lystn

So much creative piano teaching innovation has happened this year on topmusic.co, and there's heaps of exciting things coming up in 2017.

Today on the show I'm giving you a sneak peek into what's coming up. We're also taking a walk down memory lane with my top 7 podcast episodes from the past here.

More and more, my focus is on helping teachers with the creative side of piano teaching.These 7 powerful creative piano teaching episodes definitely deserve revisiting. All 7 give you actionable steps for creative piano teaching.

Even if you've been listening to my podcast right from the start take a listen back. There's probably something in them that you missed, or forgot to take action on.

Transcript

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#7 Why Creativity Matters with Dennis Alexander

https://topmusic.co/tttv064-why-creativity-matters-with-dennis-alexander/

Quick summary

This is a chat with one of my favourite contemporary composers, Dennis Alexander.

In this episode, Dennis not only plays a few of his favourite pieces, he answers questions such as "What's the most important thing you feel piano teachers should be teaching students to encourage creativity?".

Why it made the list

Hearing composers talk about what got them into composing (normally the encouragement and creativity of their first teachers) is always interesting. I would love to think that I'm cultivating the next generation of composers in my studio. But creating composers is not going to happen if we only teach students how to read other people's music.

Would Bach, Beethoven and Chopin (and any of the other famous composers) be happy to hear that the majority of piano teaching in 2016 still focusses mainly on music reading, performing and interpreting 'the classics'?

We must remember that, in order to have future generations of composers, we need to be encouraging our students to improvise, create and be curious about music.

How should we do that? Take a listen and find out!

#6 Balancing the Eye and the Ear with Bradley Sowash and Leila Viss

https://topmusic.co/tttv005-balancing-the-eye-and-the-ear-bradley-sowash-leila-viss-on-creativity-at-the-keyboard/

Quick summary

In this podcast, Leila and Bradley dispel many of the myths around creativity.

They discuss what "creativity" actually means, how you can fit it into your lessons and what to do, step by step, to get started. This is the perfect episode to listen to if you want to get fired up about teaching creative skills, and get the tools to get started.

Why it made the list

Bradley and Leila are two of the best creative teachers around. Leila, like many of us, was classically trained and has become more creative through her own professional learning, exploring and practising. This means that she is in a perfect position to guide other classically-trained teachers towards a creative approach because she knows what it's like.

Bradley has a much more jazz-oriented background and so has the chops to teach and play just about anything in any style but he's also connected enough with piano teaching to know the pedagogy, know how to teach and how to share his amazing skills.

While a little longer than usual, this episode is full of ideas that you can use in your teaching right away so get a pen and notepad and watch and learn!

#5 Using Orff to Teach Rhythm with Vashti Summervill

https://topmusic.co/tttv045-using-orff-to-teach-rhythm-with-vashti-summervill/

Quick summary

In her teaching, Vashti uses so many creative and collaborative activities to teach all sorts of concepts. 

Vashti was generous enough to give us some full teaching demonstrations in this episode. See inside her wonderful Orff inspired studio and get some...