The internet is one of the best and most accessible tools for piano teachers.
I’ve particularly benefited from reading the thoughts of fellow teachers who’ve taken to their blogs to share their best advice.
If you want to glean from some of the best ones, this list is for you!
Here are my personal top ten blog posts for piano teachers. I hope they help you as much as they have helped me.
10. Peeling Away the Piano Practice Layers – Pianissimo
In this post, Megan from Pianissimo explores the big picture of what piano practice looks like and why students often lose interest after that initial stage of beginner excitement.
She offers some practical tips to help students who are frustrated or lacking motivation. It’s good stuff!
Click here to read the post.
9. Six Piano Teaching Strategies for Fidgety Piano Students – Teach Piano Today
Every piano teacher I’ve ever talked to known the challenges of helping a fidgety young student keep their focus during lessons. In fact, most of us have more than one such student in our studios!
If that sounds familiar, check out Andrea’s post on Teach Piano Today. She gives six great tips for working with fidgeters.
Click here to read the post.
8. Make the Most of Your Practice Routine with This Simple Technique – Pianissimo
If you’ve ever wondered how to effectively structure your practice policy, this post is for you.
Megan walks through various ages and levels of piano playing and shows how to make the skill of repetitious practice work across your studio.
Click here to read the post.
7. How to Teach Piano to “Breeze-Ahead Brittany” – Teach Piano Today
In case you’re wondering who “Breeze-Ahead Brittany” is, she is a fictional character in this post.
She represents those students of ours who take off like a shot at the beginning stages of learning the piano only to “hit a wall” later on when it gets more difficult.
We’ve all had students like that, haven’t we? Andrea’s post outlines some tips to help them “get over the wall” and start making progress once again.
Click here to read the post.
6. It’s the Little Things That Count…Piano Etiquette and Your Piano Students – Teach Piano Today
Have you ever wondered how to prepare your students for recitals and other performances?
There’s so much that goes into it besides just playing their pieces.
Being announced, bowing to acknowledge applause, remembering to sit up straight and use good posture…it’s a lot to remember for a young student who is experiencing stage fright!
In this post, Andrea highlights the most important parts of piano etiquette. It’s a helpful checklist to go through as you and your students enter recital season.
Click here to read the post.
5. Developing a Good Sense of Rhythm – Color in My Piano
My students are often frustrated by rhythms, especially whenever a metronome is involved. As a teacher, it can be hard to know exactly how to break the concepts of rhythm down for them in a way that makes sense and isn’t overwhelming.
If you can relate to that, you’ll appreciate this post by Joy from Color in My Piano.
She breaks the idea of rhythm down into three components (beat, rhythm, and meter). It’s a helpful framework for evaluating your students and knowing which areas you need to focus more of your teaching.
Click here to read the post.
4. Nine Fun Ways to Teach Music History to Piano Students – Colourful Keys
One of the most common struggles I’ve heard from fellow piano teachers is that they feel like they don’t have time to incorporate music history into their curriculum.
If that hits home for you, you’re going to love this post!
Nicola from Colourful Keys gives some awesome ideas for music history “micro-assignments” that can be completed by students without taking too much time away from the rest of the lesson.
She also has some ideas for more involved study – my students love the “Composer of the Month” program!
Click here to read the post.
3. Seven Studio-Changing Decisions That Took Me Way Too Long to Make – Teach Piano Today
If the planning and administrative side of piano teaching is overwhelming for you, you need to read this post by Andrea!
She gives seven great ideas to make studio management more…well, manageable. I especially love #6!
Click here to read the post.
2. Rid the World of Starving Artists: Teach Your Piano Students These Three Skills – Teach Piano Today
Okay, you can tell I really enjoy Andrea’s posts. She seems to have timely advice for a lot of my piano-teaching needs.
This post in particular I stumbled upon while looking for something else (it’s funny how that works), and it really made me think.
She discusses the three things our students are most likely to do with their piano skills in the future.
I personally wasn’t taught how to do any of these three things in piano lessons. I never gave it much thought before, but this opened my eyes and made me start looking for ways to add them to my own teaching curriculum.
Click here to read the post.
1. A Piano Teacher’s Music Theory List: What Students Must Know – PianoTel’s
Have you ever wondered how much theory your aspiring young pianists actually need to know? Do you wish there was some sort of checklist to help guide you?
If so, then you’ll love this list by Tel from PianoTel’s.
She gives a rundown of the basic theory concepts most pianists will need as they progress in their studies. It’s very helpful!
Click here to read the post.
What are your favorite blog posts for piano teachers? Have you ever read one that caused you to make a big change in your studio? Leave a comment below!