I have a love/hate relationship with studio classes.I love the idea of them, and I love being able to offer them to my students. But I’ve never found a structure or approach that works. At the school where I teach, I’m limited to a classroom with a single piano, which means students have to take turns or do activities that don’t involve an instrument.In addition, having a group of 6-8 students in a room together for 45-60 minutes (again, with one instrument) was challenging. It’s difficult to keep everyone engaged and focused, give directions, facilitate meaningful learning activities, and assess each student individually.As an introverted teacher, it can feel a little chaotic and overwhelming.This year, I was committed to figuring this out. I decided to offer more classes than last year, limit the number of students in each group, and plan more level-specific musicianship activities.Today, I’m sharing a behind-the-scenes look at one of my studio classes from this month and as always, a few things I’m experimenting with this year.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.Teaching Piano in Groups (Christopher Fisher)Frances Clark Library for Piano StudentsThe Music Tree, Part 1Lyric Preludes in Romantic Style (William Gillock)Chord Inversion Worksheet (Chrissy Ricker)Preludes in Patterns (Kevin Olson)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

It’s my second full week of teaching. I know some of you have been back to school and lessons for a month now, but I’m still getting my bearings, adjusting to a new schedule, organizing studio classes, and setting my intentions for the year.This is not a formal practice, but it’s something I sort of subconsciously do to mark the beginning of the new teaching year. I ask myself a few questions:- “What do I want this year to look like?”- “What do I want my students to experience?”- “What do I want to prioritize or focus on?”- “What do I value in the music teaching and learning process that I want to lean into?”Do you do this, too?If you’re on my email list, I shared in last week’s newsletter three things I’m bringing with me into the new year drawn from this practice. Today, I’m sharing a few more—7 things to carry into the new teaching year—and I hope this inspires you on your teaching journey.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.Get my free, 7-min. monthly email newsletter—loved by 21,768 musicians & educatorsLessons in Chemistry: A Novel (Bonnie Garmus)Inspired Piano Teaching (Marvin Blickenstaff)Sign up for a virtual work retreatEp. 068 - How to Plan a Musical InformanceEp. 069 - A Musical Informance to Celebrate the Solar EclipseEp. 071 - 3 Things I Learned From Hosting a Musical InformanceMusical Informance Planning Guide for K-12 Piano TeachersIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

I don’t know about you, but this summer is going by very quickly. I know some of you may be going back to school this week or preparing to go back in a few weeks; here in New York, we still have a little summer left, as we don’t start back until after Labor Day.But regardless, it’s quick.At the beginning of the summer, I made a list of 5 things I wanted to work on outside of teaching. In this episode, I’ll share what was on that list, how it’s going so far, and what I’m spending time on this month.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words“Stella the Steinway’s 100th Birthday” (Piano Magazine)Debussy's Deux ArabesquesBach's French Suite VI in E MajorDebussy: A Painter in Sound(Stephen Walsh)Ep. 064 - How I Plan a Year of Student Repertoire20 Books to Read in 2024 (2024 Book List)Movement That Fits: Dalcroze Eurhythmics and the Suzuki Method (Joy Yelin)Move It!: Expressive Movements with Classical Music for All Ages (John Feierabend)Piano Pantry Podcast, Ep. 104 - Streamline Your Group ClassesInspired Piano Teaching (Marvin Blickenstaff)The Piano Conference 2025If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

Last week, I taught a brand-new beginner her very first piano lesson.Cora is 5 1/2 and is quite mature for her age. She is the youngest of three—her two older brothers also study with me. In fact, the oldest started with me when he was 5, a few weeks after Cora was born, so it’s kind of a full-circle moment.I have a list of 12 things I like to get through in the first lesson. Twelve activities may sound like a lot for a 30-minute lesson, but at this age, we move pretty quickly.I’ve adjusted my first lesson plan through the years; if you dig into my blog archives, you’ll find my “go-to plan for first piano lessons” from way back in 2015. The lesson plan I’m sharing with you today looks a little different, though I was surprised and pleased that some elements are the same after all these years.In this episode, you’ll get my 2024 go-to plan for first piano lessons including a few ideas from master teachers and teaching strategies I’ve developed through practice.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.My Go-To Plan for First Piano Lessons (2015 edition)Inspired Piano Teaching (Marvin Blickenstaff)Piano Safari FriendsPiano Safari Level 1Rhythm Keeper, Vol. 1 (Musikal Husky)Ep. 055 - Begin Again: The Case for Experimentation in Your Music TeachingEp. 059 - 7 Ways to Practice RhythmEp. 067 - Six Things I’m Documenting in the StudioIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

The interview process for finding a music teacher goes both ways:The teacher is interviewing the student and family to assess musical, physical, and emotional readiness; determine if the student (and parents) have the same goals for musical study; and evaluate whether or not they'd be a good fit in the studio. We talked about this in the last episode, Ep. 072 - The Case for Consultations in the Music Studio. So, go back and listen to that, if you missed it.At the same time, the student(and often the parents) are interviewing the teacher to assess musical skills and qualifications, teaching style, method and curriculum choices, and extracurricular offerings.The end of the school year and the summer months are a popular time to interview and onboard new students in your studio.This episode is meant to provide some guidance for you, the teacher, in preparing for these interviews or consultations with prospective families. Think through these questions in advance and be prepared to discuss your qualifications, teaching approach, and expectations, along with any studio experiences or opportunities you provide.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources MentionedEp. 072 - The Case for Consultations in the Music StudioPiano Safari (Fisher & Hague)Piano Adventures (Faber)The Music Tree (Clark & Goss)The Suzuki MethodEp. 068 - How to Plan a Musical InformanceEp. 069 - A Musical Informance to Celebrate the Solar EclipseEp. 071 - 3 Things I Learned From Hosting a Musical InformanceMusical Informance Planning Guide for Piano TeachersIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

Years ago, I received an email from a piano teacher asking about initial consultations and interviews.“What do you do? What questions do you ask? How long should it be? What materials do you give them?” These are great questions!Here are some of the reasons I offer consultations to prospective families in my studio:1. They give you an opportunity to meet prospective students (and their parents) face-to-face before either of you commit to lessons.2. For students who are transferring from another teacher, it's important to see what music they're currently working on, assess what they know, and determine where you want to begin in your first lesson.In this episode, you’ll learn how to structure a prospective student consultation (including what to have the student bring or prepare ahead of time), six questions to ask, how to plan your time together, and how to onboard new students and families after the consultation.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources MentionedMy Go-To Plan for First Piano LessonsPrintable Rhythm Pattern CardsCustomizable Email Templates for Studio TeachersIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

