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“Oh, I always have trouble there.”
At last week’s lessons I heard that comment at least once every day. The solution: a pencil. The problems have been little things like the name of a note with several ledger lines or the fingering needed to get through a tricky passage. It only took a few moments at the lesson to figure things out.…
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What I Did On My Summer Vacation
Today is the first day of school. I’m sure many of you had to write the usual essay on what you did on your summer vacation. For me, summer is a time of renewal. I always try to learn something new on my summer break when I am free from my rigid teaching schedule. This…
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Take Me Out to the Ball Game
I have a lot of fun making music. In addition to teaching and accompanying, I am proud to be the keyboard player for the classic rock band Journey to Boston. Our next show is Saturday, July 7, at 6 p.m., at Ottawa Baseball Stadium. We’re playing before the Fat Cats baseball game. It’s a great…
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Luck of the Draw
Last week I was accompanying a vocalist at the Renfrew Rotary Music Festival. The order of performance in a competition is usually chosen by draw. As luck would have it, two performers were singing the same piece – back to back. That is a difficult order to draw, and everyone reading the program felt the…
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Share and share alike
A great thing about belonging to a professional music teacher’s association is the chance to exchange ideas with colleagues. This week I was honoured to be the presenter at an Information Sharing Session of the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Registered Music Teachers’ Association. It’s an informal forum to share teaching ideas. Lately I’ve been studying…
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Children’s Activity Tax Credit
With the new, permanent Children’s Activity Tax Credit, parents will now be able to receive a refundable tax credit of up to $50 per child under the age of 16 and up to $100 per child with a disability under the age of 18 for enrolling their children in activities that encourage them to be…
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That was easy
I’m sure you’re familiar with Staples’ “that was easy” button. I just got one, and it sits on top of the piano. My students just played beautifully at a recital on the weekend, and now they are all ready for some wonderful new pieces. As we look over the new music, I point out the…
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Let’s Rumble!
Turf wars in New York City between rival gangs Jets and Sharks. A retelling of the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet. West Side Story is a timeless masterpiece of American musical theatre. It was originally composed in 1957 by Leonard Bernstein (and was Stephen Sondheim’s first job as lyricist). The original production played 732 performances…
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This is my life
I recently saw the play 2 PIanos, 4 Hands with Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt at the NAC. The two-act play follows the arc from beginning student to serious student to career musician. Various caricatures appear of students, teachers, parents, and some of the other people we pianists meet along the path of music. I’ve been…
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A Spoonful of Sugar
When I was a piano student I hated theory homework. [True fact: I usually did my homework in the car on the way to my lesson. The results were quite messy and incomplete.] Now that I’m a teacher, my favourite subject to teach is theory. Humour is a great teaching tool. This year’s rudiments class…
