by Whitney | Jan 4, 2023 | Uncategorized
Somehow, the seasons keep changing faster and faster lately. I’m still surprised it’s already 2023. Last year was a great one for composing! One of my pieces placed in the top for the peer review category of the SacredSheetMusic.org Competition in the Fall...
by Whitney | May 27, 2020 | Teaching Resources
Today on my piano teaching blog, I shared a resource that my students have LOVED. If you’re a parent of a young pianist, then you have probably heard a variety of practice strategies in your home. There’s the quick student – plays everything through...
by Whitney | May 12, 2020 | Uncategorized
My newest piece All Together is a piano trio for mid to late elementary level students. The idea was to use a C scale up and down – no crazy accidentals and just have students focus on their own rhythm. So many different rhythms combine but mostly, everyone is...
by Whitney | Jun 13, 2016 | Preparation, Printable, Teaching Resources
Today, I’m sharing a quick worksheet to go along with my new piece, “At The Edge”. Students have plenty of octave jumps so this exercise is aimed at getting them comfortable moving the same chord/cluster up and down octaves. When my students are...
by Whitney | Jun 11, 2015 | Improvisation, Preparation, Printable, Teaching Resources
Sometimes students seem so worried about composing – they worry they’ll play the wrong notes, they’ll forget the melody they played over and over at home, or maybe they just hesitate to share something so personal for fear of it being not perfect!...
by Whitney | May 28, 2015 | Ensemble Music, Preparation, Teaching Resources
One of my students & I performed Groovy Duo for an area talent show last week. Our performance was a hit and we experimented with the idea of trading places in the middle of the piece which turned out to be a lot of fun! I wanted to share a video from our...
by Whitney | Apr 16, 2015 | Preparation, Printable, Teaching Resources
“Why do I have to practice Hanon?” Ever heard that question? Sometimes it’s hard for students to see the relationship between their technique exercises and repertoire. I love when pieces use a certain scale or arpeggio patterns that we’ve been...
by Whitney | Feb 2, 2015 | Preparation, Printable, Teaching Resources
My newest piano solo of the month is Zigzag Jazz! When one of my elementary students learned this piece, I wanted to give her a headstart with a practice page. Thus today, I thought I’d share it with y’all so when you go to teach it you’ll have a...
by Whitney | Dec 9, 2014 | Improvisation, Preparation, Printable, Teaching Resources
One of my favorite things about working with children is listening to their imagination! Give them an idea to start from and sit back to hear the creative stories they can tell you! For my solo piece Sailing, my students often tell me about their dreams of gliding...
by Whitney | Dec 5, 2014 | Ensemble Music, Printable, Teaching Resources
Recently as I was teaching one of my pieces, “Spring”, I felt like it would be so lovely with a smooth duet to accompany the student. If you don’t know it by now, I LOVE duets – for the sounds they create beyond solo capabilities (especially at...