Welcome to another episode of the Field Notes on Music Teaching & Learning podcast. Today’s episode is part 3 of a series I’ve been working on this spring all about how to plan and organize a musical informance.I first mentioned the idea of a musical informance in Ep. 068. An informance is basically an informal performance or an informational performance where you share insight into the music and the learning process with the audience. In Ep. 068, I shared a few examples of musicians who exemplified this model of education and engagement in the past, talked about what separates an informance from a performance and how you could structure this in your studio, and shared how my students and I were preparing for this event.In Ep. 069, I talked more specifically about the theme of our informances this spring—music to celebrate the Total Solar Eclipse happening here in Rochester. I shared my repertoire list, the questions I asked my students as they prepared, how I built in opportunities for student creativity and input, and how I organized the event with parents and families.Today, I’m sharing how it all went including three things I learned, what went well, and what I would do differently next time.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources MentionedEp. 068 - How to Plan a Musical InformanceEp. 069 - A Musical Informance to Celebrate the Solar EclipseMusical Informance Planning Guide: A Resource for Studio TeachersIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

The birds are chirping, the first Spring flowers are popping up in the front yard, and Rory, my dog, insists on laying in the middle of the daffodil bed whenever the sun is out.These are my seasonal cues that it's time to start planning for our annual end-of-year studio recital.As the title of this episode suggests, I usually spend 3-4 months planning all the details of this event, helping my students prepare, and communicating with parents and families so they know what to expect.Last year, I wrote down my recital-planning checklist month by month so I could share it with you here on the podcast. So if you're on a similar schedule and starting to plan your year-end recital, here's an inside look at my process.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources MentionedCustomizable Email Templates for Studio Teachers (Musician & Co.)How to Use Notability for Assignment Sheets in Your StudioPiano Pantry, Ep. 016: Recital Planning Made EasyPiano Pantry, Ep. 065: Teacher Talk with Ashley DanyewIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

I did a poll on Instagram recently to see if any of my music teacher friends had ever hosted a musical informance. A few said "yes," a few said "no," but a surprising number of respondents chose the third option: "What's an informance?"An informance is basically an informal performance or as Eastman professor Dave Headlam describes, "A performance for the information age." (source: Oxford Handbook of Public Music Theory)There's a teaching component and a performing component, and depending on how you structure it, a conversational or interactive component.In Ep. 068, I showed you in real time how I was researching, planning, and organizing my first musical informance for my students.Today, I'm sharing more details about our upcoming musical informance—my repertoire list, the questions I'm posing to my students as they learn and prepare, opportunities for student creativity and input, and how I'm organizing it with parents and families.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.D. Headlam (2021). "Musical Informance: Performance for the Information Age." The Oxford Handbook of Public Music Theory. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197551554.013.2Ep. 068 - How to Plan a Musical InformanceExploring Music with Bill McGlaughlinDoodle PollThe Rising Sun (Nancy Telfer)A Morning Sunbeam (Florence Price)Solar Eclipse (Piano Safari Repertoire Level 2)Rhythm Pattern Card SetTotal Eclipse of the HeartSunshower (Martha Hill Duncan)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

This year, Rochester, NY is in the path of the total solar eclipse. There are lots of special events happening in town—the orchestra is performing a special concert, the science museum is hosting a festival, and the schools are giving everyone the day off to experience this historical event.As I looked ahead at this year, I thought it might be fun to plan a special event of our own to mark this occasion in the studio. Maybe special repertoire? An incentive program?Then I thought about the informances the performing ensembles at my school put on early in the year: an informal demonstration for parents of what they're learning and what they're working on.What if we did something like this in the studio? I thought.Today, I'm taking you behind the scenes in real-time as I research, plan, and organize my first informance for my students. I'll share a few historical examples of musicians who exemplified this model of education and engagement, talk about ways you could structure this, outline the necessary components that separate an informance from a performance, and share how my students and I are preparing for this event.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.Ep. 064 - How I Plan a Year of Student RepertoireD. Headlam (2021). "Musical Informance: Performance for the Information Age." The Oxford Handbook of Public Music Theory. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197551554.013.2C. Nowmos (2010). "Using Informance to Educate Parents and Demonstrate the Music Learning Process." General Music Today, 23(3): Special Focus Issue: The Informance as a Teaching Tool in General Music, 5-14. https://doi.org/10.1177/104837130936"Watch me play... the audience!" (Bobby McFerrin)Live Improvisation at the Kennedy Center (Bobby McFerrin)Interactive performance at Cornell (Bobby McFerrin)Curious, Collaborative, Creativity (CCC)Curious, Collaborative Creativity: A Guide for Transforming Music Ensembles (Dr. Caron Collins & Dr. Danni Gilbert)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

"It feels almost like if we don't document it, did it happen? And I need proof that it did."I was listening to an interview with Erin Napier of Home Town on Southern Living's Biscuits and Jam podcast recently and this statement stayed with me."A major part of my personality is documenting," she said, and I nodded to myself.In this episode, I'm sharing what I've learned about the art and practice of documentation, six things I'm documenting in the studio lately, practical resources I use to track and organize this data, and suggestions for developing this practice in your music studio.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.Biscuits and Jam interview with Erin Napier, Season 4, Ep. 28What Is Documentation? (Suzanne Briet)Social Construction (Oxford Bibliographies)Social Construction and Pedagogical Practice (Kenneth J. Gergen)Rhythm Keeper, Vol. 1Ep. 059 - 7 Ways to Practice Rhythm in Private LessonsAn Interview with Samantha Steitz of Musikal Husky (Musician & Co.)Ep. 066 - A Winter Improvisation Prompt for Elementary StudentsEp. 018 - This is What an Elementary Piano Buddy Lesson Looks LikeEp. 062 - A-ha Moments in Music TeachingMusical Alphabet CardsEp. 056 - The Valentine Composition ProjectEp. 047 - An Inside Look Into My Lesson-Planning ProcessBuckland, Michael. 2018. "Document Theory." Knowledge Organization 45(5): 425-436If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

Do you improvise with your students?If you have a classical background like I do, you may not consider yourself an improviser, but researchers and educators Christopher Azzara and Richard Grunow remind us that "we are [all] born improvisers, as evidenced by our behavior in early childhood." (source)In their series, Developing Musicianship Through Improvisation, they define improvisation as "the spontaneous expression of meaningful musical ideas." It doesn't mean making things up in the moment; it means making meaningful choices, sequencing patterns, snippets, and ideas from a vast vocabulary of musical material, as I talked about in the last episode, Ep. 065.In this episode, I'm sharing a simple Winter-themed improvisation prompt I use with my elementary students this time of year.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.Developing Musicianship Through ImprovisationEp. 065 - How to Build a Musical Vocabulary Using Tonal Pattern CardsIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

