Read our Newest Blog Additions

• Teaching Thoughtfully: Reflections on the 2012 Practical Piano Pedagogy Seminar
  Written by Krysta Hawkley Krysta is a faculty member at the Levine School of Music and attended Practical Piano Pedagogy at the New School in August 2012.   What kind of teacher are you?  Are you a detailed planner, who knows what will happen in every minute of the lesson?  Maybe you’re a reactive teacher, with no particular plan in mind, but a “bag of tricks” at the ready for whatever...
  
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  Top 10 Things We’ve Learned from Teaching Kindergartners
    Written by Rebecca Mergen Pennington and Christy Miller Teachers of "The Piano Detectives Club" at The New School for Music Study     During the last few years of teaching, we have realized that there are many things we take for granted about most of our students. For instance, most of our students have reasonably long attention spans, decent hand coordination, and they know how...
  
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  The Student and Teacher as “Works in Progress”
  As I’m practicing and preparing for several upcoming performances, I find myself reflecting about how my practice directly impacts my teaching. I’ve rediscovered—as I always do when I’m preparing for a recital or a gig—that as a teacher, having a performer's mindset is just as vital as having a teacher's mindset.   To explain further, I need to share a little nugget of wisdom that...
  
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  The Nuts and Bolts of Piano Assignments
  Question: "Frances Clark recommended carbon copying student assignments. What are you using now at the New School?" Submitted by Helen Weems. Answer: The philosophy.   Here at the New School for Music Study, we create home practice assignments for every lesson. Frances Clark (d. 1998), the founder of our school, insisted that every teacher goes into every lesson having prepared an assignment to...
  
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  Liking Our Students
    Recently I took my young son to a trial class for a local music program.  I was determined to enroll him in the class, but just wanted to investigate it first.  I loved the curriculum and he had a great time.  In the end, I just couldn’t bring myself to sign up for the session.  During the class, I found myself wishing that the teacher would interact with the children.  She gave direction...