I’m pleased to share that Alfred Music has published one of my latest compositions! I am honored to be among about 15 new composers Alfred recently recruited to add new pieces to their Signature Series Solos.

My new piece is titled The Lumbering Bear. It is a descriptive piece for mid-elementary level students that is especially effective for recitals or performances.

Listen to the recording by clicking the audio player below.

As of now, The Lumbering Bear is available in a digital format. My hope is that Alfred will consider making it available in hardcopy down the road.

To purchase, visit Alfred Music’s website here.

Thanks for taking a look!

A teacher recently sent me a message: “It’s working wonders with my daughter!!!” 

Coincidently, I can echo the exact same sentiment. Two months ago, I started using my Musician’s Practice Planner with my own 6-year-old daughter. She is really motivated by marking those checkmarks when we do our piano practice every morning before school. 

The planner has helped us greatly in becoming more consistent with home practice. (You’d think making home practice happen would be easy for a piano-teacher-mom, but I think it is just as challenging as it is for any parent!) 

Does this planner work with every single one my students? I don’t mind admitting that I have a few students who are NOT fans of marking checkmarks at home when they practice. 

HOWEVER, I still consider my planner a success with those students. 

How so? The format of the planner supports the way I teach: it encourages students to practice in a goal-oriented way, and it gives me a clear way to communicate specific assignments I expect them to address during home practice. It’s a teacher tool and consistent support as I hold students accountable to making progress on the goals I’ve notated. 

Also, can I just say that I really enjoy the experience of having a beautiful notebook for notating students’ assignments?! ??

If you’d like to give my Musician’s Practice Planner a try, you can order hardcopies on my website. Visit keysatplay.com HERE for the original colors, and HERE for the two new colors. 

If you’ve been using the Musician’s Practice Planner, would you consider letting me know how it’s going? I would love to hear. Leave me a comment below or contact me here to get in touch. 

Happy teaching & practicing, 

Joy

Today, I thought I’d pass along information about a few professional development opportunities offered by the Gordon Institute for Music Learning (GIML) this summer. Taking my first Professional Development Levels Course (PDLC) through GIML back in 2016 was pivotal in setting me on a course to continue to studying music learning more deeply and applying Gordon’s work to my practice as a piano teacher. Since then, I’ve taken three other PDLCs. I highly recommend them.

Below are details about three offerings this summer (2026) of GIML’s Piano Level 1 PDLC.

Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA
Dates (in person): July 6-10
Dates (Online Theory): May 17- June 28

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Dates (in person): June 29-July 3
Dates (Online Theory): May 10-June 21

Kammermusiksaal Ehrenbreitstein (Koblenz, Germany)
Dates (in person): July 20-July 24
Dates (Online Theory): May 17- June 28

For more complete details as well as information about GIML’s other 2026 PDLC offerings (choral, early childhood music, elementary general, etc.), click here. For more details about what is covered in GIML’s PDLC Piano Level 1, please visit GIML’s website here.

My tips:

• If you’d like to know what attending a PDLC is like, check out my blog post links below. If you still have questions, feel free to get in touch and I’ve be happy to correspond with you.
• I highly recommend applying for a Teacher Enrichment Grant through MTNA to help cover the expenses of attending a PDLC. I know quite a few teachers (including myself) who have successfully gotten funds to cover PDLCs or other professional development projects.
• It is helpful if you can start reading Gordon’s Learning Sequences in Music book before you start the PDLC, so you won’t have to do all of the reading during the PDLC.

Related:

• My First Encounter with Dr. Edwin E. Gordon and his Music Learning Theory (MLT)
• My Experience in 2016 Taking a Piano Level 1 PDLC through the Gordon Institute for Music Learning
• 2024 Piano Level 2 Certification through the Gordon Institute for Music Learning
• Recommended Reading From Edwin E. Gordon’s Books on Music Learning Theory (MLT)

Professional development has a way of reigniting your teaching like nothing else. I hope you have something great for yourself on the horizon!

If you teach piano or music and love hands-on rhythm activities, this one’s for you. I’m excited to share a free printable for the Rhythm Rotation Game — a fun, structured activity to help students explore macrobeats, microbeats, divisions, and improvised rhythm. Continue reading to download the free printable and view a two example videos.

A note on attribution: the Rhythm Rotation Game is a well-known activity among MLT practitioners — not my own invention. The printable directions and cards, however, are my own creation. This game is sometimes referred to as the Rhythm Spot Game or other names.

