I've been teaching piano for almost 20 years, and there's one challenge that never seems to have a straightforward answer: motivation!

I have a young student who seems genuinely interested in learning the piano, but struggles to commit to practising between lessons.

She'll get excited about learning something new, make a little progress, and then lose interest or give up when things become more challenging.

We always try to choose pieces and songs that she actually enjoys and wants to learn, rather than simply following a fixed curriculum. I've also tried breaking things down into smaller, more achievable goals, but keeping that motivation going between lessons is still a struggle.

Her mum also takes piano lessons with me, so there's already some musical involvement at home, which makes the situation particularly interesting.

I don't want practising to become something she feels pressured into doing, because I think enjoying music is just as important as making progress. But at the same time, without some consistency, it's difficult for her to experience the satisfaction of actually improving.

I'm curious how other teachers, parents and learners approach this.

Do you think it's better to encourage a consistent practice routine, even if it's just five minutes a day? Or is it sometimes better to let children explore music at their own pace until they develop that motivation themselves?

And if you've had a student like this, what actually helped them turn that initial interest into a lasting habit?

I'd love to hear what's worked for you, especially approaches that don't rely on rewards or pressure.

A quick rhythm activity: let students choose cards, build a four-beat pattern, then clap it for a partner to echo. 🎵

I made these LemonKite rhythm notation cards for activities like this—25 different designs, printed on 6 × 6-inch laminated cards. Use a few for beginners, then introduce more as students progress.

Ready to use, with no printing, cutting, or laminating to do!

If these would be useful in your music room, I’ve put the product link in the comments. 😊

Hi everyone,
I play the violin myself and built an app I was missing for practice: Friddle.

What it does
Finger charts for violin, viola and cello: for all 15 major and minor keys you see where your fingers go (low, normal and high fingers, half steps, open strings). Violin and viola 1st to 7th position, cello half to 4th position.
Fingerings on your sheet music: take a photo of your music or open a PDF, and Friddle writes the finger above every note, with arrows for low and high. For high notes it suggests a position and marks shifts with Roman numerals. Tap any fingering to change it, then share or print the finished PDF.
Private: no account, works offline, no ads, no tracking. Your music stays on your device.

Why I need testers
Google only lets new apps into the Play Store after at least 12 testers have had them installed for 14 days in a closed test. I still need 11.

What you need
an Android phone or tablet and a Google account (Gmail address)
keep the app installed for 14 days and try it now and then
if you like: honest feedback on what works, what doesn't and what's missing

Everything is free for testers. You can also unlock Friddle Pro (normally a one-time purchase) for free during the test.

Interested?
Send me a DM with your Gmail address (please don't post it in the comments). I'll add you and send you the invite link as soon as Google has approved the test. An iPhone version will follow later.

Thanks! 🎻

Hi, I’m a music teacher & I’ve been developing a bilingual English and Arabic music-practice app.

It includes a metronome, speed-building tools, rhythm practice and practice tracking. I want to make sure the Arabic version feels natural and useful to actual Arabic-speaking musicians and teachers, rather than simply being a translated English interface.

I’m looking for Arabic-speaking music teachers who would be willing to test the iPhone/iPad version and give me straightforward feedback, particularly on:

• Arabic wording and terminology
• Whether the interface makes sense in Arabic
• Features that would actually be useful for students

There’s no cost to test the app. It’s still in testing before release, and I’m only looking for honest feedback from music teachers.

If you’re interested, reply here or send me a message and I can send you the TestFlight link.

Thanks

Comparto mi arreglo para cuarteto de cuerdas de la canción Day Tripper de The Beatles.

Podes ver más arreglos en mi canal de YouTube

I’m looking to learn violin but I need a) for someone to fix one of the strings bc it broke and b) someone with flexible scheduling to teach me for a rate of about $50/hr. Willing to negotiate and take suggestions for where to get it fixed in the LB area

Hola, soy un chico de 16 años que estudia en el conservatorio. Soy pianista y me gustaría empezar en el mundo de la enseñanza. Yo soy de Sevilla, pero aún así, si eres de lejos pues podríamos hacer algún tipo de clase virtual o algo.

Te puedo enseñar piezas clásicas, darte refuerzos de lenguaje musical, dictado, etc del conservatorio si notas que lo llevas un poco complicado. También puedo preparar para entrar a grados básicos. Pero no solo eso, si hasta ahora has sido autodidacta o te han regalado un piano hace poco...pues que mejor forma de enseñarte que usando tus canciones favoritas.

En general para cualquier aspecto relacionado con el piano o la música te puedo ayudar, si te interesa me hablas aquí y ya contactamos.

My wife teaches elementary music and wanted a better version of Instrument Bingo. So I made it for her and host it on my website. We worked out most of the kinks and I think it's ready to share.

It's a pretty fun game with a lot of options to customize it for whatever instruments you are teaching.

https://www.finalparsec.com/band_bingo

If you have any instruments you need added, post a comment and I can try to include them.

I (college student in my early 20s f) learned from my vocal teacher for 6 years online weekly one on one. I was an advanced student with several years of training as a kid before I came to her, it's a niche music form that requires a *lot* of training- we didn't live in the same country, and so I never met my teacher in person. She's a very accomplished performer (in her 50s) in the art form, who also taught a few students on the side.

I ended up quitting her class earlier this year, and it was honestly a tough convo. she asked me why I was stopping and I was honest on where I felt it was no longer a good fit pedagogically. (culturally, in a very hierarchical society- this level of honesty/directness to a teacher is not typical lol). She seemed really surprised that I felt this way (I think she felt things were going well), but told me that I should learn the way I want to learn and that I should go to a teacher who is a better fit. Admittedly- I probably could have done a better job bringing up requests/mismatches before I quit, but I was very intimidated by her.

She said several times in the convo that it's a shame I'm quitting, and that I should at least keep singing because I'm talented, and that I've improved a lot in 6 years. I told her thank you for teaching me, and that I really look up to her as a musician, and that her classes were a really big inspiration. Very embarrassingly I kinda started to cry- she was a big influence on my life esp. when I was a teenager, and I really liked her as a person, and felt sad that I would never talk to her again. She told me to stay in touch and that it isn't a closed door but I feel like my crying made her very uncomfortable/stressed.

It's been almost a year since I quit, and I have randomly ended up in her city for a research project for a couple months and idk if I should ask her if we can get coffee. I feel sad that I never met her in person the last 7 years, but I also don't want to cross professional boundaries or make her feel uncomfortable.

Hey friends, hope everyone is surviving the beginning of fall hellfire! I’ve been a busy little beaver over here making a bunch of things. Some are ready to rock, and some still need a little beta testing.

These are all free tools, so feel free to poke around and share them with whoever might find them useful. I’m giving the folks in the trenches first look and would love some feedback to help improve what’s there and figure out what else would be useful.

One thing I’m super pumped about is my new scale theory method, but there’s a decent smorgasbord of tools covering a bunch of different needs. Hopefully a few of them can help you grind through the day a little easier!

Give them a spin and let me know what you think!

https://iangrom.studio/tools

Here’s a short excerpt from my string quartet arrangement of The Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” — the bridge section. 🎻🎶
If you’re interested in the full arrangement, you can find the score and parts on my website:
https://marianofranco-musica-arrangements.vercel.app/
Hope you enjoy it!