I received an email from a listener recently, a piano teacher in North Carolina. She had purchased a set of my tonal pattern cards and was looking for ideas and suggestions for how to incorporate them into her teaching this year.This prompted me to sit down and think through the importance of building a musical vocabulary (rhythm and tonal), how we learn to read music, and creative ways to engage our students through listening, pattern recognition, matching, imitating, and improvising using a basic set of tonal pattern cards.In this episode, you'll learn about the mental process behind how we read music, the importance of reading patterns vs. individual notes, a 5-step sequence for musical skill development, and seven creative ideas for using tonal pattern cards in your teaching on a regular basis.For show notes, click here.Resources MentionedUnderstanding Dyslexia and the Reading Brain in Kids (H. Korbey)The Gordon Institute for Music LearningPrintable Tonal & Rhythm Pattern Card Set: Older ElementaryPrintable Tonal & Rhythm Pattern Card Set: Younger Elementary

Last week, I posted a reel on Instagram of my annual planning process for my studio. At the end of the summer, I pull out all my books, curriculum charts, and other planning notes and spend several hours making repertoire plans for each of my students.There are lots of ways to go about this—it takes time to try things and hone in on a process that makes sense to you, helps you feel organized and prepared, and works for your studio.Today, I'll share a little more insight into my long-term planning process. I hope this inspires you and gives you a few new ideas or approaches to take back to your studio planning this year. For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.My Instagram reel about repertoire planningRCM SyllabiNotability appHow to Use Notability for Assignment Sheets in Your StudioEp. 047 - An Inside Look at My Lesson-Planning ProcessEp. 039 - A Creative, Integrated Approach to Teaching Music TheoryPiano Safari, Repertoire Book 1Piano Safari, Repertoire Book 2Celebration Series, Preparatory APiano Teaching Music, Vol 1 (Florence Price)Through the Windowpane (Chee-Hwa Tan)Piano Safari, Repertoire Book 3A Child’s Garden of Verses (Chee-Hwa Tan)Let’s Quest 2 (Chrissy Ricker)Perfect Patterns Plus (Chrissy Ricker)Lyric Preludes (William Gillock)Preludes in Patterns (Kevin Olson)Sebastian Sessions (Andrea Dow)Chopin Sessions (Andrea Dow)Portraits in Jazz (Valerie Capers)Disney Songs for Classical Piano (Phillip Keveren)Melody’s Choice, Book 4 (Melody Bober)Jazz, Rags, and Blues, Book 5 (Martha Mier)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

"I found this piece that I'd like to learn," one of my high school students said to me in a lesson earlier this summer. He carefully laid out the pages of the score of Alexander Scriabin's Prelude in C Major, Op. 11, No. 1 that he'd downloaded from IMSLP. "I have a question about it, though," he said turning toward the score. "How do you count this?"He pointed at the first line written in flowing quintuplets straddling the barlines. I leaned in to take a closer look. My student is very mathematically-minded, so we talked about how the beats are organized and divided into groups of 2+3. The way that it's notated in cut time creates tension—a feeling of pushing or transcending the boundaries to create something free and expressive.Next, we studied the tonal structure, the repeated use of 4ths, moments of tension and resolution, the way the hands sweep in toward the center in contrary motion. We talked about the formal structure, the technical challenges inherent in the left-hand octave leaps and open arpeggios.The more we analyzed the score together, the more intrigued I was to take it home and learn it myself. So I pulled up a copy of the same edition on my iPad that day and saved it to my forScore library for later.Scott Price once said, "The teacher is always and forever the student and the student is the teacher.” What does this look like in practice? In this episode, I'm sharing a glimpse into a project I've been working on this summer and what it looks like to be a student again.For show notes, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.Scriabin’s 24 Préludes, Op. 11IMSLPforScoreSchoenberg’s Drei Klavierstücke (1894)Ep. 060 - How Do We Approach Mistakes in Music Teaching & Learning?A Piano Teacher’s Legacy (Richard Chronister)

You know those moments when something just *clicks*? When something suddenly makes sense to you that was confusing before or you make a new connection or you realize you're able to do something you didn't know you could do.Sometimes we call these a-ha moments or breakthroughs. These are some of my favorite things to observe in my studio: when a student recognizes a new musical concept, makes a new connection, or can do something independently that they couldn't do without help before.I've been looking back through my journal notes for the 2022-23 school year and reflecting on the a-ha moments and the learning that took place.In this episode, you'll hear five short stories from my students, 1st grade to 8th grade, taken straight from my teaching journal.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.EvernotePiano Safari Level 1Faber Piano Adventures Level 2BEp. 051 - The Pokémon Piano LessonFree Rhythm Pattern CardsIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

Summer is a great time to rest, recharge, and work on professional development. This is often when we as music educators attend conferences and workshops, participate in training and certification programs, take summer classes at a local university, and catch up on all the reading we intended to do during the year.If you've been listening for a while, you know I've shared several book and reading-related episodes in the past: I talked about Daniel Pink's book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us back in Ep. 003, I shared insights from Keith Sawyer's book, Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater Creativity in Ep. 009, and I unpacked Carol Dweck's book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success in Ep. 049.I also shared a summer reading list for music teachers in Ep. 031 with a few novels and non-music or teaching books, if you're looking for other suggestions.Today, I'm sharing a curated list of 11 pedagogy-related books for music teachers. Some explore the research on how the brain works, others outline the tenets of effective practicing; some touch on meditation and wellness practices in music teaching and performance, others teach foundational pedagogy principles. Some I've read, and some are on my reading list, but all offer a fresh perspective on the teaching and learning process that I hope will inspire and inform your teaching practice in the year to come.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.Ep. 003 - The Surprising Truth About What Motivates UsEp. 009 - Book review: Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater CreativityEp. 049 - What Every Music Teacher Should Know About Mindsets: Insights from Carol Dweck's BookEp. 031 - A Summer Reading List for Music TeachersThe Musician's Toolbox: Thoughts on Teaching and Learning Music (Diane and Nick Petrella)How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens (Benedict Carey)Ep. 038 - The Secrets of Interleaved PracticeThe Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music from the Heart (Madeline Bruser)The Inner Game of Music (Barry Green & W. Timothy Gallwey)The Perfect Wrong Note: Learning to Trust Your Musical Self (William Westney)Ep. 060 - How Do We Approach Mistakes in Music Teaching & Learning?Join the Musician & Co. Book Club (it’s free!)The Musician's Way: A Guide to Practice, Performance, and Wellness (Gerald Klickstein)Teaching Music with Purpose (Peter Loel Boonshaft)The Music Lesson: A Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music (Victor L. Wooten)The Practice of Practice: How to Boost Your Music Skills (Jonathan Harnum)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