What Is the Rhythm Rotation Game?

The Rhythm Rotation Game is a circle activity for 2–4 players. Players each take on a rhythmic role — chanting macrobeats, microbeats, divisions, or improvised rhythms — and then rotate so every student experiences every role.

This game is simple to set up, easy to explain, and adaptable. It’s suitable for both private lessons (played by you and one student) or group classes. If you have more than 4 players, you could swap players in and out of the game as you make the rotations.

What’s Included in the Printable?

The download includes two sets of cards:

• Meter cards — Duple, Triple, Uneven (Unusual) Paired, Uneven (Unusual) Unpaired, and Combined
• Role cards — MACROBEAT, MICROBEAT, DIVISIONS, and IMPROVISE!

Cards are provided in two terminology sets — “even/uneven” and Gordon’s original “usual/unusual” meter language — so you can use whichever vocabulary fits your teaching.

How to Play

1. Players stand in a circle. Choose a meter card and place it in the center.
2. The teacher establishes the meter, then guides one student to chant macrobeats using a neutral syllable (like bah) or rhythm solfege (I use the Gordon-Froseth syllables). Place the MACROBEAT card in front of that student.
3. The teacher guides the next student to do the same, except with microbeats. Place the MICROBEAT card in front of that student.
4. If you have 4 players, a third student chants divisions.
5. The final player (or the teacher!) improvises rhythms over the top.
6. Every 8 or 16 macrobeats, rotate one position clockwise — and keep going until everyone has held each role.
7. Repeat activity as desired in a different meter.

That’s it. The result is a rich, layered chant that builds listening skills, rhythm skills, and improv skills while keeping students actively engaged.

Watch It in Action

Below are two video demos. The first video shows my students and I playing the Rhythm Rotation Game in Duple meter, Triple meter, and then Uneven Paired meter (basically, 5/8).

The second video shows my colleague and friend, Hannah Mayo, with students playing the game in Duple Meter.

Why I Love This Activity

This game makes rhythm physical, aural, and social. Students aren’t just listening — they’re doing, and they’re hearing their individual part in relation to everyone else’s. I also love that there is a creative aspect to this game — allowing one player to improvise their own rhythms over the other player’s rhythm layers.

Download It Free

The Rhythm Rotation Game printable is a free download below or on my “Games” page:

If you use it with your students, I’d love to hear how it goes — drop a comment below or share it with me on Instagram!

Hello there,

I’m writing today with an announcement and personal invitation. My 2026 piano teacher retreat — the sixth since I founded it in 2017 — will take place in June, and I would love to have you there. 

Retreat at Piano Manor 
Monday–Wednesday, June 8–10, 2026 

We’ll be gathering in southeast Michigan for three days of musicianship-focused learning, great conversation, and real retreat vibes — a beautiful historic house with themed guest rooms, a pool, and delicious homemade meals.

This retreat is open to any piano teacher who wants to come. Whether you’ve been reading my blog for years or just found me recently, whether you teach beginners or advanced students, whether you’ve been teaching for a few years or many — wherever you are in your teaching journey, you are welcome here.

If there’s even a small part of you that’s curious, I’d encourage you to mark these dates on your calendar and then take a look here for general retreat information. 

Want me to keep you in the loop? 
I share the most detailed retreat information — theme reveal, room options, and reminders — through a separate email list. If you’d like updates sent directly to you starting next week, you’re welcome to join here.

Thanks for considering my retreat!

Joy

If you’ve ever attended one of my group classes for my piano students, you know that I like to start with a short ice breaker activity. Often, it’s as simple as asking each student to state their name and their favorite color/animal/book/ice cream flavor.

I think ice breakers are useful for getting people connected. And the best teaching — and the best music-making — happens when people feel connected to one another.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve been experimenting and testing out a new ice breaker activity with my groups — and I’m so excited to finally share it as a new resource in my shop: a printable conversation starter game called Tuned In.

Tuned In: Conversation Starters for Musicians is a printable conversation card game I created for musicians of all ages, levels, and instruments. It’s 100 questions — some lighthearted, some reflective — designed to get musicians talking about what they love about music, what challenges them, and what keeps them playing.

Every question was written and curated by me, drawing on my years as a pianist and piano teacher. There’s no competition, no scores, and minimal prep.

Three sets, one game

The cards come in three sets. Set 1 is best for younger students and first-time musicians — easy, fun questions anyone can answer. Set 2 expands the range for older students and mixed-age groups. Set 3 is the most reflective — introspective questions best suited for adults and groups already comfortable with one another. You can use one set or mix them all together.

