Music Technology: Basically divides into a few categories: 1. Student skill development 2. Recording, A. audio B. video C. MIDI 3, Playback/Distribution – how will the student hear it/view it? Email the file? Make a CD/DVD? With any technology, DO NOT start with “how do you get it to work”, also ...

There was a posting on a LinkedIn group  about how to go about recording your students. Although the post was primarily about what gear to use, it sparked some thoughts about it. Here is what I shared with the group: Remember that quality is a relative term here . If ...

I swore I’d never teach. Really! After earning my undergrad degree I was so burned out I swore I’d never teach. I couldn’t see myself teaching in ANY capacity whatsoever. Ever. This is exactly why I say the I am living proof God has a sense of humor. At this stage of life I have taught ...

I had one teacher in Grad school who would sit back and just listen to my playing. He’d sip on his coffee, make few comments, and then I’d play the next piece. This went on for 2 semesters, which is why I switched teachers in mid-degree. it caused quite a stir. I switched because his teaching ...

Yup – that little game system can indeed be a useful tool when teaching piano. It has several advantages – it’s cheap, relatively speaking, is easy to use, and the “wow” factor is pretty high (thereby making YOU more interesting to your students, which is a great motivator).More details in the coming weeks!

From an origianl  post by Brian Corber  on Linkedin. Brian is a Music Lawyer, and has graciously granted permission for me to re-publish this. Check out his website – as he says, ” The music business is tough. Talent isn’t enough. You need a smart lawyer on your side.” CLASS IS IN SESSION: ...

What’s the Difference – from teaching, learning, and Musician’s perspective? Some semi-random thoughts. There’s nothing like playing a well-maintained concert grand. NOTHING. But few people have access to a concert grand, much less a well-maintained one. The new Roland V-Piano is supposed to come close, though. At roughly $6,000 it’s a lot cheaper than a ...

What’s the Difference – from teaching, learning, and Musician’s perspective? Some semi-random thoughts. There’s nothing like playing a well-maintained concert grand. NOTHING. But few people have access to a concert grand, much less a well-maintained one. The new Roland V-Piano is supposed to come close, though. At roughly $6,000 it’s a lot cheaper than a quality grand, ...

First, my setup: 1) I teach on a digital piano (not a great one, but it’s what I have available in the music store where I teach) 2) I have a 10-year old Mac (Powermac Tower – 266 MHz PPC processor running MacOS 9.2.2) that has 2 midi interfaces. 3) I also have a small sound module (a ...

At the risk of sounding like an old geezer…… this came to mind as I taught my last Music App class of the semester. My first Music App classes were taught using LPs – the CD had only just been introduced, and of course new tech takes FOREVER to weasel its way into educational settings. Finding ...