"What just happened?" I asked a 4th-grade student one Friday afternoon."I made a mistake," she said, looking down at her hands still resting on the keys.We talked about that for a minute—how sometimes mistakes happen innocently. Sometimes, a mistake is a way of getting our attention, a way for the body to say to the brain, "Wait! I don't really know this yet."We listened for mistakes and inherent learning opportunities for the rest of the lesson. We talked about insecure fingers, uncertain rhythms, and risky leaps. We talked about how to practice and prepare these things, develop confidence, and be an observer while practicing at home.This is the work of actively reframing how we see and respond to mistakes.Earlier this year, I read The Perfect Wrong Note: Learning to Trust Your Musical Self by prize-winning pianist and pedagogue William Westney. (I mentioned it back in Ep. 055 as I was reading it.)As I read this book, I found myself bringing some of these concepts into my studio to study and evaluate them in practice.In this episode, I want to share some of these practical takeaways: how I'm integrating some of the ideas from Westney's book into my teaching, the questions I'm asking my students these days, and a reflection on how we approach mistakes in the music teaching and learning process.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.The Perfect Wrong Note: Learning to Trust Your Musical Self (William Westney)Ep. 055 - Begin Again: The Case for Experimentation in Your Music TeachingAre We Learning From Our Mistakes? Insights From William Westney's, "The Perfect Wrong Note"Piano Pedagogy Research Laboratory at The University of OttawaJoin the Musician & Co. Book Club (it's free!)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

We've been working a lot on rhythm in the studio this spring. I've always made an effort to incorporate a rhythm activity into each lesson, but I've found myself being more intentional about this in recent months and becoming more aware of how I teach rhythm and how students develop these skills.In this episode, I'll share seven ways I'm practicing rhythm in the studio with students from 1st through 12th grade, including several teaching strategies, games, and challenges for those who need something a little more difficult.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.Music Learning Theory Rhythm Content Learning SequenceRhythm Keeper (Musikal Husky)An Interview with Samantha Steitz of Musikal Husky (Musician & Co.)Piano Safari Sight-Reading CardsEp. 008 - 10 Creative Ways to Use Rhythm Pattern Cards in Your TeachingRhythm Pattern Card SetSight-Reading and Rhythm Every Day (Helen Marlais)RCM SyllabiIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

"Do you know 'Brave' by Sara Bareilles?" I asked 10-year-old Anthony in a piano lesson one week. "Yeah," he said. "Well, I read recently that 'Brave' and [Katy Perry's] 'Roar' have a lot of things in common. What do you think?" "Huh. I've never really thought about it!" he said. We listened to both songs a few times and made a list of musical characteristics on the whiteboard. I let Anthony take the lead on what we were listening for—accompaniment style, key, tempo, vocal register, and contour—stepping in to guide the conversation, as needed. Anthony sat at a keyboard in the room, picking out parts of the melody or accompaniment as he listened. Is this an example of formal or informal learning? Or, is it both? The context was formal (we were in a school classroom having a private piano lesson) but the genre and learning style were informal (popular music and learning by ear). The learning was intentional (there was an end goal) but the ownership of the experience was something that we shared (we both contributed ideas—I didn't go into the lesson with my mind already made up). That brings us to an interesting question to ask in our teaching: What makes learning formal or informal? And can it be both? How can we balance formal and informal learning in music education?That's what we're going to talk about today.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources MentionedEp. 042 - What Does It Mean to Be a Teacher-Facilitator?If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

I was talking with one of my high school students a few weeks ago about music by women composers. We were studying "Canoeing" by Amy Beach in the Celebration Series Level 7 Piano Repertoire book, the third piece in her Op. 119 collection, From Six to Twelve for Piano written in 1927. We listened to a recording of the piece and played through the score. We discussed how the rippling eighth notes between the hands create a sense of paddling, left then right. We talked about Amy Beach's life, marriage, and musical career.This is how the idea began for studying and learning music by women composers during the month of March, International Women's Month. In this episode, I'll talk about the composers and scores we'll study over the next four weeks and share a resource list of elementary and intermediate piano music written by women composers that you can reference in your teaching.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.Celebration Series Level 7 Piano RepertoireFrom Six to Twelve for Piano, Op. 119 (Amy C. Beach)Album des Enfants, Op. 123 (Cecile Chaminade)6 petites pièces (Charlotte Sohy)Ep. 047 - An Inside Look at My Lesson-Planning ProcessAlbum des Enfants, Op. 126 by Cecile ChaminadeScenes Enfantines, Op. 92 by Mel. BonisCanoeing, Op. 119, No. 3 by Amy BeachPortraits in Jazz by Valerie Capers25 Progressive Etudes by Louise FarrencLittle Gems for Piano (Paula Dreyer)Interview with Paula Dreyer (Musician & Co.)Up-Grade! (Pam Wedgwood)The Old Boatman (Florence Price)Gifts of Asia (arr. Emilie Lin)Splattered with Fun! (Glenda Austin)I'm Not Scared (Nancy Telfer)Pictures and Beyond, Book 1 and Book 2 (Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee)At the Piano (Katherine Hoover)Piano Dreams (Anne Terzibaschitsch)Cool Piano, Book 1 (Heather Hammond)Jazz, Rags, and Blues, Book 1 + Christmas Jazz, Rags, and Blues (Martha Mier)Enchanted World (Winnie the Pooh) (June Armstrong)At the Lake (Elvina Truman Pearce)Very Easy Little Peppers (Elissa Milne)Higgledy Piggledy Jazz (Elena Cobb)Ep. 045 - The Blues Composition ProjectImpressions: Suite for Solo Piano (Jennifer Eklund)The Best of Melody Bober, Book 2 (Melody Bober)Victress Sessions (Andrea Dow)A Collection of Florence Price's Piano Teaching Music Vol 1. Beginning Pieces (Florence Price)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

It was 1997.My piano teacher had just shown us a picture of Belle, Bonne, Sage, a rondeau about love written in the shape of a heart by 15th-century French composer, Baude Cordier.This signaled the beginning of the annual studio-wide Valentine composition project.Every year around this time, my piano teacher invited us to write our own piece of music, a "musical Valentine," as she called it. The idea was to not only write an original piece, but gift it to someone—maybe a grandparent, friend, or neighbor—and perform it for them.We worked on these compositions for several weeks, usually starting right after Winter Break, making a little progress with each lesson so that we had a finished work to perform for someone by Valentine's Day.This is a story about writing my first Valentine composition project, how I remember the creative process, and how I modified this project for my own studio all these years later.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources MentionedBelle, Bonne, Sage (Baude Cordier)The Valentine Composition Project (free printable)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

