I am so excited about Alfred’s new series for busy teens, but brokenhearted because I don’t have any students who could use it yet!

Alfred’s “Piano For Busy Teens”  incorporates many different styles of music to appeal to teenagers- jazz, classical, duets, showstoppers and more.

But the ingenious thing about this series is that it takes into account how busy teenagers are.  This is for the teenagers who still want to play piano, but only have a short time to practice each day.

Each piece first has a “1 Minute FYI,” a brief introduction about the piece with historical and practial information. 

Following the “1 Minute FYI,” there is a “5 Minute Warmup” to help students get the feel of the piece- the rhythm and coordination. 

After that, there is a “15 Minute Practice Plan,” where the piece is divided into 4 weeks.  During Week One, the student is to spend 15 minutes each day on Section 1 of the piece.  Week 2 covers a new section and so on, until Week 4 when the student practices the entire piece. 

There is also a “5 Minute Finishing Touches” portion which points out impressive rhythms and dynamics that a student should pay attention to.

After 4 weeks, the student should be able to play the entire piece, even though he/she only practiced about 15-20 minutes a day!

What’s even better is that the pieces are very impressive sounding and very fun to play!

Alfred’s ”Piano for Busy Teens” is a great and realistic way to keep teenagers at the piano when life just gets too busy.

Please tell me if you try this series.  I would love to know how it works for you!

Have you heard of Philip Wesley?  You need to hear of him.  Better yet, you need to not just hear OF him, but hear him!

From his website:

With a piano style somewhere between David Lanz and Jim Brickman, Philip Wesley brings solace and a spiritual depth to the music world with his tender romantic playing.

Philip Wesley’s music is soothing and completely gorgeous.  But it’s more than just soothing.  Rich and full, it grabs you right from the first few notes!  You want to listen, not just play it as background music.

What’s even better is that, in addition to purchasing one of his CDs, you can also buy the sheet music to his beautiful pieces!  Are you the same as me?  I love to listen to gorgeous piano music, but I itch to play it on the keys myself!  So I love an artist who will share sheet music!

Stop by www.philipwesley.com to preview his audio recordings AND sheet music!

My husband and I got to go along with my sister-in-law and niece to a Jon Schmidt concert last weekend.

Have you heard of Jon Schmidt?

He is a Utah favorite, so I’ve heard about him ever since I’ve lived here.  If you haven’t had the opportunity of hearing Jon Schmidt, you really should look him up.  His music is beautiful and thrilling, “the sort of music that stops you dead and demands that you listen,” according to one fan.

His concert was so much fun because he is wildly energetic with the piano!  He pounded keys and slammed his feet on the pedals with an intensity that alarmed me!  I was just waiting for the piano to fall apart, but, of course, it never did.  He played upside down, standing up, and (occasionally) sitting down.  He used his arms and his head on the keys.  Really!

Also performing with him was Steve Nelson, a cellist/percussionist with a great sense of humor!  Here they are together performing a beautiful arrangement of Taylor Swift’s Love Story (a song which is usually gag inducing for me, but here it’s lovely) and Coldplay’s Viva la Vida.

The highlight of the concert for me was actually a teaser.  He performed a few minutes of a piece he’s still working on called “Rock”maninoff.  It’s Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C# minor all rocked out, with an accompanying electric guitar!  Fabulous, and I’m definitely buying his CD when that song comes out.

In addition to performing, Schmidt also sells sheet music (which is wildly fun to play!).  He even has some free MP3 and sheet music downloads at www.jonschmidt.com.

I just got my copy of George Skaroulis‘ new CD, Imagine.

Imagine this:  You just finished teaching a particularly difficult student- you know the one I’m talking about.  You start making dinner while trying to keep your toddler happy.  Your toddler is most definitely not happy.  You feel your stress levels rising while you still try to shake off the effects of your difficult lesson amidst whining and screaming and your own attempts to accomplish a task.

You walk over to your CD player, pop in George Skaroulis‘ gorgeous music, and take a step back.  You begin to feel calm.  Your unhappy toddler begins to perk up while she sways and hums to the music.  All is well.

This CD is filled with The. Most. Relaxing. Music.  The songs include “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “You Raise Me Up,” “Unchained Melody,” and my favorite- the one that is wearing my Repeat button out-”Hallelujah.”

George Skaroulis truly has a gift for composing beautiful arrangements.  His music makes you stop,listen, and truly enjoy.  And you would never know by listening that he is self taught and unable to read music!  Read his amazing bio here.

You can learn more about his music, order this CD, or any of his many other CDs at his site, www.evzonemusic.com.