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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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The Best Equipment for Teaching Online Piano Lessons

I’ve received so many questions about online teaching, so here’s a list of my favorite technology and equipment for online piano lessons. Start with what you already have on hand, then choose something from the list that will enhance your online lessons while keeping things budget-friendly. Cameras, software, speakers, microphones & stands, adapters, apps, payment options, and more!

5 Online Activities for Online Piano Lessons

This article includes a free list of online resources and activities that we can use to supplement our online piano lessons. A wide variety of options and ideas are shared, and I hope your students enjoy these activities. Includes practicing challenges, theme of the week, music and art parties, and more!

Learn How to Teach Online Piano Lessons with this Essential Guide

Eliminate the overwhelm, put your fears behind you, and learn to be a successful and confident online piano teacher with the step-by-step information included in my eBook course “Teaching Music Lessons Online”. Learn what equipment you will need, how to set it up, the pros and cons of online lessons, how to teach an online lesson, tips for teachers & students, and much more in this guide for piano teachers.

Teaching Beginning Piano Scales to Young Piano Students

Introduce your students to major and minor pentascales, chords, and arpeggios in a colorful and engaging way with this vibrant beginning piano technique book. The study of piano scales, chords, and arpeggios is extremely important to a pianist’s development. Help your students become Scales Superstars as they work their way through this valuable beginning piano scales book.

5 Engaging Ways to Use Music Note Flash Cards in Piano Lessons

Help your students review treble and bass clef notes on the grand staff in a colorful and engaging way with this vibrant set of music note flash cards. Music note flash cards can give students a fun way to review note names, learn to spell chords & scales, and improve their speed and fluency at note recognition. Learn 5 ways to use music note flash cards to play 5 fun games that help your students review treble and bass clef notes, sharps, and flats on the grand staff.

Introducing the Circle of Fifths to Your Music Students

Introduce your students to the circle of fifths in a vibrant and engaging way, and teach scales, key signatures, majors and relative minors, and more. This colorful page is especially great for visual learning styles, and is perfect for students who are being introduced to scales and key signatures. It’s also easy to use as a quick reference sheet on your iPad. The black and white version can be printed and used as a coloring sheet to keep your students on track as they learn their scales and chords. 

How to Create Professional Piano Recital Programs – The Easy Way!

These beautiful editable recital kits are the perfect way to save yourself time & energy as you prepare for your studio recital, & give your event a polished, professional, and cohesive look! These recital kits are created to be used in Google Slides™. Each kit is editable in Google Slides™ and is so easy to use! The kits include invitations, programs, & certificates in multiple colors and designs. Perfect for piano recitals, & any musical performance or concert!

Develop Strong Sight-Readers with “The Great Sight-Reading Challenge”

Sight-reading is an incredibly valuable skill for musicians. While some piano students naturally gravitate towards exploring new music and sight-reading fearlessly, others are more hesitant to begin developing this important skill. I created “The Great Sight-Reading Challenge” to give all of my students some sight-reading motivation and to challenge them to sight-read three pieces or sight-reading flash cards/exercises each day at the piano and to help them become strong sight-readers.

9 Must-Haves for a Successful First Piano Lesson

Whether you’re teaching a first piano lesson, a trial piano lesson with a prospective student, or a meet & greet, you’ll need a solid plan to teach the student and interview the student and parents effectively and efficiently. Here’s my own lesson plan for a first piano lesson with a brand new student who comes into my studio for the first time for what I call a meet & greet mini lesson (definitely a low pressure and friendly name for our first meeting!).

How to Use the AnyTune Pro App in Piano Lessons to build excitement

AnyTune Pro is an app that allows you to change the tempo and key of a piece or song, and even set practice loops to drill a specific section! My students and I are loving this app, and I wanted to share with you how we use it in piano lessons. Perfect for practicing, performing, playing in a band, learning lead sheets and chord charts, and even for using with piano method books! Click here to learn more and grab a free download to help you get started!

Easy Composition Activity for Beginning Piano Students

I love doing fun activities in piano lessons to reinforce the notes, rhythms, and other concepts students are learning, while being creative in a totally different way. Keep reading to learn about a fun composition activity I do with my youngest elementary piano students, and see how easy it can be for your youngest students to compose their very own piece! #musiccomposition #composingmusic #elmused #melodypaynepiano

How to Teach Online Piano Lessons

Thanks to videoconferencing tools such as Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, and many others, teaching online piano lessons is becoming more and more popular among teachers all over the world. Learn about finding the right clients, introducing concepts in online lessons, visual aids, having online students perform in your studio recitals, what to do when your screen freezes, and more.

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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