By Wayne Estes My interpretation of the dictionary’s definition of tone is that: tone is the quality that a musician uses to create their personal sound that will influence their audience. I thought I could easily write a quick blog on tone and be done. But after thinking acutely for three minutes and looking back on my 35+ years of musical experience in searching for the...
Read MoreBy Jamey Mann Around Christmas time every year guitar instructors are inundated with questions about buying new guitars. In addition many instructors use the holiday season to push their advancing students into better instruments. As a teacher I try to get my students into the best instrument possible. Here are a few suggestions to help guide you when looking for an instrument: Don’t make it a surprise-...
Read More
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.
Actually, not really. If you’re a music teacher, you may find that this is a pretty tricky time of the year to keep students motivated.
It’s the time of the year when students who were new in August start to lose some of their initial excitement about learning a new instrument.
It’s that time of the year when parents are stressed out with all their holiday obligations and getting their kids to practice is just “one more thing” on the list.
It’s that time of the year when students’ after-school schedules are picking up — sporting seasons have begun in earnest, girl scouts is underway and school holiday performances are on the calendar.
by Jennene Estes I happen to love holiday and Christmas music, and it is not just that the melodies are so classic and they conjure up wonderful old memories of enjoyable times growing up with my family and church in a rural Virginia farming community. What I’ve discovered as a piano teacher is the power of one of those old melodies to actually change a young...
Read More