Each of us finds ourselves teaching differently than a year ago. How’s that for an absurd understatement? Our “classroom” may be a computer screen or a dozen students spread out...

Though I desperately try to be an optimist, sadly, my nature doesn’t make that easy. I envy those who always see the glass as half full. Unless I work at it, I don’t just see the...

As we live through these uncertain, ever-changing times I think each of us would be well-served to remember the words of Bertram Carr, that we can view everything “in the spirit...

About 45 years ago, in an undergraduate psychology class, I learned that it took 21 days to develop a new habit. At that time, while studying to be a teacher, I remember thinking...

No matter what teaching environment we find ourselves in now, I think we can all be well-served to remember the current research that tells us that people are like parking...

In that so much of our students’ playing time will be done practicing at home, we can augment what they are doing to challenge them, enhance their growth, provide variety, and...

Now, maybe more than ever these words of Deepak Chopra seem to describe what we as music teachers need to do every day: “Instead of thinking outside the box; get rid of the box.”...

Keeping every student engaged in a virtual lesson or rehearsal when they are playing “one at a time” is daunting to say the least. Wandering minds, blank stares, and dazed looks...

Whether we are teaching completely remotely or in a hybrid model of some kind, “screen fatigue” is an ever-present concern. The best way to ward off this silent problem is to...