What does the beginning of a New Year signify for you? What kind of season do you find yourself in these days?I recognized recently that I am in a season of learning.Of course, I am still actively teaching five days a week, but at the same time, I'm reflecting, jotting down stories and realizations at the end of the teaching day—things I'd like to do differently next time or things I didn't plan but observed or participated in that ended up teaching me something as well as my student.I'm reading and incorporating a few new teaching approaches and testing them out in particular lessons. I'm studying new repertoire and brushing up on my music history to share with my intermediate students this semester. I'm also embracing being a beginner in something outside of music.This season is marked by experimentation—that desire to try something new, play with it, and study the results. How does it work? How does it feel? What are the benefits and challenges? What will I do differently next time?Here are four ways I'm embracing experimentation in my music teaching this season.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.A Piano Teacher's Legacy (Richard Chronister)The Perfect Wrong Note: Learning to Trust Your Musical Self (William Westney)18 Books to Read This Year (2023 Book List)Book List for Musicians (2023 Edition)Art ShopBlackwing PencilsEp. 051 - The Pokémon Piano LessonRhythm Keeper, Vol. I (Musikal Husky, Steve Aho & Samantha Steitz)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

As teachers, we spend so much of our time focusing on what our students are learning and discovering. Are they progressing? Are we challenging them enough? Too much? How have they grown in their musicianship this year? What should we focus on in the next few months?Our students deserve this kind of reflection and planning to guide their learning and promote their continued skill development.But what about us? Are we progressing? Are we challenged enough? Too much? How have we grown in our musicianship this year? What should we focus on in the next few months?Taking time to reflect on our teaching practice is an important and necessary part of the teaching-and-learning equation. So today, I'm looking back on all the moments I documented on the podcast this year and sharing seven things I've learned as a music educator.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.The 8 Best Books I Read in 2022Ep. 044 - What Do You See? The Power of Observation in Music LessonsPiano Safari Repertoire 1Ep. 051 - The Pokémon Piano LessonEp. 047 - An Inside Look at My Lesson-Planning ProcessThe Post-It app for iPadEp. 043 - Rediscovering the Joy of Scavenger HuntsEp. 045 - The Blues Composition ProjectEp. 041 - Focus On the Music18 Books to Read This Year (2022 Book List)Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (Carol Dweck)Ep. 049 - What Every Music Teacher Should Know About Mindsets: Insights Into Carol Dweck's BookIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

Researchers suggest that twenty to thirty percent of teachers in America have moderately high to high levels of burnout (source). Maybe you know the feeling:Tired, mentally and emotionally.Distracted and uninspired.Going through the motions.Trouble making decisions.These are warning signs.Why does this happen? Why do we get burnt out and is there anything we can do about it? Today, I'm sharing five practical things you can do when you feel stressed or burnt out plus a few of my go-to resources.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.Burnout: Unlocking the Stress Cycle (Emily Nagoski, Ph.D., Amelia Nagoski, D.M.A)Overwhelmed? 8 Ways to Overcome It (Think Simple Now)Simply Tuesday: Small-Moment Living in a Fast-Moving World (Emily P. Freeman)How to Use Milanote As a Music EducatorFitOn appFree Batching WorksheetIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

There's been a lot of talk in recent years about creative teaching strategies and being a creative teacher. But what does that really mean? What does it look like in practice? In our world today, creative teaching seems to mean having an arsenal of note-naming worksheets, interactive Google Slide activities, and dice board games to reinforce every new skill or concept. Some of these tools are great and technology has certainly changed the way we teach and present new information, especially in the past few years. The problem is the quality. What are the educational goals or objectives of these games and activities? Are they musical (this is a big one for me)? Do they help the learner develop their musicianship skills? Do they provide the right amount of challenge?These are questions I've been pondering in my own teaching this year and today, I'm sharing some of what I've been reading and learning about creative music teaching in practice.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.Wunderkeys (Andrea Dow)Teach Piano Today blogA Piano Teacher’s Legacy (Richard Chronister)Ep. 041 - Focus on the MusicZig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater Creativity (Keith Sawyer)Ep. 011 - Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater CreativityIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

I have a new 1st-grade student this fall, a younger sibling of another student. Their temperaments and personalities could not be more different and I feel like I'm still learning how best to relate to the younger brother in lessons.Aaron is very smart and artistic but also has a rebellious streak. Sometimes he'll come into his lesson and say he doesn't want to play the piano or he'll resist reviewing a concept or piece from the previous week and give me only a half-hearted attempt.After one particularly challenging lesson, I made a plan to incorporate a few more fun activities the following week—movement, creativity prompts, and musical discovery. Little did I know that Aaron would bring all the creative inspiration we needed for a 30-minute lesson: a binder of Pokémon cards.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.Piano Safari FriendsThe School and Society (John Dewey)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

It's back-to-school season, which means cups of hot tea in the mornings, new music to learn and explore, a new teaching schedule, and a few new organizational tools and strategies to test out, per usual.Of course, there are certain parts of my routine that I enjoy coming back to—things I look forward to picking up again—but there are always a few things I’m ready to change or alter in my teaching or my business. You, too?Today, I'm sharing an inside look at three big studio projects I worked on this summer—repertoire planning, technique organization, and an aural skills video library—and how I'm implementing them into my studio this fall.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.Ep. 006 - Four Things I’m Doing Differently in My StudioRCM Celebration Series, 6th EditionKeybop, Vol. 2 (Jason Sifford)Preludes in Patterns (Kevin Olsen)Milanote - the tool for organizing creative projectsHow I Use Milanote As a Music EducatorRCM Piano Syllabus (2022)Ep. 047 - An Inside Look at My Lesson-Planning ProcessNotability - note-taking appHow to Use Notability for Assignment Sheets in Your StudioRCM Online Ear TrainingEp. 026 - My Favorite Aural Skills Games & ActivitiesMy YouTube playlists for RCM ear trainingIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

I first heard about this book from one of my grad school professors.We were sitting around a long table one snowy January evening at our annual dinner for current and prospective doctoral students. I asked my professor about books he was reading lately and he named several including Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers and Carol Dweck's Mindset.It's been on my list since then (let's just say it's been a few years), but I finally read it last year.Today, I want to share my four biggest takeaways from Mindset: The New Psychology of Success to give you an idea of what it's about and how we can learn from it as musicians, teachers, and leaders.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.Outliers: The Story of Success (Malcolm Gladwell)Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (Carol Dweck)Ep. 021 - How to Use Praise with IntentionIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