Who It’s For

Tuned In works anywhere musicians gather. For music teachers, it’s a natural icebreaker at group events — studio recitals, group lessons, camps, and workshops.

It’s equally useful for one-on-one lessons. Choose a question of the week to use with all your students. It’s a small moment, but it can open up conversations you might not have had otherwise. Or simply keep a stack on your studio piano and let each student draw their own card at the start of a lesson.

Beyond the studio, Tuned In is a natural fit for any musician gathering — rehearsals, pre-performance time, social meetups, or anywhere people want to connect beyond small talk. And for music organizations, it makes an easy, ready-to-use icebreaker for chapter meetings, retreats, and conferences.

Easy Printing & Assembly

The cards are designed to print beautifully in black and white — no color printer required. Print onto cardstock and cut apart — or, better yet, print on standard business card paper and just snap the cards apart along the perforations. No scissors, no trimmer — just load, print, and you’re done. Here are links to the ones I recommend (available for inkjet and laser printers).

Tuned In is available as a PDF for $8 (individual license) allowing you to print as many copies as you need for use with your own students or groups, year after year. Need it for a music school, camp, or organization with multiple users? An organization license is available for $20.

If Tuned In sounds like a fit for your studio or group, I’d love for you to try it.

Shop now >>

I hope Tuned In brings great fun and conversations to the musicians in your life!

NOTE: My annual blogiversary sale is going on now, and yes, it applies to the newly launched Tuned In game! Use promo code 17YEARS to get 20% off any of the digital items in my shop here. Good through March 31, 2026.

I’m proud to say that tomorrow my blog celebrates 17 years! Thank you, readers, for being here.

To celebrate, I’m running my annual sale. Use promo code 17YEARS to get 20% off any of the digital items in my shop here. Good through March 31, 2026.

A colleague recently asked me to lead a series of group classes for her students while she was away for a month. Her goal: keep them engaged with their piano pieces and hopefully practicing in her absence.

While I have a variety of activities and games I draw upon when working with my own students, it proved an interesting challenge to consider what to do with a group of students whom I’d never met. I wanted to come up with activities that would be enjoyable while also musically meaningful.

Here’s the structure and activities I landed on.

The Class Format

1. Ice Breaker

I opened each class with a simple, friendly ice breaker activity to help everyone relax and feel welcome.

One of my go-to ice breakers is to go around the room and ask each student to state their name and a favorite from a chosen theme, such as favorite color/animal/book/ice cream flavor.

But this time, I used a different ice breaker resource I’ve been working on for a couple of years and am finally putting the final touches on (stay tuned!).

The point of an ice breaker isn’t necessarily musical; it’s human. When kids feel at ease and recognized as young musicians, they are open to learning.

2. Performance Round

Each student played one or two pieces — polished or in-progress, no pressure either way. After each performance, I offered one or two observations. To keep everyone engaged, I occasionally turned back to the group to ask them to weigh in on what they heard or to help define symbols or terms we discussed in the performer’s score. For example:

• Can you tell us what symbol you see here? Who can tell us what it means?
• Does anyone know what “balance” or “Arietta” means?
• Did you hear a difference between the first and second time they played? Do you think there’s room for even more?

This kept the listeners engaged and turned individual feedback into a shared learning moment — building listening skills and score literacy along the way.

3. Rhythm Games

Next, we moved into chanting rhythm patterns back and forth, which naturally led into a round of my Trick-or-Treat game.

I brought my piano prize box along so every student could take home a small treat (instead of candy).

Both activities reinforce a sense of rhythm and ensemble awareness.

4. Hot and Cold — with a Musical Twist

With the youngest class, I closed with another game: one student (the “Searcher”) closed their eyes while another hid a plastic music note prop I once picked up at a thrift shop.

Here’s the twist: instead of calling out “hot” or “cold,” the group used mini maracas to guide the Searcher. Shaking the maracas more loudly and vigorously meant getting closer; quieter meant moving away. Working together, we created live crescendos and decrescendos — feeling and hearing the musical effect in real time. The kids had a blast; it’s one thing to see a dynamic marking on the page, but another thing entirely to feel it with your whole body.

Although we piano teachers don’t often find ourselves planning group classes for students we’ve never met, it’s perhaps a fun thought experiment. What would YOU reach for? The constraints might just spark inspiration or ideas you’d bring back to your own group classes.

