by Jordan Taylor Before I really get into what this topic means to me, let me give the caveat that there are many aspects to successful practicing. What I’m specifically talking about is what I believe to be the two broadest factors that foster successful student development: consistency and efficiency. Consistency of practice– on the surface, this is exactly what you think it means. How much time...
Read More
One of the problems we have as musicians is a plateau in development and drive. It’s happened to almost everybody I know in one way or another and it’s the most frustrating thing to deal with. Over the years I’ve found that the most common reason for a plateau is a lack of clearly defined and achievable goals. Let me make a very clear distinction, practice...
Read More
by Jamey Mann When a child is taking music lessons the role the parent needs to play cannot be overstated. The younger the student the more important this role becomes. In the Suzuki method the parent is referred to as the home teacher. In this role the parent is taking lessons with the student; taking notes on concepts, posture, and what to practice. At home the...
Read More
by Wayne Estes Just recently, I spent an entire weekend video recording and editing the videos for a few of my advanced students to submit for college auditions. We discovered a few things that I feel are worth sharing… It is never too early to start to record yourself performing and practicing with audio and video at home prior to your professional video recording date. Both audio...
Read More
Every instrument comes with a system of fingering to help the composer illustrate how the piece should be played. This goes beyond tempo markings and dynamics and tells the performer exactly which finger to use to play a note, what position the student should be in, and what string the note goes on. All of this affects the sound/tone of the note. Fingerings are important for...
Read More