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5 Days of Inspiration and Connection
Join me and an amazing line up of guest speakers for five incredible days from April 11th to April 15th of community and learning to hit the refresh button on your teaching life.
Ideas
Presentations from the best piano teaching experts to provide you with inspiration and actionable ideas.
Connection
Get together with other attendees in our daily huddles to discuss the sessions and make action plans.
Fun
It wouldn’t be a Vibrant Music Teaching event without lots of fun surprises all through the week too!
Schedule
Connect with your roots and find your foundations. The first day is all about building a base and tapping into the underground energy stores that we can use as fuel for the rest of our week together.
3:00 pm (10:00 am ET): Welcome Warmup
This quick welcome session will get you set up for success for the week ahead. We’ll go through tips on making the most of each session, the schedule for the event and how to access everything you need.
3:10 pm (10:10 am NY): You are grounded.
Understanding your own superpowers is one of the most powerful things you can do for you confidence and development. Yes, we want to learn new things and keep improving. But let’s look at what we already do well, first.
3:40 pm (10:40 am NY): Guest Speakers
Fred Karpoff: Unpacking Inventions
Bach’s Invention No.4 in D minor is ideal for studying two-voiced counterpoint with equal challenges in each hand. Fred’s marked score provides detailed analysis of invertible counterpoint, harmony, sequence, and hemiola possibilities.
Grace Lee: Sight, Sound, and Touch – Activities to Boost your IQ (Intervallic Quotient)
Intervals, not single notes, are the true building blocks to musical understanding as well as sight reading skills. This involves 3 senses: Sight, sound, and touch. In this workshop, learn fun and easy activities that will raise your students’ intervallic awareness while boosting their reading skills.
Bradley Sowash: Hanon Hacks
Creative tips to make classical Hanon technique exercises more relevant to contemporary styles.
5:00 pm (12:00 pm NY): Attendee Huddles
Get together with your fellow attendees to discuss what you learnt and make plans for moving forward. We’ll be using Zoom breakout rooms to make sure everyone gets the chance to brainstorm in a small group of peers. I’ll provide guidance to structure these sessions so that you can leave each day feeling balanced, refreshed and ready to take action.
Many of us have seen students become less “sticky” during the pandemic. You might have more students quitting than usual or a higher cohort of chronic non-practisers. Let’s look at ways to develop grit in our students and ourselves.
3:00 pm (10:00 am NY): Welcome Warmup
This quick welcome session is not to be missed so arrive on time! We’ll be getting the musical muscles going and starting the day the right way…with some giggles. 🙂
3:10 pm (10:10 am NY): You are successful.
What is your definition of success? Do you have one? If you don’t decide what success means to you, you’ll never find it. Stop chasing some dream you didn’t design and take control of your teaching life.
3:40 pm (10:40 am NY): Guest Speakers
Tim Topham: How playing with others helped me play for life
What’s at the core of student retention? Is it about being a fun and open teacher? Is it about having an amazing studio space? Is it about helping students play the music they love? In this presentation Tim makes the case for community and coworking as crucial for students building a life-long passion for music.
Samantha Coates: Amazing Activities with DIY Flashcards
You won’t look at flashcards the same way after this session! Samantha, with the help of Nicola as her ‘student’, will demonstrate a myriad of ways to maximise education with any set of flashcards, using them not just for reading, but for listening, singing, playing and composing! This presentation involves a free set of DIY flashcards for which you’ll be sent a template prior to the session.
Sharon Mark-Teggart: Stop Brain Boredom during Scales
Scales often get ‘bad press’ because students struggle to (1) remember notes (2) use correct fingering (3) co-ordinate hands together (4) play with fluency and (5) have fun with the process. Sharon will demonstrate a set of zesty practice ideas that fizz-up the brain and enable students, at all levels, to learn scales in a meaningful and musical way.
5:00 pm (12:00 pm NY): Attendee Huddles
Get together with your fellow attendees to discuss what you learnt and make plans for moving forward. We’ll be using breakout rooms to make sure everyone gets the chance to brainstorm in a small group of peers. I’ll provide guidance to structure these sessions so that you can leave each day feeling balanced, refreshed and ready to take action.
We all get stuck in ruts. The most troublesome ones are those that we don’t know we’ve fallen into. This day of the Teacher Turboboost will have you flip your thinking in ways you didn’t know were possible.
