Dear Friends,

Greetings from Door County, Wisconsin! This weekend is a holiday weekend here in the United States, so I’m using the occasion to visit family and spend some time in the outdoors in this beautiful part of the country.

This newsletter recently passed the 3,000 subscriber mark. 🤯 It started as a small newsletter for family and friends about upcoming events. Thank you to all of you for reading these newsletters and writing back to me - I have really enjoyed hearing from so many of you! 🙏🙏🙏

As the newsletter has grown and I no longer know every recipient personally, I'd like to get to know you all better! So I have developed a ONE-QUESTION survey!

Please click on the statement below that describes you best! This will help me tailor my content to you and learn how to serve you better.

• 🎹 I am an independent piano teacher​
• 🎓 I'm an undergraduate or graduate piano student​
• 🎵 I'm a pre-college piano student ​
• 🎹 I'm a professional pianist or college music professor​
• 🎼 I am an adult amateur pianist, and I currently have a teacher​
• 🎶 I am an adult amateur pianist, and I don't have a teacher​
• 💜 I'm not a pianist - but I enjoy the piano!​

👋 See you next week! Happy Practicing! 🎹

-Kate

🎼 Today's Practice Tip: Break Down Large Goals into Smaller Milestones

We hear a lot about “goal-setting” and its importance, and for piano practice I agree with this 100%! If you are learning piano repertoire over a longer period of time, you are, in essence, a project manager, and every project manager knows that a large goal needs to have many smaller milestones to check off along the way.

When we recently had an addition put on our house, the contractor shared with us a dizzying list of milestones and steps along with estimated completion dates, so that we could track whether the project was proceeding as planned.

Why not do the same when you’re learning pieces at a musical instrument? 🎹

If a goal is too large and undefined, it can be overwhelming and intimidating. This is a common reason you procrastinate or feel “stuck” or uninspired.

Breaking a large project down into smaller, manageable milestones makes the overall task more approachable.

You will gain momentum, as you can focus on one small task at a time without feeling daunted by the bigger picture. Reaching each small milestone provides a boost of confidence and a sense of accomplishment, reinforcing your commitment and enthusiasm!!

Tackling goals incrementally will allow you to build a solid foundation for the rest of the learning process.

This week’s exercise:

• Set Weekly Objectives: Look at one piece you are learning and set a goal in the future for when you want to have the piece to a specific level (i.e., you can play through it at a consistent tempo; you have memorized it; you can play it at performance tempo).
  After identifying the specific larger goal, break it down into intermediate steps and assign each step to a week. For example, you could plan to learn a new section each week or reach specific tempo goals.
• Set Daily Tasks: Using your weekly objectives, plan out your practice for the upcoming week in incremental tasks that contribute to the weekly objective, such as focusing on a difficult passage or refining dynamics and articulation.
• Revise Weekly: Revisit the large goal and your weekly objectives once a week to review and revise your weekly goal for the upcoming week.

Quote of the Week

🎥 YouTube:

I have been taking a short break from posting new full-length videos, but a year ago I made a behind-the-scenes Vlog-style video where I show commencement weekend from the faculty's point of view. Since we just had commencement earlier this month, I'm sharing it again!

​Watch the Commencement Day video here!​

💜 Some of My Favorite Things

1. Inspiration: One of my students will have a masterclass with master teacher Marvin Blickenstaff at the Piano Texas Festival next month. She sent me this video of Blickenstaff talking about the role of the piano teacher as giving our students the gift of making beautiful music at the piano.
2. Video: Here's a wonderful video by my friend and fellow YouTuber Janna Williamson, on how to make your scales sound great!
3. Performance: One of my favorite works is Mozart's Clarinet Concerto. Here's a beautiful performance (I have it cued up to the absolutely sublime slow movement) with Carlos Brito Ferreira in a live performance on the clarinet with the Romanian Chamber Orchestra.

🎹 Want more from me?

Here are four things you can do:

1. 📆 Book a lesson or a coaching session with me.
2. 🎓 Contact me to learn about applying to study with me at Butler University.
3. 📚 Check out my resource pages, where I share my recommended books, technical exercises, gear and more!
4. 🎥 Watch piano tutorials on my YouTube channel!