Scenerio: you see your child taking an interest in the piano, roaming the piano keyboard with their fingers, tapping the keys making up tunes, all while making happy faces. :) You are now wondering if you should pursue lessons for them. Yes! Let's find out more... Can your child use many fingers to push the keys down? It is helpful if your young child can wiggle their fingers and push a piano key with each of their fingers, of course, some fingers are easier than others, and

I love this time of year! It's a time to begin again, fall back into, start afresh, take a second chance, return to, reset, reengage, and create new challenges for ourselves. Are you ready? Look ahead for 2026-2027: September: Donut Delay October: Mood Pieces & Costume Pizza Party November: Preparing December: Holiday Recital January/February: Winter Games March: Studio Collaborative Composition April/May: Annual Raffle June: Spring Recital

by David Litchfield Music Learning Extension by Patty Hurlburt I have created this extension for grades K-3. If you are a music teacher, I hope you find this useful in your classroom. It is a lovely little story with a wonderful message of adventure and home. This lesson incorporates an introduction to the piano and the percussion family, history of the piano, harpsichord, upright and grand piano, how the piano makes a sound, black and white keys, pedals, and the importance o

This is a colorful, exploratory website for young learners. Students can compose their own melodies and add drum beats. Each pitch has its own color - using the C Major Scale. Options include: (major, pentatonic, or chromatic scales.) Your students will want to "save" their songs. There is also an option to "share". About six years ago, I discovered Songmaker and wondered all the possible ways I could incorporate it into my lesson planning, for my music classroom, grades 5-

Monkey Business Music Game! Reinforce TREBLE and BASS CLEF LINE NOTES. This is a crazy, silly game...."Hey, no monkey business!" The Object of the Game is to be the player with the biggest banana stash in the end! (To collect the most cards.) On a player’s turn, they select the top card from the pile and play. If the card is a LINE NOTE card, they will guess the name of the note and place it on the banana tree marked with the correct letter, . But...if you pick a Monkey Busin

Monkey Business Music Game! This is one of my new games for my younger students. Students are always asking to play a game at the end of their lesson. Reinforce TREBLE and BASS CLEF LINE NOTES. This is a crazy, silly game...."Hey, no monkey business!" The Object of the Game is to be the player with the biggest banana stash in the end! (To collect the most cards.) On a player’s turn, they select the top card from the pile and play. If the card is a LINE NOTE card, they will gu

This is a fun activity on the piano. Creating a sound story on your instrument is a great way to stir the imagination. I find this to be a very successful activity for my piano students, especially the younger ones, they enjoy the freedom to improvise and enhance a story with their own ideas...and it gets their fingers moving - all 10. Prompts: I begin by having them choose pictures that I have drawn or printed. I demonstrate some ideas on the keyboard so they understand the

Games are played at lessons. There are many fun ways to use flashcards. At home you can play those games, too. Go to the links below. Print and cut out. Add flashcard tim e to your practice. Select the flashcards with the notes you are using in your songs? Keep those flashcards close by, mayble on top of your piano, read them, guess them, play them. How many do you know? Soon, you will know them all! Here is a link to the bass clef notes. https://performingartsmusic.org/wp-c

Did you know? Music stimulates the brain, the senses, and the body. Playing an instrument is even better - it's cathartic! Let's figure out how to keep this going. I'm guessing you started learning an instrument because you liked the sound of the instrument, you know someone who plays the instrument, or you listened to a professional musician and wanted to follow in the same path. I've been a fan of Billy Joel and his music since the 70s, and I still find it inspiring! How