Field Notes on Music Teaching & Learning

March in my studio means one thing: informance season. We spend 10 to 12 weeks getting ready—learning and analyzing music, practicing demonstrations, preparing to talk to the audience. And this year, I knew from the start that the theme was going to require a little more planning than usual.
If you’re new around here, I define a musical informance as an informal, informational performance that integrates education and experience. It’s an opportunity for students to share what and how they’re learning and invite parents and audience members into the music-making process.
I started hosting informances in my studio in 2024, so this is our third year. Today, I’m sharing a behind-the-scenes look at our theme for this year, repertoire selections, and how we’re preparing for informances in the studio.
For show notes + a full transcript, click here.
Resources Mentioned
*Disclosure: some of the links in this episode are affiliate links, which means if you decide to purchase through any of them, I will earn a small commission. This helps support the podcast and allows me to continue creating free content. Thank you for your support!
Ep. 068 - How to Plan a Musical Informance
Ep. 069 - A Musical Informance to Celebrate the Solar Eclipse
Ep. 071 - 3 Things I Learned from Hosting a Musical Informance
Ep. 081 - Celebrating Women in Music: An Inside Look at Our Studio Informances
Piano Adventures, Level 3A (Faber)
Sakura - Secondo Part (arr. Faber)
Essential Piano Technique, Level 2 (Penelope Roskell)
Duet Music by Ann Buys
Musical Informance Planning Guide
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>
Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew
Whenever you’re ready, here are three ways we can work together:
1️⃣ Need fresh teaching ideas? Schedule a quick 25-min. call and we’ll brainstorm on a topic of your choice. Build an idea bank that you can pull from in the months to come.
2️⃣ Have questions about teaching or managing your music career? Book a 60-min call and get personalized advice, creative ideas & step-by-step strategies on up to 3-4 teaching/business topics.
3️⃣ Develop the skills and strategies you need to plan the year, refine your teaching methods, and manage your time more effectively with a suite of online courses and professional development trainings

At the end of January, we lost a wonderful musician, teacher, and pedagogue, Marvin Blickenstaff. You’ve probably heard me talk about Marvin on the podcast before—he had a profound impact on my teaching.
With a career spanning over six decades, Marvin dedicated himself to serving piano students and teachers worldwide. He valued deep emotional expression at the keyboard and a human connection through the music. He once said, “The only reason that music exists is to express who we are and how we feel.”
Today, I’m sharing some of the most important things I learned from Marvin and how they show up in my teaching and practice.
For show notes + a full transcript, click here.
Resources Mentioned
*Disclosure: some of the links in this episode are affiliate links, which means if you decide to purchase through any of them, I will earn a small commission. This helps support the podcast and allows me to continue creating free content. Thank you for your support!
The New School for Music Study
Inspired Piano Teaching (Marvin Blickenstaff)
Ep. 041 - Focus On the Music
Ep. 074 - What a First Piano Lesson Looks Like (Here’s My Lesson Plan)
Ep. 076 - 7 Things to Carry Into the New School Year
Ep. 079 - From Technique to Musical Identity: Six Things I’m Focusing on in Lessons
Ep. 084 - Recital Recap & Year-End Reflection
Learn Faster, Perform Better (Molly Gebrian)
Ep. 089 - The Science of Practicing: What I’m Learning from Molly Gebrian’s Book
A Quick Warm-Up Routine for Piano Accompanists
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>
Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew
Whenever you’re ready, here are three ways we can work together:
1️⃣ Need fresh teaching ideas? Schedule a quick 25-min. call and we’ll brainstorm on a topic of your choice. Build an idea bank that you can pull from in the months to come.
2️⃣ Have questions about teaching or managing your music career? Book a 60-min call and get personalized advice, creative ideas & step-by-step strategies on up to 3-4 teaching/business topics.
3️⃣ Develop the skills and strategies you need to plan the year, refine your teaching methods, and manage your time more effectively with a suite of online courses and professional development trainings

February is Black History Month—a time to honor and celebrate the contributions of African Americans. As a music teacher, this prompts me to pause and evaluate what I’m teaching, but also why. I ask questions like:
How much diversity is present in my students’ method books and repertoire?
Which pieces should we skip due to their complicated history?
How can I make more thoughtful, informed choices about the music I put in front of my students—choices that are pedagogically sound and historically responsible?
This year, I want to focus more on the existing repertoire and the creators behind it. In this episode, I’m going to introduce you to seven Black composers of elementary and intermediate piano repertoire.
For show notes + a full transcript, click here.
Resources Mentioned
*Disclosure: some of the links in this episode are affiliate links, which means if you decide to purchase through any of them, I will earn a small commission. This helps support the podcast and allows me to continue creating free content. Thank you for your support!
Ep. 045 - The Blues Composition Project
“This Is What Diversity Sounds Like” by Linda Holzer (Piano Magazine)
RCM Celebration Series Preparatory A Piano Repertoire
A Collection of Florence Price’s Teaching Music, Vol. 2
3 Sketches for Little Pianists (Florence Price)
RCM Celebration Series Level 7 Piano Repertoire
Expanding the Repertoire: Music of Black Composers, Levels 1 and 2 (compiled & edited by Dr. Leah Claiborne)
Arise & Shine: Piano Music by Black Composers for Kids
2022 RCM Piano Syllabus
Five Animal Sketches (William Grant Still)
Portraits in Jazz (Valerie Capers)
Piano Music of Africa and the African Diaspora, Vol. 1 (compiled & edited by William Chapman Nyaho)
RCM Celebration Series Level 6 Piano Repertoire
RCM Celebration Series Level 6 Piano Etudes
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>
Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew
Whenever you’re ready, here are three ways we can work together:
1️⃣ Need fresh teaching ideas? Schedule a quick 25-min. call and we’ll brainstorm on a topic of your choice. Build an idea bank that you can pull from in the months to come.
2️⃣ Have questions about teaching or managing your music career? Book a 60-min call and get personalized advice, creative ideas & step-by-step strategies on up to 3-4 teaching/business topics.
3️⃣ Develop the skills and strategies you need to plan the year, refine your teaching methods, and manage your time more effectively with a suite of online courses and professional development trainings