What activities have you used with groups of students you hadn’t previously met? I’d love to hear in the comments.

Hi friends,

Quick reminder about Amy and my upcoming live online workshop, Organize Your Life With Notion. If you have been meaning to join us, the early bird discount ends after February 15.

If your lesson notes, links, recital plans, and to-dos are spread across email, paper, Google Drive, and random sticky notes, Notion can pull it into one place.

Organize Your Life With Notion (live online workshop)
Fridays: February 27, March 6, and March 13
Time: 12:30 – 2:30 pm Eastern

Use code NOTION60 by February 15 to take $60 off your registration.

A simple, practical way to start using Notion

This workshop is for piano teachers and music professionals who want a simple, flexible system for keeping studio and life details in one place. We will guide you step-by-step, live, and you will have time to build alongside us.

By the end, you will be able to set up a workspace you can use for things like:

• a clean “home base” dashboard (so you know where to go when you open Notion)
• student and studio information in one spot
• recital and event planning pages that are easy to reuse each year
• a place to capture ideas, to-dos, and resources so nothing gets lost

Free handmade templates for music professionals

You will also get access to a library of free Notion page templates Amy and I handmade for music professionals, so you can copy what you need and customize quickly instead of starting from scratch.

Learn more and sign up here.

Hope to see you there,

Joy

Related: 40 Ways to Use Notion as a Music Professional

Welcoming a new student into your piano studio always feels special. A new inquiry lands in your inbox, you meet a bright-eyed beginner or an eager returning student, and suddenly you’re about to embark on a musical journey together. Exciting, right?

But between that initial spark of interest and the first official lesson, there’s an administrative process to navigate. And if you’re anything like me, you want every family to feel welcomed, informed, and excited about the journey ahead.

That’s where having an onboarding system makes all the difference. With clear steps to follow, things are less likely to fall through the cracks. You can focus less on remembering administrative details and more on what matters most — connecting with your new students and planning how you’ll help them grow as a musicians.

In this article, I’ll walk you through my simple six-step process for onboarding new piano students. Whether you’re looking to refine your current system or build one from scratch, I hope you’ll find some ideas you can adapt for your own studio.

PS: In this article, I will touch on how Notion — a free “everything app” I think everyone should know about — has become a one-stop organizational system for piano studio operations and most other aspects of my life, both personal and professional. It’s been a game-changer for managing all the moving parts of running a music studio! Intrigued? Learn more here about the next offering of Organize Your Life With Notion, a 3-part online workshop for music professionals offered by Amy Chaplin and myself.

Step 1: Respond to Inquiry and Schedule an Interview Lesson

When prospective families find my studio website and decide to reach out, they can complete a Piano Lesson Inquiry form embedded on my studio website. The form captures their name, contact information, student details and interest in lessons, plus indicate if they already own an acoustic piano or full-sized (88-key) digital piano.

I use Tally.so for this form. I started using Tally a few years ago — around the same time I adopted Notion, an “everything app” I’ve discussed on my blog before (see here, for example).

I prefer Tally over Google Forms and other platforms (including Notion’s built-in forms) because it’s visually polished and integrates seamlessly with Notion. I highly recommend Tally for any forms or surveys you need to create!

When someone submits my form, Tally emails me automatically as you’d expect. But I can also view all inquiries in my dedicated “Inquiries” Notion database page I’ve set up — a simple database mapped to my Tally form questions so information flows in automatically. Pretty slick!

In this inquiries database, I’ve added a “Status” property column allowing me to track communication with each lead. For example, I can mark a given inquiry as: Contacted, Offered interview lesson, Referred elsewhere, Enrolled, Not interested, etc. This gives me an at-a-glance view of who needs a follow-up.

Scrolling down the page, I have an onboarding checklist of the steps from this article, which serves as a reference for myself of the steps I need to take with each student who wishes to enroll.

Having this control center sure beats relying on my memory!

If I have openings and the family seems like a good fit, I then reach out to schedule a meet-and-greet — or “interview lesson,” as we say in the piano teaching world.

Step 2: Host an Interview Lesson and Gather Student Information

During the interview lesson (see my complete article about conducting interview lessons here), I collect student information and get to know the family a bit. Early in my career, I used a hardcopy Student Information form (see my old form here) placed on a clipboard. Now I prefer capturing everything digitally from the start!

When families arrive, I hand the parent my iPad to complete my Student Information form. Alternatively, a QR code lets them use their own device. If it’s an adult student, I will instead send the form link beforehand so they can complete it from home.

