Welcome!

Here goes nothing!! I have had the plans and ideas for this blog and the ministry I would like it to produce for some time. I hope that as all of that becomes a reality and you browse through my little corner of cyberspace that you are encouraged in the area of music, and more specifically, piano!

Whether you are a piano teacher, a piano student, or simply someone who wants to honor God through praise in music, this blog is for you. God demands and desires praise from His children, and many times throughout scripture He commands us to praise Him with some type of musical instrument. Psalm 150 is probably my favorite instance of that...the whole 6-verse psalm is dedicated to musical instruments and praising God!

So fasten your seat belt and hold on! As we travel on this journey of learning how to use music to praise God, take time to look around, enjoy the scenery, and learn some things along the way.

A lot of the posts on this blog will be directed to piano teachers. In fact, I am a piano teacher myself. Hence the inspiration for this blog. When I started teaching piano, I felt so inadequate for the task ahead, and did several google searches for things like, “teaching piano” or “music worksheets.” The result was fantastic!! I found several great resources that have helped me tremendously in learning better how to teach. (For instance, did you know that you could play games in your lessons?? What an inspiration!) There are several piano teachers out there that have been teaching for much longer than I have and that have much better ideas than me!

So why, you ask, are you starting yet another piano blog?? 

First of all, it is not because I have all the answers. Oh, far from that! It is also not to impress upon you my way of teaching or my ideas of what is best. (Although I may share those best ideas with you from time to time.)

It is because I know several piano teachers who teach on a very small scale. For some, they are newly-wed ladies or brand-new mommies that teach a few piano lessons on the side. Others are pastors wives, or they hold a full-time job in another field and teach piano on the side. There also are a handful of male piano teachers out there, also. (No, this blog is not just for ladies!!!!) The fact is, there is so much good material out there, its hard to know where to start! And to wade through all that great stuff consumes one thing that none of us seem to have enough of...and that is time.

(Drumroll please) Enter Nickel Notes piano blog. My goal for this blog is to help these piano teachers sort through all of that great information I keep mentioning. To have a place to find several good resources on interval worksheets, for instance. To know where to go to get answers to your questions. And a host of other good things as well. I hope that this will also give fresh ideas to otherwise stale lessons. (You didn’t know about the games, did you?)

All of that to say (my goodness, I’ve rambled on a long time!) that I hope that this blog will prove to be a blessing to you in whatever category you find yourself musically. I also want FEEDBACK from you...please please please!! What things would you like to see included in this blog? What areas would be the most help to you?? Am I nuts??? (Ok, don’t answer that one!)

Things to look for in the next couple weeks:

A blogroll of my favorite piano teaching blogs

My philosophy of music and studio policies

Resources for Christmas music