I’ve written about her before, but her fabulous site has helped me once again, so here I am singing her praises one more time! (but probably not the last time!)

Susan Paradis’ Piano Teacher Resources is a site filled to the brim with great ideas and printables.  Susan also writes her own music, which you can print from her site.

Most recently, I have printed her Elementary level Halloween pieces for one of my new beginners!

If you haven’t visited her site, now is the time!

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!

This video from the Teaching Piano Adventures website has been incredibly helpful for me in teaching correct hand shape.  I mean, INCREDIBLY helpful.  Correct hand shape is explained in such a quick, easy-to-remember way.  When I teach it this way, my students have a much better hand shape. 

When I don’t, well, it just isn’t pretty.

One of my students found the sheet music to Gary Jules and Michael Andrews’ Mad World at www.thepianocian.com.  I’ve only done a little browsing at the site, but it looks like there is a lot of great free pop sheet music!  Go check it out!

Please take a moment to visit the new sponsor of Piano Teacher’s Retreat, iNoteTrainer.  Just click on the ad to the right, and it will take you to a site about iNoteTrainer.  This fun note reading App was designed by a piano student to help him get better at reading notes in his spare time.  In the game, a note pops up on the screen and you identify it by letter name or piano key.  There is a demonstration you can watch at the site.  What a great App for your students (or students’ parents) to put on their iPhones or iPod Touch!  You could even assign iNote Trainer time as part of practice every week!

I checked out the DVD, The Great Composers: Beethoven from “Films for the Humanities and Sciences” from my library, hoping to find something to recommend to my students.  It was a quick film- only 28 minutes, and it gave great insight into and historic facts about several of his pieces, including Moonlight Sonata, The Pastoral Symphony, Symphony No. 9, and more. 

I really enjoyed it, but I don’t think I will share it with any of my students.  Most of my students are still young and have only been taking lessons for a few years.  The dialogue was a little dull and the vocabulary and subject matter was rather advanced.  However, I loved what I was able to learn, and I am glad I watched the DVD.  I will now be able to share what I learned with my students.  I plan on checking out all the other DVD’s in the series.  The film is from “Films Media Group,” and you can visit their website here.

Do you have a favorite DVD about a composer?  I would love to know!

I am teaching a 5 year old who is still learning to read.  We use “My First Piano Adventures for the Young Beginner” by Nancy and Randall Faber.  It’s a great introduction to piano for that age group.  In the beginning, several characters are introduced as piano friends.  They then show up on each page to teach new concepts.  It’s very easy for my student to learn this way.  Plus, the pictures are fun and colorful.  And bonus: there’s a fun CD to go along with the book.  Each new concept has a fun (and sometimes silly) song to listen to on the CD.  The book also strongly encourages exploration and discovery of the piano, which I really like.  It helps my student be creative.

What books do you like to use for your young beginners?

Do you ever have those lessons where you feel you aren’t able to cover everything needed? For me, sight reading seems to always take a back seat on these types of days.

I have been using Schaum’s Fingerpower books for quick sight reading during lessons. Each piece is short and simple, so not only is it a good way to fit sight reading into an already full lesson, it also gives my students a much needed boost when they realize they can do a good job on sight reading!

I am happy to announce that I am a new affiliate with the report, “Learn the Piano More Quickly,” by Sebastian Mitchell!

Sebastian began taking piano lessons in high school, and quickly became frustrated as he saw children passing him up while he was stuck playing “Jingle Bells” and other silly pieces. After 8 months, he decided he wanted to learn a Chopin nocturne. He researched heavily to find the best ways to practice and learn the piano. After strengthening and solidifying a great practice routine, Sebastian was able to play the nocturne well after only two months! He started taking lessons from a new teacher at this point, who after seeing him play the nocturne, thought he had been taking lessons for years! He continued with great success in learning all kinds of piano music.

He has now written this report from his experience and knowledge. His methods and techniques promise the ability to learn the piano 10 times faster!

As a busy mom and piano teacher who doesn’t get much real time at the piano (I am only able to sneak in practice here and there while my daughter is distracted), I am so excited to start implementing his methods with my own practicing. I was surprised to learn that some instinctual practice methods I have been using are actually detrimental to my improvement. Sebastian’s program shows you how to change the way you practice so that you ONLY spend time improving. There is no wasted time! You learn how to effectively manage your time at the piano, as well as away from the piano so that you can become a much better pianist in a shorter amount of time.

Sebastian’s idea is that “proper learning style increases learning speed” and his program gives you the tools to have that “proper learning style!”

Sebastian claims that with these methods, you will learn the piano more quickly than 99% of people.

Not only am I excited to use his methods in my own limited practicing time, I am even more excited to teach these methods to my students! I am constantly trying to help my students understand better ways to practice, but without a clear-cut method and routine, I know my students aren’t always getting it.

This report is useful for any pianist who wants to be better. That means it’s useful for you! It is also a great report to recommend to adult students, as well as to the parents of your young students.

Click here to view more details

I have a new student starting this Friday, and have been reviewing this article by Martha Beth Lewis, a teacher in California, on What to Teach at the First Lesson. (Read Martha Beth Lewis’ impressive Bio here).  I have used this article for all of my first lessons, and love the ideas!

If you have time, stay at her site and look around. It is LOADED with useful information!