048 - Buddy Lesson Activities Based on Piano Safari Friends

048 - Buddy Lesson Activities Based on Piano Safari Friends

This summer, I've been teaching buddy lessons to two rising 1st graders. One started lessons with me in January and the other just started last month. They are both using the method book, Piano Safari Friends, which I have really enjoyed teaching this year.

Both students have had 30-minute lessons with me almost weekly this summer and since I was able to schedule them back to back, I'm doing 25 minutes with one student, 10 minutes with both, and then 25 minutes with the other student.

Today, I'm sharing a behind-the-scenes look at how I organized our buddy lesson activities and sequenced them from week to week.

047 - An Inside Look at My Lesson-Planning Process

047 - An Inside Look at My Lesson-Planning Process

Do you pre-plan lessons in your studio? The truth is, I haven't always done this.

As a young teacher, I loved planning and sequencing activities for every individual lesson, but it was challenging to predict what we'd realistically get through and so much was dependent on a student's preparation and practicing during the week. Would they be ready to begin this new piece or would we need to spend another week reviewing concepts in a review piece?

Today, I'm sharing my lesson-planning workflow: the steps I take every day before teaching to plan individual lessons for my students. Plus, at the end, I'll answer a few questions I received on Instagram that are related to this topic.

046 - 6 Practical Tips for Designing Your Music Teaching Career

046 - 6 Practical Tips for Designing Your Music Teaching Career

We talk a lot about the teaching and learning process on this podcast and what that looks like in practical, real-life experiences. But today, I want to take a step back and talk about what it looks like in the beginning, when you're just getting started.

Maybe you're just beginning your teaching career or you’re pivoting to teaching after doing something else. Maybe you've been teaching for a while but you're looking for ways to evolve and further develop or shape your career.

Wherever you are in your career, we’re all aspiring to be better musicians, teachers, and artists. In this episode, I'll share seven practical tips for designing and developing your music teaching career.

Music careers in the 21st century are flexible and diverse and they often include more than one thing. Many of you are freelancers or self-employed, curating opportunities and crafting a creative career based on your varied skillsets and interests.

Today, I want to focus on music education and ways to incorporate that into the work you do. Because whether or not you pursued or are pursuing a degree in music education, teaching will invariably be part of your career, if it isn’t already. I’ll explain more about what that might look like in this episode.

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045 - The Blues Composition Project

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045 - The Blues Composition Project

Do you incorporate composition into your teaching?

If you didn't grow up improvising or composing, you may feel intimidated by the prospect of nurturing these skills in your students. But it's never too late to stretch those creative muscles!

Today, I'm sharing a behind-the-scenes look at how I organized a blues composition project in my studio, how I structured and guided the composition process each week, some blues examples we studied from the repertoire, and a few of my students' final compositions.

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044 - What Do You See? The Power of Observation in Music Lessons

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044 - What Do You See? The Power of Observation in Music Lessons

I was in grad school at the time.

I remember the warm, wood-paneled walls of the recital hall where we gathered; the blue theater chairs and parquet floors; the tall windows along one wall and narrow stage at the front, large enough for only a Steinway grand piano and a few chairs and music stands.

I liked to sit toward the back because, since the hall was small, it gave me a good visual perspective. I pulled out my wooden notebook with the leather spine, flipped to the next clean page, and began to write.

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043 - Rediscovering the Joy of Scavenger Hunts

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043 - Rediscovering the Joy of Scavenger Hunts

It all started when I was writing a lesson plan for a 2nd-grade student. She’s in her second month of lessons.

I was planning to introduce a new piece and I thought we'd start by exploring the rhythm since three of the four patterns were the same in this particular piece. Let me preface this by saying these were rhythm patterns the student had experienced aurally in previous weeks through imitation and clapbacks. I was looking for a way this week to introduce the written notation.

042 - What Does It Mean to Be a Teacher-Facilitator?

042 - What Does It Mean to Be a Teacher-Facilitator?

In the book The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance, author Timothy Gallwey describes a one-on-one lesson he had once with an adult tennis student. The student was aware of a problem with his serve, as several other teachers had pointed it out to him, and he could describe it in great detail, and what he needed to do to fix it.