It’s my last week of teaching for the year, and I've been reflecting on the supplemental books that have been most successful with my elementary and early intermediate students this year. The new year can be a great time to start fresh: with new repertoire, new technical routines, or new creative challenges for our students.
As we prepare for the Spring semester and look forward to lessons resuming in January, I want to share nine collections I’ve been using with my students this year. Some are etudes based on specific technical patterns, others are solo repertoire books. Most of these are available through Piano Safari, though they can be used alongside any method book.
For reference, my elementary and early intermediate students are in Piano Safari Levels 1-3 and range from 2nd-7th grade.
If you're looking to refresh your teaching materials for January or add some variety to your studio library, I hope you'll find a few gems here that spark your interest.
For show notes + a full transcript, click here.
Resources Mentioned
*Disclosure: some of the links in this episode are affiliate links, which means if you decide to purchase through any of them, I will earn a small commission. This helps support the podcast and allows me to continue creating free content. Thank you for your support!
Miniatures (Juan Cabeza)
Piano Safari Level 3
Through the Windowpane (Chee-Hwa Tan)
A Child’s Garden of Verses (Chee-Hwa Tan)
Diversions, Books 1 and 2 (Juan Cabeza)
Free download: 12 Variations on Diversion 12 (Juan Cabeza)
Friends at Last (Amy Glennon)
Here Comes Treble (Amy Glennon)
Audio recordings
Piano Safari Level 1
The Kitchen Suite, Op. 26 (Charles Stier)
21 Amazingly Easy Pieces (Barbara Arens)
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>
Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew
Whenever you’re ready, here are three ways we can work together:
1️⃣ Need fresh teaching ideas? Schedule a quick 25-min. call and we’ll brainstorm on a topic of your choice. Build an idea bank that you can pull from in the months to come.
2️⃣ Have questions about teaching or managing your music career? Book a 60-min call and get personalized advice, creative ideas & step-by-step strategies on up to 3-4 teaching/business topics.
3️⃣ Develop the skills and strategies you need to plan the year, refine your teaching methods, and manage your time more effectively with a suite of online courses and professional development trainings

One of the things I love about teaching is that we can draw on many disciplines to make our work better—art, psychology, learning theories, and even neuroscience. Recently, I’ve been reading about what brain research can tell us about practicing and how we learn, and it’s fascinating.
Welcome back to our 2-part series on practicing.
In part 1, we talked about the art of practicing. I shared what I’m learning from Madeline Bruser’s book, The Art of Practicing, and how I’m carrying these concepts and strategies into my practice sessions and studio.
In this episode, part 2, we’ll explore Molly Gebrian’s book, Learn Faster, Perform Better. This book is all about the neuroscience of practicing: how we learn, process, and retain information. If you’ve been reading along with us in the Musician & Co. Book Club, you likely have some insights of your own, but I wanted to share what stood out to me and how it’s impacting my practicing and my teaching.
For show notes + a full transcript, click here.
Resources Mentioned
*Disclosure: some of the links in this episode are affiliate links, which means if you decide to purchase through any of them, I will earn a small commission. This helps support the podcast and allows me to continue creating free content. Thank you for your support!
The Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music From the Heart (Madeline Bruser)
Learn Faster, Perform Better: A Musician’s Guide to the Neuroscience of Practicing (Molly Gebrian)
Join the Musician & Co. Book Club (it’s free!)
Sign up for the Lunch & Learn: Practicing Workshop on 11/10 (it’s free!)
Well-Tempered Clavier, Volume 1 (J.S. Bach)
Ep. 038 - The Secrets of Interleaved Practice: What We Can Learn From Cognitive Science
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>
Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew
Whenever you’re ready, here are three ways we can work together:
1️⃣ Need fresh teaching ideas? Schedule a quick 25-min. call and we’ll brainstorm on a topic of your choice. Build an idea bank that you can pull from in the months to come.
2️⃣ Have questions about teaching or managing your music career? Book a 60-min call and get personalized advice, creative ideas & step-by-step strategies on up to 3-4 teaching/business topics.
3️⃣ Develop the skills and strategies you need to plan the year, refine your teaching methods, and manage your time more effectively with a suite of online courses and professional development trainings