Picture a student who started piano at age six. She is now eighteen. She has performed in front of strangers more times than she can count. She has passed the highest levels of national examination. She has played for people with dementia who lit up in ways their families hadn't seen in years. She has published original music. She has taught younger students. She is about to leave for college — and she still practices piano, not because anyone is making her, but because she has become someone...
I’m sitting at the desk in my house on a cold December morning. To my right is my electric Korg keyboard and in front of me sits my desk and computer. It’s a very different setup than when I started teaching back in 2004. In the early days of teaching, I sat next to my students at my parents’ Baldwin upright piano as the student played. Today, I teach between 25-30 students daily from my home office, about to enter my 4th year as an Oclef instructor. Over these past four years, I’ve thought l...
Today I would like to showcase one of my Oclef students as we are practicing on “Sword Dance” from the Piano Adventures Method Book 2A. This piece introduces important musical concepts such as allegro tempo, fermata, and expressive dynamics including crescendo and diminuendo. This blog post also highlights the value of listening a full music score to enhance students' ear training, sense of mood, and overall musicality.
In the world of parenting, few topics ignite more debate than screen time. It's the boogeyman of the digital age, blamed for everything from shortened attention spans to the decline of face-to-face social skills. But what if I told you that not all screen time is created equal? That, in fact, some forms of screen time could be the key to unlocking your child's potential?
At Oclef, we've observed a fascinating phenomenon: the power of active digital learning, particularly in the realm of onli...
