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Welcome to the blog at Melody Payne – Music for a Lifetime!

From piano teaching tips to games and activities for piano lessons, sheet music, and much more, we have something just for you! 

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4 Reasons to Use Feed the Music Monster Treble Clef Ledger Lines Sight-Reading Game

4 Reasons to Use Feed the Music Monster Treble Clef Ledger Lines Sight-Reading Game

Looking for a different way for your piano students to practice their ear training and sight reading skills? Feed the Music Monster is an exceptionally fun and hands-on game that will grab your students’ interest and help them learn at the same time. Music history, anyone? This game has that too! Read on to discover four excellent reasons to use this game in your studio.
The Perfect Middle C Note Reading Game for Beginning Piano Students

The Perfect Middle C Note Reading Game for Beginning Piano Students

The Middle C Note Reading Game is a fun tool for helping beginning students develop fluency as they learn songs that use what is traditionally referred to as “Middle C Position notes”. Students will feel more confident learning new notes beyond F3-G4 as they learn to sight-read these notes faster.
3 Creative Ways to Use St. Patrick's Day Music Colouring Sheets Coloring Pages in Piano Lessons

3 Creative Ways to Use St. Patrick’s Day Music Coloring Sheets

Looking for ways to spice up the month of March in your piano studio or music classroom? These St. Patrick’s Day Music Coloring Sheets are a perfect, dare I say sneaky way to fit both music theory and fun into your lessons. Read on to learn three easy, low, or no-prep ways teachers can use these worksheets!
5 Reasons I Love St. Patrick's Day Music Worksheets for Note Reading

5 Reasons I Love St. Patrick’s Day Music Worksheets for Note Reading

I’ve used the Music Worksheets for St. Patrick’s Day year round in my studio because I’ve found it to be the most comprehensive worksheet set for practicing note recognition and notation with beginners. Here are 5 reasons I love using these St. Patrick’s Day music worksheets with my piano students.
10 Tips and Ideas to Improve Your Piano Teaching

10 Tips and Ideas to Improve Your Piano Teaching

Whether you’re looking for help with running your piano teaching business, practical ideas for teaching certain pieces or age groups, piano student gift ideas, or help with technology for piano teachers, you’re going to find something helpful to improve your piano teaching in our ultimate blog post roundup.
8 Easy Games to Play in a First Piano Lesson

8 Easy Games to Play in a First Piano Lesson

Life as a piano teacher can be pretty demanding at times. If you feel like you’re spending all of your spare time trying to plan the perfect piano lesson for your new beginners, you’re not alone. In this article, I’m going to introduce you to 8 quick and easy games to play in a first piano lesson that are packed with musical benefits.

Preschool Rhythm Activity Cards for Engaging Piano Lessons

These preschool rhythm activity cards are my go-to cards for teaching rhythmic values and time signatures to all of my preschool piano students. They are a must for the preschool piano teacher’s toolbox, and are a resource I wish I had when I was starting out teaching piano lessons to preschoolers.
11 Creative Valentine's Day Piano Activities

11 Creative Valentine’s Day Piano Activities

Valentine’s Day is coming soon! Your students will love the amazing variety of colouring sheets, card games, spinner games, worksheets, and much more that come in this Valentine’s Day bundle of activities for piano lessons. Read on to discover how to combine kids’ love of holidays with your desire to have them learn in exceptionally fun ways!
1 Christmas Composing Activity that Inspires Musicianship Before the Holidays

1 Christmas Composing Activity that Inspires Musicianship Before the Holidays

The Christmas Composing Activity is a resource I used for the last piano lesson before the holidays. Using seasonal resources to intentionally address learning skills such as composition makes planning so much easier for the teacher.
63+ Charming Rustic Music Awards to Warm Up Your Piano Studio This Winter

63+ Charming Rustic Music Awards to Warm Up Your Piano Studio This Winter

Happy New Year! January is an opportunity for a fresh start in your music studio or classroom. Why not brighten your deserving students’ day by giving them a beautiful, motivational, rustic, winter-themed certificate to recognize their hard work? Read on to discover a myriad of ways in which to incorporate these lovely rustic music awards into your plans this winter.

How to Choose the Best Metronome for Your Piano Students

Whether you and your piano students are raving fans of the metronome, or whether your feelings are quite the opposite, in this article you’ll find a list of creative metronome options your piano students will love. Keep reading to learn how to choose the best metronome for your piano students.

10 Trusted Time Management Tips for Piano Teachers

As we look ahead to a new year, I know many of us piano teachers are considering how we can better manage our time in 2023. I’m constantly looking for ways to “work smarter, not harder;” because if anything, life is never slowing down! In this article I’ll be sharing 10 trusted time management tips for piano teachers.

Welcome!

Hi! I’m Melody Payne, a pianist and piano teacher, educational resource author, a fun-loving wife to the most wonderful and talented hubby I could ask for, and a lifelong learner who loves to share. I want to make your life as a music teacher easier by writing and sharing helpful and relevant music teaching articles, and by creating educational resources with your very own students in mind. If you are a parent who wants to enroll your child in piano lessons, I’d love for us to get started building those skills that can give your child a lifetime of musical enjoyment!

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