Quote from J. S. Bach

“Where there is devotional music, God is always at hand with His gracious presence.”  ~ Johann Sebastian Bach


(quoted from goodreads.com)

A Resource for Church Musicians

Recently, I found a wonderful resource for church musicians. Greg Howlett posts many free arrangements that would work for preludes, postludes, and interludes. He also writes posts about how to find the happy medium between being tied to the music and playing solely by ear. If you sign up for his newsletter, he will send you a free download for one of his CD's, a hymn arrangement that is not posted on his blog, and a free course on charting chords in a hymn.

Replaceable vs. Dispensable

Replaceable and Dispensable. These two terms when applied as adjectives to a teacher could easily be interpreted to mean that the teacher is easily replaced by another or that music is not important so music instruction can be dispensed with.

I do believe that a teacher should be irreplaceable, but in a way dispensable. First of all, the reasons should be obvious about being irreplaceable. We want to be good teachers so that our students won't want to find another teacher. We should seek to pursue excellence in teaching and a good teacher/student relationships. A good relationship goes a long way to keeping a student.

On the other hand, one of our long term goals for any student should be that they don't need us anymore. Hence, the reason we should be dispensable. It is important that we teach them how to practice and go about learning a piece so that they don't need us anymore. Being able to get a student to that level of independence, is the sign of a good teacher.

Sight Reading....

As I prepare my students for OMTA's spring syllabus, I want to test my students' sight reading so they are prepared for their syllabus evaluation. (For more on what OMTA's syllabus is, click here.) For the next few weeks, I will be working them through a sight reading book.

For beginning to intermediate students, it can be hard to find pieces that are easy enough for them to sight read that they haven't already learned. That is why I think a variety of sight reading books is an important asset to a teacher's library. It makes my job easier if I don't have to go searching through repertoire books looking for pieces that can be sight read. More advanced students can either play through an upper level sight reading book or an early grade repertoire book.

Anton Bruckner Quote

"They want me to write differently. Certainly I could, but I must not. God has chosen me from thousands and given me, of all people, this talent. It is to Him that I must give account. How then would I stand there before Almighty God, if I followed the others and not Him?" ~ Anton Bruckner (quoted from The Cult of Genius)

Valentines Day

So this year for Valentines Day I didn't get to making valentines for my students..... Oops. If any of you haven't given your students valentines yet and still want to, head over to Color in my Piano for some ideas for musical valentines!

Another Quote from J. S. Bach

"There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself" ~ Johann Sebastian Bach

I am sure that everyone who has played an instrument seriously questions the truth of this quote. :) I certainly don't think it is that simple!