Hello All –

~ As noted, all lessons are ONLINE this week 🙂 Thank you for your flexibility with this! For those using Zoom, be sure to check your email for the access link. I sent them a few days ago, so if you don’t see it be sure to let me know.

~ Our Spring Recital is planned for Sunday, May 22nd. There will be 2 and 4 o’clock performance options. Some of you have already begun to let me know if you have conflicts and need one time or the other. If you have a preference, I am keeping that list now so please do shoot me a text or email. If you have no preference, please allow me to pick a time for you so that we are able to better balance out the number of people in each.

~ Easter is just around the corner! Looking for ways to fill the Easter basket with high quality items? Check out our Skyline Kids department for books that will engage your children and teach them more about music in the process 🙂

For this month’s book recommendations, I’m keenly aware that this is the season where budding musicians get to test and choose their instruments for the fall. There are many reasons a student chooses a specific instrument – sound, look, peer pressure, fascination, etc. It’s important to make sure up-and- coming fifth graders are able to make educated decisions 🙂 All three books below will allow your child to enter the world of band and orchestra instruments aware of their options. They are all available in the Skyline Kid’s department.

Adults – you have not been forgotten! Learning about music through literature is just as important for us as it is for the young ones. For this month’s book recommendation, I want to introduce you to an oldie-but-goodie 🙂 The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier is Thad Carhart’s personal story of returning to the piano as an American adult living in Paris. This retelling of his experience weaves in and out to give the reader a view of French culture, musical friendships, the history of the piano and character each unique instrument holds, and the inner thoughts of an adult returning to music.

As a piano teacher, I appreciated hearing his thoughts on returning to music years after childhood. Although each of my students have different history, there is a poignancy to his story that reminds me where many of my adults are coming from and encourages me to be a lifelong learner as well.

As a pianist, I can now say that I understand and relate to the instrument completely different than before reading this. College taught me more about the piano and individuality of each brand and instrument than I had been exposed to earlier in my life. But Carhart’s passionate, reflective, and thorough learning of how two pianos can be vastly different from each other taught me more about pianos themselves than I thought possible through words on a page. Pianos have history, personality, and expression that can be easily missed if we do not look for it.

As an adult student, it is always precious to realize that there is someone else who can relate to your feelings, struggles, and triumphs. Carhart shows us the depth of his passion and reminds us that we are never too old to rekindle a lost love.

You can order his book here or through the store 🙂

Happy Reading,

Want to know what else I’ve been reading? Check out the Book Nook here 🙂