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This is why you should not learn to read music first

Should All Music Students Learn to Read Music? As a music teacher, I’m often asked about reading music.  Some parents want to know,”Will my child learn to read music?”  These are usually parents who have had musical training and see the benefits of being able to read music from the last 1000 years of music […]

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Blog Teaching Methods

Why I want my student’s “desk” as big as possible

Did you ever go to a library or coffee shop just to have a bigger desktop?  There’s something so spacious and freeing about just having more physical workspace right in front of you. Last week, I visited several co-working spaces in New York City just for that reason. Having a bigger desktop is incredibly freeing. […]

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Teaching Methods

American Idol And Finding Your Voice: A Music Teacher’s Perspective

My family loves to watch American Idol as well as The Voice.  These competitive singing shows are fun and introduce a new audience to a lot of great songs, old and new.   The shows are both well produced and fun and get you involved with each contestant’s story so that you care whether or not […]

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Is Music Education The Key To Success in Life?

This past Sunday, there was a NY Times Article on the importance of music education in everyone’s life.  I feel like it was written specifically for music teachers!  The author interviewed some of the top performers in numerous  and diverse industries and has found a surprising number had deep musical training from Condoleeza Rice to […]

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Teaching Methods

Why Memorizing Music Is So Important

By Andrew Ingkavet With all of my students, I stress the importance of memorizing their pieces, especially for performance at a recital. Here’s some of the reasons why. Repetition is the Mother of Skill How many times did Tiger Woods hit a golf ball before ever entering a competition? Apparently he was already golfing at […]

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Announcements Music Lesson News Teaching Methods

Play Piano For Kids, Volume 1 iPad interactive book app is now available

As many of you know, I’ve been working hard on an interactive iPad iBook for quite some time.  Today Play Piano For Kids, Volume 1 (Penguins Don’t Play Piano, But You Can!) is officially live in 32 countries around the world in the Apple iTunes Bookstore.  It’s on sale for the next week for only […]

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Announcements

Winter Recital 2012 Success!

It was a great recital last Saturday at the Carroll Gardens Library in Brooklyn.  With 30 students performing and a house of over 100 guests, we had a lovely time and everyone did their best.  Thanks again to all the parents, grandparents, friends and family who came to show their support, love and appreciation of […]

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Announcements Blog Teaching Methods

A Typical Music Lesson – My Approach to Teaching

Apologies for the site being down all of last week.  But we’re back!  Here’s a quick update and enjoy the week off for Thanksgiving!   As many of you know, in each of my lessons, my aim is to address 3 main areas: repertoire, reading and music theory. Repertoire This is building up a collection of pieces that […]

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Blog Teaching Methods

At What Age To Start Music Lessons?

As a teacher of music, this is a common question I hear.  Every child is unique and while there is no one right answer, I can offer a few guidelines. ABCs One of the first “games” I play with my younger students is to have them order the letters of the alphabet.  This is a […]

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Blog Teaching Methods

The Goal of Beginning Music Lessons

My goal with my beginning music students is to Ignite the passion, fun and excitement of music within Introduce the names of the notes Connect those notes to their location on their instrument Connect those notes to standard written notation Through achievements, build their sense of self confidence and self worth. Have fun To go […]