3:00 pm (10:00 am NY): Welcome Warmup
This quick welcome session is not to be missed so arrive on time! We’ll be getting the musical muscles going and starting the day the right way…with some giggles. 🙂
3:10 pm (10:10 am NY): You are flexible.
The pirouettes and about-turns I’ve made in my own teaching aren’t always apparent from the outside. I’ll share some of the changes I’ve made so you can examine your own journey and the next switch you need to flip.
3:40 pm (10:40 am NY): Guest Speakers
Rosemarie Penner: Flipping our role as teachers on its head
How to build resiliency and a sense of active discovery within our students so they take ownership of their learning … and even start to lead where lessons go!
Stacy Fahrion: Get Inside Your Piano!
In this session, we will cover the harmonic series and how to play harmonics on the strings of your piano. Understanding the harmonic series is helpful for any musician, and there is no better way to understand it than to hear it and try to play it yourself! Participants will hear the harmonic series and how it differs from equal temperament, and then learn to play simple folk songs inside their pianos.
Janna Carlson: The Virtual Studio
When you take time off teaching, it usually means your students stop practicing and you don’t get paid. As Janna was preparing for two months of travel, she needed a way to keep her students progressing (and enrolled) without weekly lessons. Her solution is one you can replicate. It keeps students fully engaged in learning, without your presence, during those times when you need a break.
5:00 pm (12:00 pm NY): Attendee Huddles
Get together with your fellow attendees to discuss what you learnt and make plans for moving forward. We’ll be using breakout rooms to make sure everyone gets the chance to brainstorm in a small group of peers. I’ll provide guidance to structure these sessions so that you can leave each day feeling balanced, refreshed and ready to take action.
As teachers we need to keep learning, challenge ourselves and chart new territory. On Thursday, you’ll take many weird and wonderful turns to take you down paths you didn’t expect to uncover.
3:00 pm (10:00 am NY): Welcome Warmup
This quick welcome session is not to be missed so arrive on time! We’ll be getting the musical muscles going and starting the day the right way…with some giggles. 🙂
3:10 pm (10:10 am NY): You are curious.
Cultivating curiosity in our teaching lives is not as easy as it sounds. When you have admin work, obligations and day-to-day teaching to consider, it’s easy to glide through on autopilot sometimes. In this session, I’ll give you strategies to help you wake up, take notice and keep learning.
3:40 pm (10:40 am NY): Guest Speakers
Dorla Pryce Aparicio: 10 Solid Reasons To Avoid Group Piano
If you have been around piano teachers for a while, the topic of group piano teaching is bound come up! Have you been debating whether to offer group lessons or not? I’m ready to tell you what really happens in a group lesson!
Christopher Oill: Unsticking a Stuck Piece
Do your students ever have great composition ideas, but can only write so much before getting stuck? Don’t lose hope! There’s many ways to get unstuck. Watch this presentation, so you can learn some of those ways, then help your students finish their masterworks!
5:00 pm (12:00 pm NY): Attendee Huddles
Get together with your fellow attendees to discuss what you learnt and make plans for moving forward. We’ll be using breakout rooms to make sure everyone gets the chance to brainstorm in a small group of peers. I’ll provide guidance to structure these sessions so that you can leave each day feeling balanced, refreshed and ready to take action.
6:00 pm (12:00 pm NY): Special Q&A with Fred Karpoff
Join us for this question session with Fred Karpoff! Fred will be taking questions about his ‘Unpacking Inventions’ presentations. This is an amazing chance to connect with a truly wonderful pedagogue and ask your questions face-to-face over Zoom.
On the final day, we’ll prepare for the next steps. It’s all well and good to spend an inspiring week together, but next week is when you take action. We won’t let you leave without the tools you need to climb that ladder.
3:00 pm (10:00 am ET): Welcome Warmup
This quick welcome session is not to be missed so arrive on time! We’ll be getting the musical muscles going and starting the day the right way…with some giggles. 🙂
3:10 pm (10:00 am ET): Your Next Steps
I don’t want you to leave in a sea of overwhelmingly awesome ideas without helping you find the time to take action! We will review all the wonderful guest sessions from the week and answer any questions that have been buzzing around your head. I will then give examples of what I would do next, inspired by each session, so that you can make your plan of action.
4:00 pm (11:00 am ET): You are ready.
The tools you need to succeed and to feel successful are right at your fingertips. Let’s review the week together and contemplate the perfect next step for you to take.
