The other day a student of mine asked if I could teach him the "Tony Stark" song. My heart fluttered as I turned to the piano, asking as coolly as I could through my excitement, "Oh, this one?" I plucked out the Avenger's Theme. My student grinned...
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Have you found yourself tapping along to music you like? That’s your motor cortex, auditory cortex, and your cerebellum helping you figure out the rhythm and moving your body to the beat! Maybe now you’re humming or singing along with the melody...
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There is no doubt that the most important factor for progressing with a musical instrument is practice. However, it is not easy to remember everything learned during each lesson. Whether it's a new song, new technique, a musical term, a correction...
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There are so many things going on in our fast-paced world that sometimes we end up missing the little things in life. It can be a real challenge to focus on the present moment and not be thinking about what happened yesterday or what will be...
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Learning how to practice is an important skill. There are so many different methods and ways to approach learning and practicing, yet, there are many musicians that are unaware of how to practice away from their instrument. As a pianist, most...
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Hi, students and parents of SAMA! As one of the newest members of the SAMA family, it's been truly an honor meeting so many new faces eager to learn the art of the violin. Part of that honor has been figuring out where all 50+ of my new students...
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When I first started learning how to play piano, I had no idea what classical music was. It wasn’t until my first piano teacher introduced me to pieces by Beethoven, Mozart and Chopin that I remember thinking, “Oh! I have heard that piece in a...
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Figuring out when and how much to practice can be daunting, especially if you are learning a new instrument. New students tend to overwork themselves if they are passionate about succeeding. They often get frustrated at their lack of immediate...
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When taking lessons, it can be a bit challenging to keep up with everything you are learning as well as finding time to just noodle around on your instrument. However, I believe it’s important to find time to sit with your instrument and just...
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One of the activities that impacted me the most during music school was not actually part of the curriculum. Mr. Patrick, my music theory professor, encouraged us to spend time listening to music. I spent countless hours in my school’s music...
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How can our imagination help improve our performance in music? When I first began playing piano I never understood what my teacher meant by the phrase “bring your music to life." I realized that when I played music, I was playing like a robot. I...
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"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." - Albert Einstein As a young teenager, I took private lessons at a private music school much like San Antonio Music Academy. I have a brother 5 years younger than me who was...
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