"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here!" by — J.K. RowlingHarry Potter and the Sorcerer's StoneWe music teachers teach with our hearts as well as our hands. Our students come away from their lessons with more than just instruction, and we welcome them gladly into our studios and our affections. It'...

I've recently been inspired to think about the essential elements of a successful lesson, prompted in part by Pete Jutras's column "Quality Ingredients" (Clavier Companion, July/August 2015) and a superb 2012 workshop that Marvin Blickenstaff presented at Nazareth College, just outside of Rochester, NY.Jutras's points—that every lesson should have ...

When children begin to learn to read word s, it is assumed that the goal is sight reading-the ability to say the word a split second after seeing it-and that this goal will be reached rather quickly. And furthermore, it is assumed that the ability to sightread a string of words which make a sentence will follow close behind. If this were not t...