This little Christmas Piano Collection is so wonderful for students.

Not only do students understand the music and have fun playing it, the pieces elevate their learning and skill - it isn’t confusing!🎄

This activity is called “Landmark Note A Balloons”. We’ve been absolutely loving in my studio . It’s simple and really effective! Also, I personally LOVE an activity that fits nicely on the piano lid,. This activity helps students learn how to read the stave using the ‘A’s as landmark notes. It’s so fun!

You don’t have to change everything to bring more music into your students’ lives. The PianoForte Method fits easily into your current teaching—no overhaul required. Try TWO free lessons and see how a small shift can spark deeper musicianship and joyful progress.

Singing and playing in canon is such a powerful tool for developing aural skills. This is a wonderful English folk song called Rose Red . . .

When we teach and use a method that is strongly aural based, like the PianoForte method, it can give the impression that we are teaching our students to do just this, Play-by-Recall. 

Piano Lesson in Progress - (Kodaly Reading). ‘Daydream’ from ‘Beyond Level 3’

This video a wonderful way to observe the Kodaly method applied specifically to a piano lesson with a student who isn’t a beginner.

In this video we see what the first lesson is like in the PianoForte method. The first lesson introduces these concepts: • Hands and finger numbers • Layout of the keyboard (black and white keys) • Singing voice • High and Low Sounds • Solfa syllables 'So & Mi" • The first song 'Flying Birds' • Playing in different positions (transposing)

It’s all about listening…

Non-legato technique is all about learning to to understand quality of sound. It such a wonderful way to introduce piano playing because it teaches students to really listen to their tone production. A non-legato technique also develops healthy hand and arm alignment and beautifully prepares students for legato technique.

There are tips on how and why to introduce the solfa syllables 'So & Mi', and how these tones support early aural development, and are also wonderful for introducing healthy piano technique.

Here we talk about how teaching piano students to read music from a Middle C position can be problematic and solutions on how this can be more easily understood. This includes landmark notes with an understanding of the purpose of clefs.

This is the first piece I teach after a student has finished PianoForte Level 3. It sounds fun and has several new elements that students don’t find overly challenging. The whole piece can be learned in just a few lessons.

This is a wonderful method for teaching students to really understand music notational reading. It is a 'multi-layered' approach that includes solfa, letter names, the Hand Stave, AND Curwen hand signs. This method us rooted in Kodaly methods and at its heart is musicianship and aural skills.

Sometimes when I talk about the PianoForte method and how it teaches students to play the piano by building a foundation a aural skills I see a teacher’s eyes glaze and I know they are thinking something similar along the lines and this must being a play-the-piano-quick scheme. I totally get it - I was that teacher

One of the most effective ways to help students build good piano technique is to delay the use of the thumb. This idea is often mentioned by piano teachers but what does it actually mean and why is it so important?

I have to begin this post with a confession. My children were terrible practicers. We couldn’t find a regular schedule that worked. We argued about it every day. I felt over-scheduled with dance and tennis and swimming, and I was exhausted.

Here in the UK music exams are a BIG deal. Everyone knows that music grades exist, people believe that sequentially passing these grades marks musical achievement

This piece called “My Pony” is from PianoForte Level 2. Students are learning to read the stave. This is a sample lesson on how to make this transition by singing moveable Do solfa.

In PianoForte Level Two students are introduced to the concept of the musical stave and Landmark Notes. Each landmark note is presented in a fun way to help engage students and make it memorable. This is a performance of “The F Song” which highlights Bass F.

When we approach piano teaching with singing, the thing we’re really doing is helping our students develop strong aural and audiation skills. Singing with our students helps them to hear and understand multiple layers of sound. It helps them to successfully interpret and perform the vast repertoire written for the pianoforte