Practicing piano with a metronome can be difficult at first. No lie. I know this because I remember the difficulty I had when I first started out playing piano. I also know this because of my experience teaching beginning piano students. But the metronome is an extremely important training tool you can learn to use and even love. In this article, I’m going to share a few tips and techniques that will make learning how to practice piano with a metronome easier.
Lessons In Your Home Blog
Confessions of a Female Drummer
As a female drummer, I know I’m a bit of an oddity. And I don’t mind it one bit. In fact, I kind of like the shocked faces that follow me as I lug my huge bass drum across the bar to the stage. Tearing down misconceptions is a good thing. In this article, I share my confessions as a female drummer.
Classical, Jazz, and Modern/Pop Trumpet Teachers: What To Expect
A standout member of the brass family, the trumpet is a unique and powerful instrument that attracts a wide range of players, teachers, and enthusiasts. Not surprisingly, the trumpet is used in many different types of music, making it an extremely versatile instrument. In this article, I’ll describe what kinds of things you can expect
Tips and Techniques for Improving Sight Reading
Sight reading is the act of picking up a piece of music you’ve never seen before and playing it through to the best of your ability. Proficiency in sight reading is one of the goals of any music instruction. Of course, your ability to sight read will naturally improve as you develop your note-reading skills
How Private Guitar Lessons can Help you Become a Rock Star
Most guitar students I’ve ever taught or met want to be in a band. They want to play in rock bands. They want to play in church bands. Some admit, with only a little bit of coaxing, that they want to become rock stars some day. When I interview potential students about guitar lessons, the
Why Pianists Teach
The desire to share things is universal. As musicians, teaching others — sharing what we have learned musically — is a fundamental part of who we are. Someone asked me recently why so many excellent pianists have chosen to teach piano. Why don’t we just stick to performing? Why subject ourselves to legions of piano
Guitar is a Lot Like Basketball
A routine is nothing more and nothing less than a checklist, or a set of reminders, that can help you establish habits. In this article, I am going to share my routine for practicing and performing on guitar. Whether you adopt my routine or create your own, my hope is that the routine you follow
How Advanced Drummers Can Get Past the Plateaus
For most people, the word plateau conjures up an image of a flat, elevated area, one with inclines above and below. A plateau can be a welcome resting place when climbing a mountain. On a plateau, we are not climbing, not making any real progress up the mountain. Instead, we are walking forward. Now think
How Environment Affects Music Lessons
When it comes to music lessons, I think the environment is extremely important. Most of my music teacher friends and colleagues teach in a school or music studio setting. As a teacher with Lessons In Your Home, I teach in students’ homes. Although private in-home music lessons are far more convenient for the student than
Beginner Piano Lessons for Kids Should Be Fun
Piano is the perfect instrument to start youngsters on! Piano is the gateway instrument, exposing students to the fundamentals of music and preparing them to explore other instruments over time. The best thing a teacher can do in beginner piano lessons is to make them fun. In this article, I suggest a number of piano