Remember “Pease Porridge Hot?”

Last week ten-year-old Nicholas arrived for his lesson.

The composition assignment in the studio this week is to take a favorite book and write music for a scene, or a character, or the emotional arc of the story.

First, a disclaimer: I don’t like to cook.

“Cat hunt!” screamed our six-year-old nephew Felix every time he ran up the driveway this summer…

One of my fifth-grade students and I have a code regarding practicing.

The Little Ones are no longer so little.

Last week I had a dream.

There is nothing like a really long break to clear one’s head.

It’s not the students playing Beethoven and Chopin that are challenging when it comes to choosing repertoire for the studio recital.

Recently a friend and I were talking about our teaching. In passing, I mentioned something about “Metronome Mountain” as a practice strategy.

For the last couple of months in the studio we have been madly getting ready for an onslaught of festivals, competitions, the final round of performance classes for the year, and the annual spring recital.

Matt sometimes tells people that he lives with the person who thinks more about practicing than anyone he knows.

School started last week. Yep. Read it and weep. The summer is over. Over.

When I first posted the anecdote below, I was both acknowledging and bemoaning students’ favorite practice strategy: Repetition.

In both my life and teaching, practicing is where it all begins.

I have an embarrassing inability to recognize music that I hear on the radio or playing in the other room.

During the months (years!) that Dennis Alexander and I were working on Repertoire by Rote, we frequently asked colleagues to try out pieces and give us feedback.

This week I have been thinking a lot about the place of rote teaching in my pedagogical life.

Kids are always counting something.