So Timothy decided to try a different approach than the previous coaches that the student had worked with.

He observed the man serve a few times, then, instead of trying to find a new, better way to explain the problem that the student already knew he had, he simply instructed him to practice his serve in front of a large window that functioned as a mirror. Almost instantly, the student recognized the problem in his own serve—he saw it with his own eyes for the first time—and made the necessary corrections to relax his arm.

Timothy reflected on this experience later and he wrote in the book, “He had learned, but had he been ‘taught’?" He went on to explain: "I had learned and he had learned, but there was no one there to take credit. There was only the glimmer of a realization that we were both participating in a wonderful process of natural learning.”

Timothy had the foresight to know what the student needed, to see one step beyond where he was and help guide him to where he wanted to be. In this way, Timothy facilitated the student's learning.

And I think that's where the distinction lies: Facilitating vs. Teaching. That's what we're going to talk about today.

041 - Focus On the Music

041 - Focus On the Music

This month in my teaching, I'm making a conscious effort to focus on the music.

I know that might sound obvious. You're a music teacher—what else would you focus on? But the truth is, as teachers, there's a lot we're thinking about:

  • Are we managing our time well? Will we complete everything on the lesson plan?

  • Are we keeping a good pace and keeping our students engaged?

  • Is there enough variety in the activities we're doing today: theory and sight-reading, aural skills and musical expression, on-the-bench and off-the-bench activities, rhythm and movement?

  • How are they doing with this activity? Do they understand the concept? Have they developed this skill? Do they need a challenge?

Then there are the COVID protocols:

  • Are we keeping enough social distance?

  • Are we washing our hands after we take turns at the piano?

  • Am I respecting the student's sense of personal space? Do they feel comfortable?

All of these things are important and necessary to our work. As teachers, we are responsible for organizing and sequencing learning activities, managing time, and assessing the outcomes. But this month, I want to prioritize the music we're making, the music my students are making.

In his book Deep Work, researcher Cal Newport wrote, “Clarity about what matters provides clarity about what does not.” That's what this episode is all about.

040 - On Developing a Creative Habit [Book Review]

040 - On Developing a Creative Habit [Book Review]

The scene opens in an empty room with blank, white walls. A woman steps into the space, alone. "The blank space can be humbling," she writes. There's pressure to do something, to fill the emptiness, to create. But with practice and with the ritual of showing up, you grow accustomed to it. The author describes it as both her job and her calling.

"Bottom line," she writes, "Filling this empty space constitutes my identity.”

This is how the book, The Creative Habit begins. Author Twyla Tharp is a choreographer and dancer, offering insight into her creative practice and the rituals that accompany it.

As a creative, I love reading about other people's creative processes: their habits and work routines, the decisions they make, the way they think, and how they see the world.

I read this book last spring and it was one of my favorites of the whole year. I thought I'd share my three biggest takeaways and a few of my favorite quotes from the book with the hope that it's as inspiring and enlightening to you as it was for me.

039 - A Creative, Integrated Approach to Teaching Music Theory

039 - A Creative, Integrated Approach to Teaching Music Theory

Often in our teaching and learning experiences, music theory is taught as a standalone subject. We have theory books in our private studios, AP Theory in high school, and a sequence of theory classes at the college and graduate level.

Theory courses and books are a good thing, don't get me wrong. We need to develop an understanding of theory and musical structure just like we need to develop an understanding of syntax and grammar in language. But I've been wondering lately if there's a better way to incorporate these learning experiences and theoretical conversations into our teaching, especially when teaching online.

How can we as music educators make more connections between music theory and music practice, between the analysis and study of music and the actual creation of it? How can we make music theory more experiential?

That's what we're going to talk about today.

Follow along with my creative work and daily adventures: @ashleydanyew

In honor of #smallbusinesssaturday2024, here are my ✨2025 predictions✨ for musicians and creative entrepreneurs: 1️⃣ Pivoting will still be essential: Flexibility and adaptability will define success—embrace change and be willing to evolve.
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