenge faced by piano teachers in 2020. In 2021 many of us will be hoping to return to normal piano lessons.
Until that time, keeping up with online piano tips like this Zoom Recital Guide is a good idea.
4. How To Move Piano Students To WunderKeys – A Transfer Guide
As many of you know, Andrea and I publish the WunderKeys Method Books. 2020 was our biggest year yet… by far! The number of teachers using our method books and materials more than doubled in just one year.
If your students are ready to make the leap to WunderKeys, check out this transfer guide.
5. Piano Student Report Card Templates For Half-Year Assessments
As mentioned in Post #2, assessments are going to be getting a lot of attention in 2021. While assessments are essential to guide your teaching, they are also important for keeping parents up to date with their children’s progress.
Parents want to know that their hard-earned dollars are being well spent!
In this post, we’re sharing 18 templates that make writing piano report cards a snap!
There it is… 2020’s Hall Of Fame. We hope you use these posts as a jumping-off point for exploring many more articles on the Teach Piano Today Blog and the WunderKeys website.
And Don’t Forget…
We’re not done yet!
Our fastest growing resource is the Growing With WunderKeys Toolkit. Every Saturday morning we share piano printables with our WunderKeys community. You do not want to miss out on these incredible activities.
Jennifer Groover says
Y’all should be proud of yourselves, Andrea and Trevor – that list above is quite an accomplishment! Well done, and thank you for all your hard work that help us teachers be successful!
Andrea says
You’re so sweet, Jennifer! Thank you 🙂
Soni C. says
This is probably just me quibbling but instead of referring to in-person lessons as “normal” perhaps just refer to them as “in-person”. For teachers who have been teaching strictly online for years pre-pandemic, online lessons are “normal”.
Andrea says
Certainly – I think we intended the meaning to be the “return to normal” for what each teacher was used to 🙂
Linda Hyland says
Somehow you two manage to give tons of advice, music, games, resources, ….blah, blah…well, you know how much you do, …BUT still keep it feeling personal as if you are my piano teacher buddy from down the street. I’ve been teaching for over 40 years and at this point in my life/career, I feel like you’ve helped so much in keeping me going!