We’re all busy people, and busy schedules can get in the way of practice. Sometimes it’s not even busyness; the days just slip by and we don’t even look at our instruments. If a whole week (or more!) has gone...

by JENNIFER HUMMLER   In a word, no. Often, families are a little hesitant to purchase a piano for their child to take lessons and to practice on. Some of the most common reasons are:   1. "Pianos cost too much!" Pianos can be expensive....

by JENNIFER HUMMLER   How often have you heard someone exclaim, “Oh, she’s SOO talented” or something similar? Pretty frequently, right? Especially in respect to a musical performance. But, what does that mean? The word “talent” is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary...

by STEVEN BOWEN I've written before about the differences between playing your instrument and practicing your instrument. I find that, when I'm playing, all I need is my piano. But when I'm practicing, I almost always have the same...

by MICHAEL ARAGONES   "I don’t feel motivated to practice…"   The way everyone thinks about motivation can be counterproductive sometimes, particularly when it comes to music. Common thinking says we need motivation to just get started. Some folks won't...

My kid’s not practicing — should we quit?   (We know, we’ve blogged about practice before but it’s been about a year, and it comes up just about every day, so here we go again...)   Practice is a big problem. We hear very...

"These songs are sooooo boring! Why can’t my child play more popular songs that we know?"   We hear this a lot, and we get it! When we decide to start studying an instrument, we imagine ourselves (or our children) playing our...

If you’ve ever spent an afternoon moving furniture, you know what it feels like to frustrate your muscles. That’s why they were sore the next day. If you made a habit of frustrating your muscles, they would naturally become stronger...

I hear this from parents all the time. At best, a parent will say to me, "Well, I tell her to practice, but she hardly ever does." Here's a tip: HELP HER! We live in a world in...

LionWhale just held its first-ever Performance Workshop. Much of what we covered can be found in the following PDF: PerformanceWorkshopHandout   If the link doesn't work, please feel free to e-mail us at lionwhale.music@gmail.com or simply click the "Get Info" tab at...