What I've Been Reading this Week - September 30

Here are some of the things I've been reading this week.  Have fun!

The Price of Music Lessons | Music Teachers Blog
This post outlines what all goes into setting prices for music lessons.  This is some great food for thought.

Online Resource Center | Carnegie Hall
Looking for some resources to help out with your music lessons?  Check out these great resources from the Carnegie Hall.

Responsibilities of a Piano Parent | Piano Parenting
Do your kids take piano lessons?  Are you looking for input to give to prospective parents?  This post gives some great advice.

What I've Been Reading this Week - September 23

Here are some of the posts I came across this week.  Enjoy!

Circle Of Fifths Caterpillars | Music Study Studio
This is such a cute printable to use with your students.  Help them learn their circle of fifths and have fun while doing it.

The Music of Life | Teaching Children Music
Do you take time to listen to the music of life around you?  Do you encourage your students to?

6 Things I've Learned While Teaching Music | Discover, Learn, Play
Do you teach?  Why do you teach?  Should you teach?

Studio Marketing: Social Networking & More | Color in My Piano
Joy delves into the realm of social media and shares some thoughts on using social networking in marketing your studio.

Giveaway: Winners!

I'm happy to announce that I have the winners for the giveaway.

Congratulations to . . .

    Fitzbattleaxe and Bethany

Send me an email at piano dot lessons dot mn at gmail dot com and I'll send you your Google Adwords code.

The Discipline of Practicing

Why practice?  And why make practice an important part of your teaching?  To get better at any skill, each one of us needs to practice at whatever skill we are trying to hone.

Practice also teaches us the following:

- Hard work pays off.
There is nothing more exciting than mastering a piece or successfully performing a piece.

- Even difficult things can be mastered.
That piece that seemed impossible to play now is ingrained in your memory. 

- Success is achieved step by step.
Breaking a piece down into sections and focusing on mastering each section before putting the whole piece together, helps in mastering the whole piece.  Plus, it is really exciting to see all the sections come together.

Practice is not only crucial for developing our musical abilities, it also teaches us life lessons.

Giveaway: Google Adwords 100 USD

This week instead of having a roundup of links, I am proud to host my first giveaway.  I have 2 (two) Google Adwords coupons to give away.  Each coupon is worth 100 USD and can only be used by a new Google Adwords user.  Both coupons expire the first week of October. 

Official Rules
(Please leave a separate comment for each entry)

1. To enter simply leave a comment at the end of this post. 

2. For a second entry, share this giveaway on twitter by tweeting, "I just entered to win a Google Adwords coupon via @pianolessonsmn.  You can, too, at http://bit.ly/pianolessonsmn."

3. And for a third entry, subscribe to this blog. 

Good luck to everyone! A winner will be chosen on Friday September 16th!