My Go-To Plan for First Piano Lessons

My Go-To Plan for First Piano Lessons

Where should we begin?

It's the age-old question we ask ourselves when we sit down with a new (beginning) student for the first time. What should we talk about first? Hand position? Finger numbers? Letter names? Where's Middle C?

I like to get the student playing as quickly as possible. We explore high sounds and low sounds and sounds in the middle, black keys and white keys and the patterns they make, and rhythm patterns based on our heartbeat. We imitate, improvise, and create.

The first lesson is all about experimenting with the instrument and exploring sound. Here is my go-to lesson plan:

    7 Fun Games for Children's Choir

    7 Fun Games for Children's Choir

    It's a rainy evening and the 1st graders in your children's choir are extra wiggly. You need a quick change-of-pace to keep their attention and get through rehearsal. 

    Been there? I think we all have. 

    There are lots of games you could play, but I like choosing games and activities that keep the focus on music (and maybe get the children up and moving for a few minutes). Today, I'm sharing a few of my favorite (musical) games and activities for children's choir.

    Enjoy!

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    How to Organize Your Finances As a Freelancer

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    How to Organize Your Finances As a Freelancer

    As any freelancer or small business owner will tell you, managing your finances is a huge part of the job.

    From the ebbs and flows of self-employment income to keeping track of all your deductible expenses to paying quarterly estimated taxes, managing your personal and business finances is no small feat.

    But, having a clear, organized system for keeping track of everything is a great place to start.

    As two freelancers and musicpreneurs, Steve and I have found that sorting our money into different places helps us manage multiple income streams and work toward our savings goals.

    It also makes paying quarterly taxes much easier.

    Tips for Working with Middle School Youth Choirs

    Tips for Working with Middle School Youth Choirs

    Working with a youth choir can be a fun, inspiring, rewarding, and deeply meaningful experience.

    As a director, you balance the responsibilities of building community, integrating service, sharing meaning, inspiring purpose, and fostering musical development.

    But how do you approach musical growth and development for adolescent voices? How is it different from working with children's voices or adult voices? What do you do when voices begin to change?

    Here are a few helpful tips for working with 6th-8th grade singers:

    40 Ideas to Inspire Creativity in Your Students

    40 Ideas to Inspire Creativity in Your Students

    "To stimulate creativity, one must develop the child-like inclination for play.”- Albert Einstein

    As a piano teacher, I love teaching young beginning students. I love their enthusiasm, the questions they ask, their excitement over little successes, and most of all, their creativity.

    Young children are naturally curious and inquisitive, with vivid imaginations. I love finding ways to bring that into our piano lessons and their practicing at home. I added a "Creativity Challenge" to the bottom of my assignment sheets a few years ago (available as a free printable here) and each week, I write a short prompt to encourage creative exploration, discovery, and music-making during the week.

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    A Day in the Life

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    A Day in the Life

    A few years ago, I wrote a "Day in the Life" post. Lots of things have changed since then, so I thought it might be nice to share an updated version with y'all. Come see what a typical day in my life looks like! My desk, in a corner of our cozy living room

    9:05 a.m. - I carry my coffee (half espresso, half hot chocolate) to my desk in the living room and turn on my laptop. I check my email to make sure there's nothing urgent, but I don't normally respond to things right away. I prefer to take a little time in the morning to read (articles and a few of my favorite blogs) and check in on social media and our websites. After this, I respond to a few quick emails, proof my newsletter one last time in MailChimp, and schedule it to send.

    10 Things You Probably Don't Know About Me

    10 Things You Probably Don't Know About Me

    You know those ice-breaker games when someone asks you to share something unique about yourself? Something most people don't know? I can never come up with something. Last time I was asked this question, I said, "I eat my candy by color - and I always save the green ones for last." (Come on, I know I'm not the only one!) For today's post, I challenged myself to come up with a few other fun facts, and I thought it might be fun to share them with you! Here are 10 things you probably don't know about me (even if we've been friends for a while!). Enjoy!

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    How to Channel Your Inner Five-Year-Old

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    How to Channel Your Inner Five-Year-Old

    I love working with five-year-olds. I love their creativity, their fearlessness, their willingness to try new things, their crazy imaginations, and the way they make everything silly and fun. Five just might be my favorite age.

    Some suggest that thinking like a five-year-old is beneficial for creativity, leadership skills, and growing a business (source). After all, five-year-olds are about as creative as they come (try asking one to explain why the sky is blue). Next time you need a fresh spark of creativity or you want to see the world from a new perspective, channel your inner five-year-old. Here's how:

    Ask questions. Have you been around a five-year-old lately? They ask lots of questions. Want to challenge the status quo? Ask more questions. Want to understand the heart behind that decision? Ask more questions. Want to create something unique and innovative? Ask more, well, you know.

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    Books for Church Musicians

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    Books for Church Musicians

    Church musicians, in my opinion, have the dual role of making/teaching music and encouraging faith formation within a community. It can be challenging to negotiate these two roles, but I believe ministry is just that - balancing and negotiating, challenging and encouraging, building up and bringing together.

    It's not just a job. It's something we pour our hearts into.

    Today, I'm sharing a few books to add to your bookshelf (or share with a church musician you know!). Many of these are practical, encouraging reads written by church musicians, for church musicians. What could be better?

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    Favorite Business Tools for Creatives

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    Favorite Business Tools for Creatives

    As a teacher, church musician, and self-employed business owner, I am always looking for ways to simplify my to-do list and be more productive. Who wants to spend their time doing tasks the hard way when there's a simpler, less time-consuming option? Today, I'm sharing a few of my favorite business tools for creatives to help you save time and hassle on some of those everyday work tasks.

    TweetDeck

    Schedule tweets in advance (including images!) and manage multiple columns - feed, notifications, Twitter chats, custom searches, etc., all from one central dashboard. TweetDeck does it all, and it's free!

    ManageFlitter

    Ever wonder how many people you follow on Twitter that are inactive? ManageFlitter makes it quick and easy to see who's active and who's not. ManageFlitter also has a sophisticated scheduling tool, including stats that show you the prime time to post each day.

    Follow along with my creative work and daily adventures: @ashleydanyew

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