Teacher Education Webinars

From OK to WOW: Making Competent Performances Exceptional with Ingrid Clarfield

In this presentation, we will discuss the challenges of being on-camera; strategies for video lesson planning, materials and approaches that are suitable for online delivery, and the copyright problems that exist when posting videos online. While technological matters will be briefly discussed, the primary focus will be placed on the challenges of pedagogy when the student is absent.

Sonatinas lie at the heart of the intermediate and advancing repertoire we teach. For most students, sonatinas are the gateway to classical style. We assign a sonatina and work diligently to achieve accuracy of notes, rhythms, and fingerings. But for many students, the results are perfunctory and unconvincing. What is missing? One could generalize and suggest that the student is not adequately prepared technically and stylistically. This webinar will focus primarily on the steps which prepare students for convincing sonatina playing.

Rather than telling students to put their cell phone away, this webinar presents easy to use functions within phones to assist teachers in their private lesson and group classroom teaching, and to assist students in their practicing. Specific assignments, useful in both group teaching and private lessons, are shared, as well as concrete suggestions for the practice room.

Exemplary teaching of elementary piano repertoire has occurred when the student returns to the next lesson playing with enjoyment, accurately and musically. Beginning students must also incrementally develop autonomous processes for learning music, eventually not relying on others. In this webinar, teachers will learn how to introduce repertoire, to create immediate and lasting results with elementary students. The following six strategies will be examined and illustrated: rote, rote to note, partial work-out, complete work-out, play-discuss, and on-own. In order to purposefully use these strategies, teachers must carefully consider the interaction of student capabilities, traits and objectives of the music, practice assignments, and teaching processes.

More than any other body of pedagogical material, the Bach Inventions remain the touchstone of our teaching repertoire. In this webinar, Marvin Blickenstaff discusses the challenges presented by the inventions, ways to foster student learning and practice, and guidelines for interpretation.

The attack and release of the key is where sound begins and ends. It is necessary that pianists have a secure grasp on the relationship between touch and tone, as the physical aspect of playing is directly related to the musical result. If we develop a few basic movements, it will allow the student to translate notational patterns into motion patterns, the application of which produce sounds according to specifications of the written text. In this webinar, Dr. Christopher Hahn will present and demonstrate many examples of articulation from the piano literature across a variety of levels and styles in order to contrast and compare each in their respective contexts. By relating to the physical approach through a few basic movements that are common to all of the articulations, attendees will come away with a ready teaching technique for their students as they learn to understand the connection between the physical approach to the printed page in order to achieve the desired musical effect.

In this webinar, Dr. Scott Price discusses the use of voice tone, facial expressions, body language, and vocabulary that are effective in working with special learners. This population of students often presents challenges in navigating social behaviors and social communication. Attendees will learn about what elements of our communication may be meaningless, irrelevant, or counterproductive for our students who are special learners, and modes of communication that may flip the learning situation to be meaningful, relevant, and productive for our special learners as they navigate their experiences in music making.

Jazz is often a source of fear for piano teachers. These 5 “Need to Know” Jazz Essentials were created to help teachers be more confident and informed for their next jazz lesson. Learn the details of swing feel, keys to decoding chord symbols, exactly what “comping” is, how to teach beginning improvisation, and more.

This webinar explores one of Frances Clark's most important teaching principles - students must be prepared for all new concepts before they are presented. This is easily applied to all teaching methods. Simple and clear ideas on how to successfully prepare students are presented for new learning in the following areas: rhythm/pulse, expressive markings, technique, practice, reading, and basic theory concepts. Just a few minutes in each lesson addressing this most basic cornerstone of good teaching will bring greater success to teachers of all methods.

Claude Debussy was a master of utilizing the vast color palette of the piano to create vivid pictures in sound. The composer left little question of these intended colors through his detailed and specific markings of dynamics and articulation. This session will explore how we pianists can physically bring these colors to life, addressing such ideas as finger angle, varying speed of attack, and pedaling.

Do you believe your students are achieving their personal best? Do you sense a lack of motivation and meaningful engagement among your students? This session will distill a rather significant body of motivation theory and research and will present robust strategies that can be used to foster a culture of excellence and inspire joyful and purposeful music making in your studios.

Gone are the days when we practiced three or four hours daily in preparation for our senior recital or other performances. When we illustrate even rather simple passages or technical routines for our students, we often feel that we are not in the technical shape we once had accomplished. There are, however, basic routines that can help us maintain a fluent technique, even without those four hours of daily practice. A routine for busy teachers will be discussed and illustrated.

Technology has transformed the ways in which we teach. This webinar will explore why our students are drawn to technology, its impact on neural development, and practical ways teachers can incorporate technology into their current curriculum.

The musical and educational needs of adults may vary greatly among students, depending upon past learning experiences, musical interests, lifespan development, and typical changes associated with aging. This engaging session explores ideas for working with adult students aged 20 through 100+. Dr. Pike will highlight research on lifespan development theories and discuss cognition, vision, hearing, and motor skill changes that are typical during each decade of life.

This webinar discusses ways to plan for the new teaching year with thoughts on curriculum, practice, and lesson structure. In September, we have the opportunity to plan for the success of the new teaching year for each and every student. Without our careful planning, student progress may be haphazard and filled with false starts and lacking in focus and direction.

In this webinar, Dr. Vanessa Cornett explores strategies for choosing deliberate teaching language to develop objective, resilient musicians of all ages. With thoughtful intent, teachers can use verbal communication to help students work through challenges and failures, manage performance anxiety and self-doubt, develop candid and compassionate self-assessment skills, and – perhaps most importantly – become aware of the power of their own self-talk in determining the quality of their internal and external experiences.

Elementary piano instruction focuses primarily on teaching little fingers to play and teaching little eyes to read. What is often missing in the curriculum is aural development. This webinar explores ways in which we teachers can stimulate and guide listening skills -- from the very first lesson.

This presentation will be filled with specific exercises and teaching ideas that encourage improvisation by limiting the musical elements students need to generate at a time. Among the topics addressed will be rhythm, arpeggios, accompaniment styles, chord progressions, scales, and form.

In this webinar, Dr. Sara Ernst presents best practices for developing motivated and confident young pianists in the first years of study. The pedagogical principles discussed will cover growth of musicianship, technique, and artistry, and aid teachers in individualizing a course of study to the young learner.

This session will consist of video demonstrations of real students with varying special needs as they navigate their lessons and recital performances. Attendees will be able to watch progressive lesson segments with students in real learning situations as they learn repertoire, improvisation and composition, and prepare for their performances. Special attention will focus on different learning styles of students and on pedagogical applications that work for students with special needs and for traditional students.

We all have our favorite ways to conduct a first lesson with a new student. But how do those first lesson experiences flower into concepts of reading, rhythm, technique, and creativity? This webinar will discuss the first lesson and ways in which that important time provides the platform for elementary instruction.

This in-depth session will outline basic procedures for teaching piano in the world of students with autism. Subjects will include detailed routines useful and necessary for fostering learning and performance success. Specific teaching techniques will include emphasis on basic skills such as music reading, counting, fingering, etc., and how they can be adapted for child-specific learning situations leading to success on the recital platform.