Here is the link to the Facebook live stream from the 2018 Helen Elbert Chamber Music Festival hosted by East Texas Music Teachers Association.

The bulk of piano study is isolating for piano students. They practice alone and take their lessons alone.  Finding opportunities to collaborate with other musicians can be a big benefit to piano students.

A few ways you can collaborate with other musicians:* Boomwhackers* Duets with other piano players (siblings should proceed with caution LOL)* Piano ensemble* Playing with other instrumentalists: piano/violin, piano/flute, piano/guitar, piano* Even playing the same piano piece with another student takes a great deal of coordination and concentration.

When you play with other musicians….* you must keep a steady beat. Solo pianists often slow down or stop to fix mistakes.* you learn to listen and respond to other players.* you deepen your understanding of music theory by following chord progressions or transposing music.* you learn to focus and concentrate on your part while listening to the other music.

What if you don’t have other musicians to make music with?Consider the use of technology like the app GarageBand or a simple video camera. Solo piano students can learn a lot about music collaboration by recording their solo piano piece and then adding percussion and other band instruments to different tracks on GarageBand. 

Here are my Boomwhacker Arrangements:Eye of the TigerMinuet in G (In the Key of Cool!)

Thank you and welcome to new subscribers to the website, Marilyn and Carrie. I am glad you’re here.Thank you, Wendy, for the encouging review on iTunes. Wendy writes,“Many of us put our kids in piano lessons, but if we aren’t musical ourselves, are limited in our ability to support them. Shelly is a passionate music educator and thanks to this podcast we are all able to take advantage of her wonderful wisdom and tools to ignite a lifelong love of music.”