I always believed that I could practice the piano anywhere:  as a girl, in the middle of my parent’s home, after dinner, quietly, while m...

Christmas, MI I’ve been traveling virtually with Patty and Paul in the RV the last couple of weeks. Tomorrow we’ll reach our next destin...

I’ve always said I only need one pencil and one piano to do my job. That was true until coronavirus appeared on the scene....Fortunately...

Pronouncements abound here. “I can’t do this” is a truly ubiquitous remark. Yes, of course you can’t do this. That’s why we’re here. Bu...

While living in College Station, Texas, in 1989, I studied with a teacher by the name of George Rutherford, student of famed pianist Abby...

Alan wasted no time in declining my invitation to join our piano evening at the Belfry. I chalked this up to his being a newbie and let ...

Learning to navigate D.C. al fine, D.S. al Coda and even simple repeats is pretty basic stuff, but it’s easy to miss these signs in the ...

Dear Beautiful Pianist, Today you apologized for making a mistake. Please don't. Mistakes are a natural part of your music journey. Wh...

You know the saying, you are what you eat?  Well, as you practice so you'll play.... What is your purpose? 1.  Are you working out a pass...

Students -- adults and kids -- tend to focus on playing the correct keys when starting lessons, generally paying far less attention to th...

Organize your practice:    Any plan is better than no plan.   Keep a journal, not of time practiced, but of this plan.  It will capture ...

1.  Be kind.  To ourselves.  It's easy to be kind to others.  We learned that a long, long time ago, way back when we were children.  How...

“Anyone who acts without paying attention to what he is doing is wasting his life.  I’d go so far as to say life is denied by lack of att...

We can learn A LOT about someone by listening to his or her piano playing.   It’s much harder to observe ourselves. Regarding adult piano...

Waiting 9-10 minutes for pasta al dente allows for a pretty focused practice moment.   Putting your phone on speaker while waiting for th...

I regularly remind students during lessons NOT to worry if they found no time for practice, which seems to happen at least one week a mon...

May music awaken you to each new day, music from deep within, a silent, peaceful knowing, to guide you gently through the hours, the prec...

Obviously, this title has quite the negative connotation.  Forgive me.  But, I think it’s time to put out a fair warning to would-be pian...

It’s always ideal to learn music with help from a qualified teacher.  But for lots of reasons this isn’t always possible.  Roughly half o...

While I was searching for the ever-elusive pencil, despite starting each teaching day with a fresh pencil pile and sitting in one spot fo...