Recently, I was in the middle of a practice session when I noticed there was a vibe shift. Up until that moment, everything was going fine - I’d started out super focused, working on an arrangement of Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock”… I noticed that I was having trouble getting the piano part to align with the vocals, and the reason was because my rhythms at the keyboard weren’t accurate. I started with one of my favorite practice strategies: the practice box. 

Here at Borderland Music Studio, incorporated into students’ private piano lessons are monthly studio classes. In these classes, students enrolled in our private piano lessons get to gather together, play their pieces for each other, and bask in the opportunity to build community together. We’ll also discuss moments in music history, or bridge music to the visual arts or literature - sometimes even food! (Because who doesn’t love a symphony of a good recipe?) 

American Music Teacher published an incredible article in their February/March issue about the problems of once-a-week lessons, and it’s sent me on a piano-teaching-revamp quest!

The once-weekly piano lesson format has been the SOP for a while, mostly as a byproduct of our modern day, jam-packed schedules. But, meeting once a week doesn’t help students retain what we studied the week before. 

In the late part of Autumn, when the seasons began to shift and comfort food started wafting its way through hearth and home, I had an idea…