June Tip of the Month! Listening

I think about half of my students have some sort of exciting summer adventure this year. It’s such a great time to get away and learn new and completely different things! As a way of keeping the mind musically engaged even without access to a piano, try listening over the summer. For younger students, listening to the CDs for Suzuki Books 1-3 is a great place to start. If your student is no longer learning with the Suzuki books, try to find their current music on YouTube.com or iTunes and download them onto an iPad or iPhone to use during vacation.

I highly encourage all students to also listen to piano and orchestral music that is more advanced than their level. If you’re interested but need a starting point, let me know and I will be happy to give you personalized suggestions! Listening is not only helpful for improving musicality and understanding but also very inspiring and motivational.

Good times to listen include while driving in the car, waiting in a long line, eating, exercising, dancing, sleeping, playing, crafting and right before, during, or after practicing. Listening DOES NOT always have to be a project in itself! Instead try thinking of it more as background music and enjoy your amazing faculty of absorbing difficult music subconsciously. If you’ve found an especially helpful time for listening, I’d love to hear about it from you! :)