It’s a new year and that can mean only one thing: a new budget for your music program!

Most churches run on a January-December fiscal year, which means it's time to pull out your budget worksheets and start fresh.

When you do this, you suddenly remember that budget worksheets are boring, black and white Excel files, with heavy black grid lines, plain font, and pages that run on forever, which sort of puts a damper on the whole happy, fresh-start thing.

Does this sound familiar? If so, I made something for you.

If you’ve been following along for a while, you know that every January, I share my book list for the upcoming year. I usually choose books from several different categories because I like mixing up my reading material throughout the year.

Happy New Year's Eve, friends!

It’s my tradition here on the blog to share a year-in-review post on December 31—a look back on the highlights, the celebrations, the things we learned and made and experienced during the year. 2021 was a long and tiring year, but also one of discovery and exploration.

Every year in December, I take some time to look back at all the books I’ve read in the past year.

If you know me, you know I always set out with a book list, and then undoubtedly change my mind as I discover books on Instagram, podcasts, and blogs, and as books come recommended by friends.

This year, I read 22 books (not counting the ones I started and didn’t finish).

It's that time of year—the last month of the calendar year and the first of a new liturgical year. The old and the new. An ending and a beginning.

What would you ask for if you were making a holiday wishlist for yourself as a teacher? New music? Curriculum resources? Piano-teaching games?

Today, I’m sharing a few ideas (and a few things that are on my teacher wishlist!) to help get you started. Enjoy!

How can we as teachers add variety and musical interest to their repertoire lists? How can we include more diversity in the composers we choose and the musical styles we teach?

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post with 15 supplemental collections for elementary piano students. Today, I’m sharing my favorites for intermediate students.

For most churches, January is the start of a new fiscal year, which means it’s almost time for that long-anticipated after-church event that may or may not include finger sandwiches and decaf coffee…

Annual Meeting (and your written annual report).

Today, I’m sharing a few outline ideas for writing an annual report, a simple checklist of things to mention or include, and a few real-life examples for inspiration.

Here's something you may not know about me: time is my biggest motivator.

Sometimes, it can be hard to find the right piece of music.

In this post, I’ll walk you through the process of writing your own composition, step by step. Let's start with something small — a simple handbell processional.