This summer, I've been teaching buddy lessons to two rising 1st graders. One started lessons with me in January and the other just started last month. They are both using the method book, Piano Safari Friends, which I have really enjoyed teaching this year.Both students have had 30-minute lessons with me almost weekly this summer and since I was able to schedule them back to back, I'm doing 25 minutes with one student, 10 minutes with both (2-3 activities), and then 25 minutes with the other student. Back in Ep. 18, I shared a glimpse into an elementary buddy lesson in my studio—the types of activities we did together and how I facilitated things. Today, I'm sharing a behind-the-scenes look at how I organized our buddy lesson activities and sequenced them from week to week.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.Piano Safari FriendsEp. 018 - This Is What an Elementary Piano Buddy Lesson Looks LikeEvernote, a free note-taking appEp. 047 - An Inside Look at My Lesson-Planning ProcessPost-it® app for iPadPiano Safari Animal Rhythm CardsPiano Safari Music Alphabet CardsMusic Tree: Time to Begin ActivitiesIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

Do you pre-plan lessons in your studio? The truth is, I haven't always done this.As a young teacher, I loved planning and sequencing activities for every individual lesson, but it was challenging to predict what we'd realistically get through and so much was dependent on a student's preparation and practicing during the week. Would they be ready to begin this new piece or would we need to spend another week reviewing concepts in a review piece?I began making quick lesson sketches when a student would hand me their lesson notebook and pre-planning other activities to reinforce rhythm, aural skills, and technique. But these activities were often more general, more level-specific than student-specific, and they weren't tied to the student's repertoire. When the pandemic happened, I found myself without my students' notebooks to reference, so I started writing digital assignment sheets.Today, I'm sharing my lesson-planning workflow: the steps I take every day before teaching to plan individual lessons for my students. Plus, at the end, I'll answer a few questions I received on Instagram that are related to this topic.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.How to Use Notability for Digital Assignment Sheets in Your StudioNotability appiPad + Apple PencilEp. 039 - A Creative, Integrated Approach to Teaching Music TheoryRCM Piano SyllabusSight-Reading and Rhythm Every Day (Helen Marlais)Ep. 045 - The Blues Composition ProjectPiano Literature for Teaching & Performance: A Graded Guide and Annotated Bibliography (Jane Magrath)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

We talk a lot about the teaching and learning process on this podcast and what that looks like in practical, real-life experiences. But today, I want to take a step back and talk about what it looks like in the beginning, when you're just getting started. Maybe you're just beginning your teaching career or you’re pivoting to teaching after doing something else. Maybe you've been teaching for a while but you're looking for ways to evolve and further develop or shape your career. Wherever you are in your career, we’re all aspiring to be better musicians, teachers, and artists. In this episode, I'll share seven practical tips for designing and developing your music teaching career.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.Institute for Creative MusicBlues Course 1.0 by Nick FinzerMusik at HomeFree Teaching Reflection WorkbookMusician & Co. - a blog and web resource for self-employed musiciansIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

In February of this year, I organized a month-long, studio-wide composition project based on the 12-bar blues.I got the idea for this project from a session I attended at NCKP last summer, led by Leila Viss and Bradley Sowash. Leila shared how she's structured a blues composition project for her students and I thought it would be a good way to acknowledge and celebrate Black History Month and incorporate composition for my elementary and intermediate students. Today, I'm sharing a behind-the-scenes look at how I organized this project in my studio, how I structured and guided the composition process each week, some blues examples we studied from the repertoire, and a few of my students' final compositions.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.Key Ideas with Leila, Ep. 017 - The 12-Bar BluesRock Around the Block (Sam Holland, Music Tree, Part 1)Jazz Blast (Faber, Piano Adventures, Level 2A)Captain Hook's Rockin' Party (Faber, Piano Adventures, Level 2B)Black Bear Boogie (Chee-Hwa Tan, Circus Sonatinas)Slide Easy (Robert Vandall, Celebrated Jazzy Solos, Book 1)Surfboard Boogie (Martha Mier, Jazz, Rags, and Blues, Book 1)Spiderman Theme (old-school theme song)I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (U2)Stuck in the Middle With You (Stealers Wheel)Hound Dog (Elvis)Be Cool and Play the Blues by Leila Viss (digital resource)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

I remember the warm, wood-paneled walls of the recital hall where we gathered; the blue theater chairs and parquet floors; the tall windows along one wall and narrow stage at the front, large enough for only a Steinway grand piano and a few chairs and music stands.I liked to sit toward the back because, since the hall was small, it gave me a good visual perspective. I pulled out my wooden notebook with the leather spine, flipped to the next clean page, and began to write.This is where I captured ideas and inspiration and revelations from teachers like Martin Katz, Graham Johnson, Victor Rosenbaum, Rena Sharon, and Alice Parker, among others.There's so much we can learn from observing how music is made—the gestures, the movement, the physicality of it.As a student, I remember feeling like there was so much to take in: to see, hear, and experience. That's why I took notes.Now, as a teacher, I've been thinking about ways to provide my students—even elementary-age—with more opportunities for observation, as another avenue of learning.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.The Inner Game of Tennis (Timothy Gallwey)Ep. 041 - Focus on the MusicEp. 018 - This Is What an Elementary Buddy Lesson Looks LikeIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

It all started when I was writing a lesson plan for a 2nd-grade student. She’s in her second month of lessons.I was planning to introduce a new piece and I thought we'd start by exploring the rhythm since three of the four patterns were the same in this particular piece. Let me preface this by saying these were rhythm patterns the student had experienced aurally in previous weeks through imitation and clapbacks. I was looking for a way this week to introduce the written notation.My first thought was to write each rhythm pattern on a Post-It Note so we could discover together the ones that are the same. Then I would ask my student to put them in the order they appear in the new piece by listening to me play it a few times.But then I remembered a creative teaching idea I hadn't used in a while that would be perfect for exploring the rhythm of this piece: a scavenger hunt.There are a few key benefits to using an activity like this in your music teaching and that's what I'm going to share with you today.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear Rhythmic ChantHazel Cobb’s Pie Game (out of print)Tried-and-True Rhythm Games for Children’s Choir (including the Pie Game)Free Rhythm Pattern Card SetResource LibraryTonal & Rhythm Pattern Card Set: Younger ElementaryTonal & Rhythm Pattern Card Set: Older ElementaryIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

