Author: McKenzie
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To plan or not to plan.
Lately I’ve seen a lot of questions and debate about lesson planning in the piano teaching world. All teachers have different personalities and will find different strategies that work for their studio, and therefore what works for me may not be your cup of tea. But today I’m sharing what has worked well in my…
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The Practice Game Changer You Need for Your Studio in 2025
It’s here and finally available to you! After several years of testing and tweaking in my own personal studio, I am super excited to introduce you to the number one practice enhancer that has transformed what at-home practice looks like for most of my students 🙂 This is a piano practice journal, but not your…
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Holiday Music Gift Guide 2024
It’s that time of year! Here are some of my home’s most tested and loved musical toys … but I’d love to hear what you’ll be including for your family or in your studio! B. Symphony’s Musical Toy Orchestra is for ages 3+, but a HUGE hit with kids and adults alike in our house!…
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Welcome back
It’s been awhile. And for those who have still been checking out the website from time to time … thank you! Turns out that I am not one of those people who can or aspire to do it all 😉 So when Baby Boy #1 arrived in April 2023, I cut back and focused my…
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My Top 2022 Studio Practices and Purchases
It’s that time of year again! Amidst all of the craziness I find it monumentally important to carve out time to reflect and reevaluate what worked well this year and what can be changed or adjusted for 2023. I always find this process interesting. Undoubtedly there are things that worked better than expected and others…
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Have you downloaded our most loved game?
It’s that time of year when our lives are busy and we just want our studios to keep ticking without added pressure. Looking at my calendar I realize I only have 3 weeks of lessons before our Christmas break begins. In that time, my students will perform at our annual Music Against Hunger performance, I…
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Fun Fact Friday: The Stories of Musical Instruments
Or that the accordion is the national instrument of Finland? The percussion triangle used to have as many as eight angles? The celesta looks like a piano but is actually a percussion instrument that is relatively new to history? There is a pocket trumpet that is wound tightly so it is only 8 inches in…
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Habits – Why They Should Matter to the Musician.
As I was looking over my reading lists from the past few years, I realized that I’ve read an unusual amount of books about habits. And though their titles and premises may all seem very different, I was startled to look back and realize that all of them relate to the phrase “how we spend…
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Summer Strategies: Warming up to Piano Practice
Any studio that chooses to teach through the summer understands that it will present its own unique challenges. Schedules change, motivation can wane, and those who are not as self-motivated in personality tend to struggle through practice during the months off of a school routine. With this in mind, there are two ways to gear…