5:00 pm (12:00 pm ET): Attendee Huddles
Get together with your fellow attendees to discuss what you learnt and make plans for moving forward. We’ll be using breakout rooms to make sure everyone gets the chance to brainstorm in a small group of peers. I’ll provide guidance to structure these sessions so that you can leave each day feeling balanced, refreshed and ready to take action.
6:00 pm (1:00 pm ET): Closing Cocktails
Whether it’s coffee or cocktail time for you, come along to this wrap party so we can celebrate and put a neat bow on a beautiful week. 🎀
I’ll be your host and I’ll be with you live 3 hours a day for all 5 days. If we haven’t met yet, you can find out more about me here.
You’re not stuck with just me, though! We’ll also have exclusive presentations from some of the best minds in the music teaching universe.
Incredible Guest Presenters
Samantha Coates
Samantha Coates is an internationally regarded piano pedagogue and presenter. In addition to running an active teaching studio, she is the creator and publisher of BlitzBooks, the music education series that has brought laughter and creativity to music theory, sight reading, and piano repertoire.
Dorla Pryce Aparicio
Dorla Pryce Aparicio supports piano teachers with organized and engaging resources while believing that teaching in groups is one of the best ways to keep the piano teaching world alive. She created the Piano Pyramid arrangements for teaching multilevel classes and teaches independently in Texas, USA.
Tim Topham
Sharon Mark-Teggart
Sharon Mark-Teggart is a piano pedagogy coach, researcher and Co-Founder of The Curious Piano Teachers. She holds a Master’s degree in Music Education and has been described as being a visionary entrepreneur. Sharon’s training courses have enabled 100s of piano teachers to successfully gain accredited piano teaching diplomas. Sharon lives in Northern Ireland with her husband Philip and their 4 year-old son Reuel.
Fred Karpoff
Winner of the MTNA Frances Clark Keyboard Pedagogy Award, USIA Artistic Ambassador, and international Steinway Artist, Fred Karpoff is Professor of Piano at Syracuse University and the Artistic Producer of Entrada Piano, an online resource that guides teachers and students to achieve effortless three-dimensional piano technique.
Stacy Fahrion
Stacy Fahrion, aka Whimsically Macabre, is a Denver-based composer, pianist, and educator who encourages everyone to compose. She holds a Master’s Degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa. Stacy’s piano music, including books such as Polyrhythms for Pianists, Lullabies for Arachnophobes, and These Are Odd Times, is published by Piano Pronto Publishing.
Christopher Oill
Christopher Oill is an internationally renowned pianist, composer, and pedagogue from Chandler, Arizona. He publishes piano pieces through The FJH Music Company, Inc. and owns the Oill Piano Universe. He holds an M.M. in Piano Performance Pedagogy from Arizona State University.
Rosemarie Penner
Rosemarie Penner is an educator, clinician, writer & composer. She has a B.Ed. & ALCM (TD) in piano pedagogy. Over a decade of teaching has taught Rosemarie we never really stop learning. At The Unfinished Lesson, she shows how to get balance for your life & creativity for your studio.
Bradley Sowash
Bradley Sowash is a jazz pianist, composer, and educator specializing in improvisation. After many years as a performing and recording artist, he turned his attention to introducing traditionally trained pianists to the joys of musical creativity in online jazz piano classes, at teacher conferences, and through his widely acclaimed publications.
Janna Carlson
Janna and her husband, Jeremy, co-own Studio Rocket Web Design. A piano teacher herself, she loves discovering ways to make technology simple for lessons and studio growth. Their family is excited to move to Portugal in 2022, where she plans – thanks to technology – to maintain her U.S. studio.
Grace Lee
Grace H. Lee is a piano teacher and Founder of Note Quest App. She created Note Quest to solve a problem – students and teachers were frustrated with gaps in note reading skills, while existing resources produced mixed results. Grace has uniquely bridged the worlds of music, pedagogy, and technology to make learning more thoughtful and fun.
Get Your Teacher Turboboost Ticket
Here’s the quick rundown of what’s included in your ticket when you purchase below.
- Live sessions each day from April 11th to April 15th on inspiring and uplifting topics
- Daily huddle calls on Zoom to brainstorm with other attendees
- Full printable workbook with questions and note prompts
- One year of session replay access
If you’re a member make sure you use your special link which you can find here.
5 Days of Live Sessions
Daily huddle calls to brainstorm
Full printable workbook
Replay access for 1 year