In the book The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance, author Timothy Gallwey describes a one-on-one lesson he had once with an adult tennis student. The student was aware of a problem with his serve, as several other teachers had pointed it out to him, and he could describe it in great detail, and what he needed to do to fix it. So Timothy decided to try a different approach.He observed the man serve a few times, then, instead of trying to find a new, better way to explain the problem that the student already knew he had, he simply instructed him to practice his serve in front of a large window that functioned as a mirror. Almost instantly, the student recognized the problem in his own serve—he saw it with his own eyes for the first time—and made the necessary corrections to relax his arm.The man thanked Timothy profusely and told him that he had taught him more than all the other teachers he had had in the past. But Timothy said, “What did I actually teach you?” The man was quiet for a few seconds as he thought and he said, “Well I guess I don’t really know! But you helped me so much. In 15 minutes, you made more of an impact than the hours of private lessons I’ve had.”There’s a difference between facilitating and teaching; that's what we're going to talk about today.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance (Timothy Gallwey)“Piano Class for the Real World”: Exploring Experiential Learning with a Collaborative Inquiry Group in a Creative Musicianship Lab (Ashley Danyew)“Bridging the gap: Informal learning practices as a pedagogy of integration” (Heloisa Feichas)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

This month in my teaching, I'm making a conscious effort to focus on the music.I know that might sound obvious. You're a music teacher—what else would you focus on? But the truth is, as teachers, there's a lot we're thinking about:Are we managing our time well? Will we complete everything on the lesson plan?Are we keeping a good pace and keeping our students engaged?Is there enough variety in the activities we're doing today: theory and sight-reading, aural skills and musical expression, on-the-bench and off-the-bench activities, rhythm and movement?How are they doing with this activity? Do they understand the concept? Have they developed this skill? Do they need a challenge?All of these things are important and necessary to our work. As teachers, we are responsible for organizing and sequencing learning activities, managing time, and assessing the outcomes. But this month, I want to prioritize the music we're making, the music my students are making.In his book Deep Work, researcher Cal Newport wrote, “Clarity about what matters provides clarity about what does not.” That's what this episode is all about.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World (Cal Newport)Ep. 021 - “How to Praise With Intention”Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (Carol Dweck)Fixed and Growth Mindsets (What I Learned from Carol Dweck’s Book)Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less (Greg McKeown)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

The scene opens in an empty room with blank, white walls. A woman steps into the space, alone. "The blank space can be humbling," she writes. There's pressure to do something, to fill the emptiness, to create. But with practice and with the ritual of showing up, you grow accustomed to it. The author describes it as both her job and her calling."Bottom line," she writes, "Filling this empty space constitutes my identity.”This is how the book, The Creative Habit begins. Author Twyla Tharp is a choreographer and dancer, offering insight into her creative practice and the rituals that accompany it.I read this book last spring and it was one of my favorites of the whole year. I thought I'd share my three biggest takeaways and a few of my favorite quotes from the book with the hope that it's as inspiring and enlightening to you as it was for me.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.The Creative Habit (Twyla Tharp)Join the Musician & Co. Book Club!Big Magic (Elizabeth Gilbert)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

So often in our teaching and learning experiences, music theory is taught as a standalone subject. We need to develop an understanding of theory and musical structure just like we need to develop an understanding of syntax and grammar in language. But I've been wondering lately if there's a better way to incorporate these learning experiences and theoretical conversations into our teaching. How can we as music educators make more connections between music theory and music practice, between the analysis and study of music and the actual creation of it? How can we make music theory more experiential?That's what we're going to talk about today.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.“An Enactive Approach to Learning Music Theory? Obstacles and Openings.” (James Gutierrez)Google SlidesNotability AppHow to Use Notability for Written Assignment Sheets in Your StudioMusic Tree: Time to Begin (Activities)Music Tree: Part 1 (Activities)Music Tree: Part 2A (Activities)Music Tree: Part 2B (Activities)Music Tree: Part 3 (Activities)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

If there's one thing we know it's that practicing is fundamental to developing skills as a musician. And as music teachers and educators, we're always looking for new ways to encourage and inspire our students to practice at home.Interleaving is an approach to learning and practice that involves mixing up the sequence of topics, skills, or strategies so they are woven together throughout a practice or study session.How does it work? What are the benefits? We'll talk about all of that in this episode.For show notes + full transcript, click here.Resources Mentioned*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.Ep. 037 - Do You Play Your Instrument for Fun?How People Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens (Benedict Carey)Varied, Distributed, and Interleaved Practice (The Musician’s Way)Why the Progress in the Practice Room Seems to Disappear Overnight (The Bulletproof Musician)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

When was the last time you sat down at your instrument and played music for fun? I mean, not music you had to practice or prepare, not the music you're teaching this week, but music you chose to play for yourself, for your own enjoyment?So often as professionals, we don’t make time for this. We assume that the music we’re being paid to learn and practice and teach will also count as the musical satisfaction we need to keep going in our careers. It will satisfy that creative need we all have, the need to create and be challenged and experience something new. Today, I'm sharing four reasons why playing your instrument for your enjoyment and creative expression is really vital to your music career.For show notes + full transcript, click here.If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

Improvising and musical creativity is something I value in my studio and something I want to encourage and foster in all of my students. This was not my experience growing up; in fact, I didn't learn how to approach improvising from an educational standpoint until I was in grad school.Today, I want to share a story from the early days of my studio when I was still a student myself. It's about a lesson I had one October with an 11-year-old student.For show notes + full transcript, click here.Resources mentioned:Monster Dance (Jennifer Fink)A Conversation with Edwin Gordon (Mary Ellen Pinzino, 1998)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

According to church musician and educator, Helen Kemp, 17% of children need help finding their singing voices. These are the children who often sing with a very limited range, default to chanting low in the voice instead of singing, and/or have trouble matching pitch. Have you encountered this in your teaching?This does not indicate a lack of skill or potential, but simply a lack of experience and vocal development.In this episode, I'm sharing six practical teaching strategies you can use with your students.For show notes + a full transcript, click here.Resources mentioned:The Importance of Music in Early Childhood (Lili Levinowitz, Music Together)Free vocal exploration cardsVocal exploration video demonstrationHow to Develop Children’s Singing Voices in Choir40 Call-and-Response Songs and GamesEp. 012 - How to Develop Musicianship Skills in Those You TeachIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

