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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In my first lesson with any new student I think it’s important to establish a common ground by getting on the same page with things like previous music experience, expectations for lessons, and vocal goals. Since I’ve started teaching, I realized...
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Music is something I have studied, thought about, and practiced most of my life and yet only understood little. I thought this might be a fun chance to peek into the science behind music and also think about some of the reasons we study it. The...
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With many students having more free time at home during this pandemic, I know each and every one of you is wondering how you can spend all of your extra time perfecting your musical instrument. Have no fear- I have compiled a list of some useful...
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Playing the piano is multifaceted. As pianists grow, the way that we play the piano should grow as well. In the beginning, we learn about note names, dynamics, and articulation. These are important factors in our success as pianists and...
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Since the start of this pandemic, the experience of music has changed from being social and inclusive to that of an independent experience. But how does this differ from the treatment of music in 1918 during the Spanish Flu? During the 1900’s...
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During this unforeseen pandemic, we have slowly been adapting to a new norm: distance learning. It is inevitably becoming an important schooling style for both teachers and students before resuming to the regular in-person classroom setting...
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With the start of the 2020-21 school year beginning with the vast majority of students starting the year learning online, the large number of SAMA students currently taking lessons online, and the SAMA Virtual Recital coming up, I thought would...
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A musician’s study is guaranteed to have high points and low points. While serious study is, by its nature, challenging, feeling discouraged or “burned out” from the effort is not uncommon. Taking months or even years away from one’s training is a...
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COVID-19 seems to be on everyone’s minds these days. It’s all over the news and is disrupting our favorite activities such as: hanging out with our friends, going to worship services, and even making music. One of the biggest parts of my life is...
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Our most important tool as a musician is our ear. I recently picked up a song book from one of my favorite bands. When I started to learn one of the songs, I noticed a lot of differences between the tab and standard notation. At this point the...
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