Dear Friends,

Last week I went to Atlanta to the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Conference in Atlanta. MTNA is an organization of around 17,000 members, with approximately 30% collegiate faculty and 70% independent teachers. The organization is open to all instruments but consists primarily of pianists and piano teachers.

I love attending the national conference, because it gives me an opportunity to connect with faculty and independent teachers from across the country. It’s a reunion of close friends and also a chance to meet new and interesting people with a shared passion.

Attending the conference gives me a chance to think about the future of music teaching in the world. When I spend a lot of time with piano teachers, I notice that, generally speaking, they share three qualities: they are lifelong learners. They are generous of spirit. And they have great people skills.

If you are a pianist looking to improve your skills, a good teacher is a must, and well worth the investment. You will progress much faster with a teacher to help you than if you rely solely on videos and online resources to improve. A teacher will tailor your learning specifically to you and become invested in your progress - there’s nothing more motivating.

MTNA has a “Find a Teacher” tool - if you are in the US and looking for a private teacher, you can put in your location in the search bar and find teachers in your area.

Here is the process I’d recommend to find a teacher.

1. Enter your location and instrument in the ”Find a Teacher” search tool.
2. Do an online search on the list of teachers that comes up, and see if you can find any websites or other online listings for them.
3. For MTNA, the designation “NCTM” stands for “Nationally Certified Teacher of Music” and it denotes teachers who have gone through MTNA’s certification program.
4. When you find a teacher’s website, look at the teacher’s “bio” or “about” page where they list their training and experience. Also, see what information they include on their site about levels they teach (children, teens, adults), their teaching philosophy, their tuition rates, and their studio policies.
5. Reach out to three teachers from your list to see if they are currently taking new students. Then you can schedule an interview session. Some people call this a “meet and greet” while others call it a “sample lesson.”
6. At your interview, the teacher will probably ask you to play something and share information about your background and interest in the piano.
7. After you’ve met with all three of the teachers, decide who is a good fit for you. Now you have a teacher!

If you currently have a piano teacher, write back and tell me about your teacher! How long have you been studying with your teacher? How has your teacher helped you?

Happy Practicing! 🎹

-Kate

🎼 Today's Practice Tip: Warm Up Daily!

Although it can be tempting to want to jump right in and start playing as soon as you sit down at the instrument, it’s important to establish a solid warm-up routine that you can repeat every day before you start practicing. Just like an athlete eases into a physical routine, it’s good for your mind and body to begin each practice session with a brief, gentle, and consistent warm-up regimen. Start with 1-2 minutes of deep, centering breaths, followed by stretching your neck, shoulders, and back to release tension. Then, do a few minutes of improvisation or free-form play if you wish, or scales or arpeggios if you prefer more structure. After that, spend 10-15 minutes sight reading something that is at the right level for you.

This week’s exercise: Every day this week, before you start practicing, do a few simple stretches. Begin by standing, and do neck rolls by making a clockwise circle with your head, followed by circles in the opposite direction. Slowly flex and extend your wrists, gently rotating them clockwise and counterclockwise to release any tension. Then, interlace your fingers and stretch your arms upward, feeling the elongation in your arms and shoulders. Hold each stretch for 10-15 seconds, breathing deeply. Add on any stretches that feel good and will help loosen your muscles. I go through some piano stretches in this video about Sitting at the Piano.

Quote of the Week

🎥 Recent Video: EXPRESSION and Piano Practice

My latest video is about the idea of “gesture” in music. A musical gesture is a group of notes that has its own inner logic. One simple way to start to play more musically and with more expression at the piano is to think in terms of gestures, not individual notes, from the moment you first start a piece. In this practice tutorial, I demonstrate the idea of "musical gesture" by working phrase by phrase through the exposition of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata, Op 2 No. 1.

​You can watch it here!

💜 Some of My Favorite Things

1. Recording - I currently have a student playing Louise Farrenc’s Air russe varié, which is a gorgeously haunting theme and variations set for solo piano. I particularly enjoy this performance by Konstanze Eickhorst.
2. Podcast - Lately I have been encouraging my students to listen to Mozart symphonies, operas and string quartets, to develop an ear for how he writes for these different ensembles and bring some of those colors into the solo piano pieces they are playing. This prompted me to listen to some Mozart string quartets this week. This performance by the Danish String Quartet, of Mozart’s String Quartet in E-flat Major, K. 428, is especially beautiful.
3. Piano Gear - I recently picked up a book of Czerny exercises and have actually been enjoying reading through them - they are pleasing little pieces that are fun to play! You can browse some Czerny collections, along with exercise books by other composers, on this resource page where I have compiled some of my recommended technical exercises.