Perhaps you've heard the age-old adage: we teach how we were taught.Of course, we know this isn’t the full story: we all have unique backgrounds and a variety of experiences that inform the people we are today and the teachers we are becoming.Observing our own teachers is certainly a part of that, but this alone doesn’t define what type of teacher we are or will become. But it is worth considering every now and again: How do these influences and past experiences affect our teaching mindsets, our approaches, and the way we think about learning? That’s what we’re going to talk about today.For show notes + full transcript, click here.Resources mentioned:*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.“Teaching the way they were taught? Revisiting the sources of teaching knowledge and the role of prior experience in shaping faculty teaching practices” (Amanda Oleson & Matthew T. Hora)Experience & Education (John Dewey)“Five Things You Only Learn When You Start Teaching” (Cambridge University Press Blog)“What My Teachers Taught Me About Teaching” (David Cutler)Perceptions and Influences Behind Teaching Practices: Do Teachers Teachers Teach as They Were Taught? (Stephanie E. Cox)How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens (Benedict Carey)Better Learning Through Structured Teaching (Douglas Fisher & Nancy Frey)Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning (Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III & Mark A. McDaniel)“Review: Make It Stick” (Cult of Pedagogy)Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (Daniel H. Pink)Ep. 003 - The Surprising Truth About What Motivates UsPeak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise (Anders Ericsson & Robert Pool)“To Learn, Students Need to DO Something” (Cult of Pedagogy)Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance (Angela Duckworth)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

If you walk into an elementary classroom, you might notice that everything is color-coded: signs and charts on the wall to labels on bins to pieces of tape marking certain spots on the floor.This is because colors are easy for most young children to recognize and differentiate between.But in music, our baseline is black and white, the colors of standard notation.For this reason, color can be a helpful tool when teaching music literacy and developing music-reading skills. Elementary educator Amy Curletto wrote, “When we use color in a systematic way it can help students retain information better than just using black and white.” (source)Today, I’m sharing four simple, unique strategies to use color to teach music literacy.For show notes + full transcript, click here.Resources mentioned:*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.Why You Should Be Color-Coding Your Classroom (James Stanfield)BoomwhackersColored handbellsColored chime bands by ChimeWorksElectrical tape for color-coding handchimesRainbow-colored hair ties for color-coding instrumentsColor-coded chord cardsColor-coded fabric staff — available in two sizes: Junior (18"x14") and Large (28"x28")Colored markersColored dot stickers for color-coding handchimes or creating your own colored music chartsColored music notation stickersFlat.io — create your own colored notation!ChimeWorks Icon Chart12x12” colored cardstock — great for illustrating musical formColored bean bags — a fun way to analyze musical formErasable pens — my students love these!Highlighters are great for marking repeated patterns or phrasesThe Psychology of Color: How Do Colors Influence Learning? (SHIFT eLearning)Colored pencils are great for marking dynamics or adding your ownWashi tapeIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

Today's episode is a special one because for the first time on this podcast, you'll hear someone other than me talking. In fact, you'll hear 22 other voices — my students!But first, let me back up and give you a little context.In the Spring of 2020, I attended a webinar for piano teachers hosted by the Frances Clark Center. Anna Beth Rucker, a piano teacher, researcher, and arts administrator based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, shared a project she did with her students for their virtual recital a month before called "I Make Music Because..." She asked each student to record themselves finishing this statement and then compiled them into a video to share at the beginning of the YouTube recital playlist.I knew this would be a special addition to our first virtual recital and a great way to encourage my students to reflect on why they make music.I loved how it turned out last year, so much so that we did it again as a studio this year. And that's what I'm going to share with you today.For show notes + full transcript, click here.Resources mentioned:Teaching in the Time of COVID-19: Resources for Online Instruction (Frances Clark Center)Ep. 020 - Asking the Right Kind of QuestionsIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

One thing I love about summer is picking out a new book (or three) to read. I love having a book with me when I travel, but also the everyday times like sitting by the lake on a hot summer day, relaxing on the porch with a glass of sweet tea, or curled up in the sunroom on a quiet Sunday afternoon.In the summer, I like to have at least one book that's an easy, light-hearted read — easy to pick up and put down, read outside or on a plane or in the car. I also like to choose a lifestyle-related book that will challenge me in some way or help me assess the rhythms and routines I've developed so far this year. And finally, I find summer is a great time to catch up on my development as a musician and educator, so I like having one book that I can learn from in that way.If you're looking for a few books to add to your summer reading list, you're in the right place. Today, I'm sharing a few of my favorite summer reads (plus a couple I’m planning to read myself).For show notes + full transcript, click here.Resources mentioned:*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through some of these links.25 Books to Read This Year (My 2021 Book List)Reading People (Anne Bogel)Digital Minimalism (Cal Newport)Note By Note: A Celebration of the Piano Lesson (Tricia Tunstall)The Help (Kathryn Stockett)Bella Tuscany (Frances Mayes)The Year of Yes (Shonda Rhimes)The Time of Our Singing (Richard Powers)Mindset (Carol Dweck)A Piano Teacher’s Legacy (Richard Chronister)Ep. 022 - On Being a Lifelong LearnerNational Conference on Keyboard PedagogyIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

Welcome back to Music Education Basics!Today, we’re talking about musical phrasing, dynamics, and movement and why it’s important to incorporate these elements of musical expression into the teaching and learning process from the very beginning.Visuals and active experiences are a huge part of the learning process. In some cases, they are more important in our teaching than spoken directions and letting people read things for themselves. How can we be intentional about structuring our teaching in a way that supports visual learning and active, hands-on experiences?We’ll explore a few useful strategies, ways to create opportunities for active experience, and meaningful analogies you can use to support music learning and the development of musical understanding in your students.For show notes, click here.Looking for the workbook? You’ll find it inside the learning platform, ready to download. Sign up for free access >>Resources mentioned:The Art of Music Teaching & Learning — A comprehensive online course for music educators in all types of settings. It's kind of like getting a mini-music education degree in only 8 weeks.Improvisation and the Importance of Teaching Musical Creativity — A great article by Joan Eckroth-Riley

Welcome back to Music Education Basics!Today, we’re talking about readiness for music-reading and developing proficiency.Just like learning to read language, music-reading follows listening and responding, developing a musical vocabulary, and active musical experiences in a natural progression, as we’ve been reviewing this week.If you’re a choir director or an elementary music teacher, I recommend introducing music-reading (as in holding a score in your hand) around 2nd or 3rd grade. We tend to introduce music-reading a little sooner in one-on-one settings — piano lessons or other beginning instrumental studies — but in choir, you can usually wait until 3rd grade and spend more time with rote-learning and gradually bridging that gap.Start by introducing music notation in small doses: simple tonal or rhythm patterns, like we talked about in Day 2, or a short song with mostly stepwise motion to highlight direction on the staff and how the notes alternate between lines and spaces.I’ll walk you through a simple 4-step process and a few tangible ways to do this in today's lesson.For show notes, click here.Looking for the workbook? You’ll find it inside the learning platform, ready to download. Sign up for free access >>Resources mentioned:The Art of Music Teaching & Learning — A comprehensive online course for music educators in all types of settings. It's kind of like getting a mini-music education degree in only 8 weeks.How to Teach Solfege — An in-depth article for elementary music teachers and children’s choir directors