How To Talk So Kids Will Practice Just about everyone I’ve talked to has a challenge with getting their kids to practice. I too had this issue. When my son Alejandro was young, not only was I the parent, but also the teacher. It was very challenging and we would often end our lessons […]
You can see the joy on their faces and it’s awesome! Excitement is building for the two Winter Recital Concerts coming next week. It’s a massive undertaking to produce these concerts and I appreciate your support. Here’s some reminder details. Date Time and Location Where: St. Francis Xavier church – corner 6th Ave and Carroll […]
Each year, I host a Holiday Party and Music Salon for our music students at one of our student’s homes. It’s a great way for our youngest and shyest to get over their fears of performing in front of others. And every year it gets better. It also gives a chance for new friendships to […]
Music lessons for special needs children? If you ask the average music teacher about special needs children as students, you may get a blank stare. There isn’t much literature focused on this. Children with special needs may include those with learning disabilities, developmental issues, as well as those on the Autism spectrum. At Park Slope Music Lessons, […]
I believe music education is vitally important as it teaches one of the most important skills of childhood…confidence. But it’s not the egotistical, brash arrogance posing as confidence that is plaguing our society. Rather, we parents want our kids to be a clear channel for intuition and spirit developed by learning the laws of the […]
Recently, one of our teachers, Sean Spada, had an interesting gig…at a hospital! Held February 8 at Maimonides Medical Center, the event celebrated Black History Month, focused on highlighting influential women, and even featured some employees from the institution for the first time. During the program, staff members represented influential women in the fields […]
There are several sizes of Ukulele. This instrument, from Hawaii, has had a major resurgence in the last decade or so. (If you’ve never heard of Jake Shimabukuro – just google him now.) And why not? It’s so fun! And portable! Plus you can get a really nice one for less than $100. The four most […]
Wow, what a great set of concerts we had on Saturday! Life Skills It’s truly amazing to see what our kids can accomplish with some directed focus, guidance and perseverance. These skills translate into wonderful life success skills and you may already notice them surfacing in areas like school, sports and homework. But, I think […]
When you’re searching for a music teacher for your child, you want to get a feel for the teacher. What is a lesson like? What’s their philosophy? What can I expect? We have taught hundreds of kids in the Park Slope area of Brooklyn over the last decade. The secret to our success is in […]
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 […]
Where: Park Slope Library (corner of 6th Avenue and 9th Street) Brooklyn, NY 11215 Time:2pm Day: Saturday February, 7, 2015 Lower Level Auditorium. Hopefully the weather will be cooperative. We have a great lineup of kids from ages 4 to 14 playing everything from Peanut Butter Sandwich to Moonlight Sonata to Demons to Do You […]
As an independent, private music teacher, I am always being forwarded studies and news articles about the benefits of music lessons. It definitely feels good to be on the right side of this issue! And it certainly validates my profession. This weekend’s Wall Street Journal has an article, A Musical Fix for U.S. Schools, which […]
What is the most important factor in a student? Many people would say it’s talent, or effort, or persistence, or luck or some combination of these. Behind all of this is something that is more important – the proper mindset. Recent research (Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck, 2007) has shown that there are two different mindsets among […]
I’m looking forward to our upcoming Spring Music Recital on June 7 at 2pm. It will be in our usual location, the auditorium of the Park Slope branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. We have a great program of diverse music from folk classics to Suzuki standards to pop songs from Katy Perry, Imagine […]
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 […]
If you are interested in piano, guitar, strumstick, ukelele, voice, songwriting and music theory lessons this summer, there are still slots available. The summer lesson schedule runs 6 weeks from July 9 through August 16 Monday through Thursdays. There are morning and afternoon sessions. Lessons are $60 each or $330 for the full 6 weeks. […]
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 […]
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 […]
When teaching to read traditional music notation, I separate the 2 parts of pitch and rhythm. Rhythm is easy to teach using stick notation. [update-12-3-12] Stick notation is taking traditional notes and removing the note-head. The note-head is the round dot at the bottom of the stick. The dot is placed on the 5 lines […]