Suzanne Solum

Why Should a Music Teacher Join a Local Association? by Suzanne Solum  What are the advantages?  I found out when I joined the East Texas Music Teachers Association in 2013.  My private piano studio was growing, and a student wanted to be able to do additional festivals, theory testing, & conferences at the local, state, […]

Online teaching resources to use with Music Students.

Does music have patterns?  Do you know that as a keyboard player you can read music faster if you see a “chunk” of information on the music page?  How can you find the patterns in music and use the understanding of those patterns to create your own music?  Keyboard musicians have known for a long

Chamber Music for the Piano Student?  Why should private piano teachers be interested in chamber music for their students? Can chamber music play an important role in music education for the piano student? Consider real “life after piano lessons”. Often a piano or keyboard player will be asked to accompany a singer for weddings or

One of the best Master Classes for Piano I have attended was this summer at the Aspen Music Festival & School.  Jeremy Denk worked with 4 students that played J.S. Bach, Schumann, Liszt, and Berg piano pieces.  The students performed well, but Jeremy Denk demonstrated over & over, as he worked with each student, how

If you love music, you will love Aspen, Colorado, in the summer! Not only is the mountain scenery gorgeous, you will hear students from the Aspen Summer School of Music playing everywhere you go in Aspen. We heard the dress rehearsal of  Mahler’s  Symphony No. 3 in D minor with the most wonderful section of double

Teach anyone, including non-piano players, the 3 octave “ladders” + the ending, so they can enjoy keyboard improv, too!  Using this song, Australian Duet, has inspired & equipped many for playing & creating keyboard music.  🙂

Have you wanted to create your own blues on piano keys?  Just learning a few basic chords and the way they move (progress) through the song plus the blues scale will give you the musical  tools to begin.  12 Bars  (measures) are used.   In the Left Hand, begin with the C chord for 4

Have you ever wondered what the stories were behind the creation of the Christmas Carols sung every year, that have been sung for generations?  Where did the ideas for the words (lyrics) and tunes (melodies) come from?  What were the circumstances that caused the birth of a song? One of the most beloved carols “Silent

What does a scale have to do with Christmas?  And, what, exactly, is a musical scale?  Go to a piano and find the “C”.  It is the white key just below (left of) the 2 black keys.  Start on that key and play the next white key going left. Keep stepping down the white keys