Diary of a Music Teacher: Nearly Half-term!
Can you believe that after next week it is half-term week already? Although January can feel long it doesn’t feel long ago that it was Christmas break! Half-terms are great […]
How to Play the Electric Guitar: Lesson 1
Diary of a Music Teacher: Piano Time!
Pauline Hall has created some fabulous and fun piano books for all levels. She is a pianist and a music education who has turned her passion into composing songs for […]
Ukulele Warm Ups to Do Every Day!
Diary of a Music Teacher: Teachers on Strike!
So… Today is the biggest strike day in a decade, apparently. Teachers are on strike; I don’t remember the last time teacher would have been on strike. It has been […]
Test Your Music Theory Knowledge!
Diary of a Music Teacher: Country Music
Country music is a unique genre in the sense that country music songs always consist of deep lyrics and stories. There is always a message in a song in a […]
How to Play the Bongo Drums for Jazz Music with Swing Rhythm!
Diary of a Music Teacher: Monday Motivation
Term time weeks go past so fast! The weekend comes and is gone… I find it imperative to keep Sundays as free as possible and to factor in some lazy […]
How to Play ‘Old Town Road’ on the Piano & Keyboard!
Diary of a Music Teacher: The Beauty of Swan Lake
The beautiful music of Tchaikovsky can often be heard in films, TV shows and theatre performances even, most often in ballets. The beautiful rather haunting melodies captured the hearts and […]
How to Play ‘Swan Lake the Main Theme’ on the Piano
Diary of a Music Teacher: the Great Beethoven!
Beethoven without doubt is one of the most wonderful classical music composers that ever lived. Mozart, Chopin and a few other classical composers make the same category with Beethoven, yet […]
In Honour of Chinese New Year- How to Play Chinese Melodies on the Guitar!
Diary of a Music Teacher: the Tedious Side of Sight-reading….
Sight-reading can be the most tedious part of learning music: some students do anything to avoid it…! Some others, however, find it one of the most straightforward aspects of learning […]
How to Play Jazz on the Ukulele!
Diary of a Music Teacher: Variety of Instruments!
Many instrumental teachers teach just one instrument; however, I find it more fun for myself to mix it up whenever possible and teach at least a few different ones. Currently, […]
How to Play Jazz Chords on the Guitar!
Diary of a Music Teacher: The Therapeutic Side of Drumming!
Bashing about on the drum kit can be really fun and surprisingly therapeutic! You don’t need to know how to properly drum to enjoy coming you with some cool funky […]
How to Play Jazz Chords on the Piano & Keyboard!
Diary of a Music Teacher: The Fun of Disney Songs
Disney films are known for their fantastic music! It’s hard to find children who wouldn’t have watched a Disney film and enjoyed the music in it. I have certainly enjoyed […]
How to Play ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ on the Piano!
Diary of a Music Teacher: From One Season to Another
The other day I was at a supermarket and saw Easter eggs on the shelves! And then yesterday we started playing Easter songs with some students…. Is anyone else feeling […]
How to Play Easy Funk on Congas
Diary of a Music Teacher: AI & Music
Here is a very interesting read on what a future with AI and music might look like: https://www.musicinafrica.net/magazine/what-would-music-ai-future-sound
How to Strum & Sing
Diary of a Music Teacher: Students who are Stuck in the Same Place for Months
What to do with students who seem to have no ambition to improve, learn and practice? For many of these students, lessons are always at the same level with little […]
Learn How to Read Music in 15 Minutes!
Diary of a Music Teacher: When Students Make Excuses
It’s a bit of a strange feeling when a student cancels their lesson (or rather their parent cancels it) for a specific reason and then you find out later on, […]
Learn How to Read Music in 7 Days!
Diary of a Music Teacher: Learn from Your Students!
It is quite a nice feeling when you can learn something new from your students. For example, recently one of my students started learning the clarinet and eagerly showed me […]
Learn to Play the Ukulele in One Hour!
Diary of a Music Teacher: Healthy Competition
Many of my students are learning to play a musical instrument, because they themselves want to or because their parents want them to learn. However, for some, the motivation to […]
Learn Ukulele Anatomy!
Diary of a Music Teacher: Setting the Right Expectations for Each Student
Now with the new term starting, it is a good time to remind ourselves of what kind of expectations to set for each student. Each student is different and in […]
How to Play ‘Fur Elise’ on the Piano & Keyboard
Diary of a Music Teacher: Connect with Colleagues
If you are an instrumental or singing teacher working on your own, it can be nice to connect with other teachers. There are many online forums nowadays where you can […]
How to Play Happy Birthday on the Piano
Diary of A Music Teacher: Monday Motivation!
To motivate you on a Monday in January, look at some old photos of yourself in a place where you felt relaxed and happy! Bringing back fond memories can really […]
How to Play Scales on the Recorder!
30 Day Guitar Challenge!
Diary of a Music Teacher: Carrying on with Christmas Cheer
So…This week we have still been going strong with Christmas carols with some students! I know what some of you are thinking: but it’ not Christmas any more…! Well, what […]
E Chord School for the Ukulele!
Diary of a Music Teacher: Use of the Simply Piano App and Other Apps
The Simply Piano App that can be downloaded on all technological devices has become very popular amongst in particular younger learners. During lockdowns, all kinds of music learning apps became […]
How to Play Chords on the Piano
Diary of a Music Teacher: Importance of Internal Motivation
It is the start of a new term after a break that is known for everyone enjoying time with their families and completely taking a break from everything. At times […]
Learn Music Theory in Half an Hour!
Diary of a Music Teacher: Here We Go Again!
Start of new term always comes with mixed feelings: there is excitement about the term and the need for a daily routine; yet there is nerves, worry and apprehension on […]
Diary of a Music Teacher Day 42: Winter Survival
It seems that we are on full on winter survival mode in the UK at least! It has been much colder with lots of snow and ice than what it […]
Note Corner 