My Student Information form, like my Piano Lesson Inquiry Form, is hosted at Tally.so. Tally’s conditional “if/then” questions are perfect for tailoring questions to children/teens versus adults.

What do I collect? The form starts with basic information, such as the student’s name, grade, birthdate, contact details. After that, the form moves on to ask about the student’s piano, extracurricular activities and interests, musical background, estimated daily practice amount, and any concerns or additional information.

While the parent completes the form, I work with the student at the piano. It’s great to have the opportunity to have a short, trial lesson with the student to get a sense of how well we might fit. As mentioned a moment ago, I’ve written much more about interview lessons here — so for now, let’s go on to the next step in the onboarding process.

Step 3: Review Student Information

After the interview lesson, I review the gathered student information to organize my thoughts, assess studio fit, and brainstorm lesson approaches.

I have a dedicated Notion page for all student information — essentially, my own customizable CRM (“customer relationship management”). Each question from my Student Information form in Tally is mapped to automatically populate in my Student Information database page in my Notion account.

Again, I’ve added a few properties to the database beyond what the form collects. For example, I can mark new students as “Active/Inactive” and track their playing level. There are also columns that calculate the student’s current age based on their birthdate and the length of piano study based on their lesson start date.

One of the reasons Notion databases have an edge over Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets is because they allow for more manipulation and viewing of the data in various ways.

For example, I’ve created a few “Views” for my Student Information database that allows me to filter for active students or inactive students. I can also click to view the information sorted by name, age, level, length of study, etc.

Another thing Notion databases do is allow you to open each database entry opens as a full page. I use each student page as a place to take notes, track what students have learned, and plan their future study.

I can also create graphs and charts based on the information in the database. At the bottom of my Student Information page in Notion, I’ve added a few donut graphs and bar graphs to show the percentage of students at various ages, levels, or lengths of study in my studio. (Charts require a paid Notion subscription; everything else I’ve described so far is free.) These charts automatically update whenever I edit the information for the students marked as “Active” in my database.

So, at this stage of the onboarding process, I like to review the student information and type notes about my impressions and thoughts from the interview lesson.

Step 4: Send Follow-Up Email and Discuss Next Steps

After the interview lesson, I send a follow-up email thanking the family for coming. If both the family and I wish to proceed, we determine a suitable lesson day and time for their weekly lesson.

Step 5: Add Student to Calendar, Automated Billing, & Email List

Once we’ve settled on a weekly lesson time, I add it to my Google Calendar as a repeating event.

Next, I email the parent instructions for setting up monthly automated billing. (See this article to read about flat monthly fees for piano lessons, a system I highly recommend.) I previously used Coinhop but currently use Helcim as my automated billing platform. (I recommend Helcim if you need extensive features; Coinhop if you want simplicity.)

Finally, I add the student’s and/or parents’ email addresses to my studio email list in Google Contacts. Early in my career, I used MailChimp for studio-wide emails but I have since switched to basic, personal emails. (See this blog post to read about when I switched to basic Gmail emails.) When sending emails, I use BCC (“blind carbon copy”) to keep everyone’s addresses private.

Step 6: Start Lessons!

With the start date and a payment method in place, I gather or order any needed books and materials for the student. And with that, the student is fully onboarded and we are ready to begin lessons together!

The next time I’m back at my Inquiries database page in Notion, I can mark the student’s inquiry as “Enrolled.” Success!

Final Thoughts

Welcoming new students into your piano studio is always fun and exciting. The administrative side of onboarding those new students doesn’t have to detract from the joy. When you have a simple but effective onboarding system in place — whether it looks like mine or something completely different — you free up mental energy to focus on what you do best: teaching and inspiring young musicians.

The six-step onboarding process I described above has given me a streamlined way to onboard new students. Families feel taken care of from the very first inquiry and I start each new teaching relationship feeling organized and prepared. Most importantly, it allows me to enjoy welcoming new students without worrying about what I might be forgetting.

If your current onboarding process feels chaotic or you’re winging it each time, I encourage you to create a system that works for you. Start simple, refine as you go, and give yourself the gift of clarity and consistency. Your future self (and your students’ families) will thank you.

Your turn: Tell us about your onboarding process for new students! Any tips to share? What inspiration or tips did you glean from hearing about my onboarding process? Please share in the comments below.

By the way, my colleague and friend Amy Chaplin published her own onboarding article today so we could link up and compare approaches. You can read Amy’s article on her blog at PianoPantry.com here. It’s always helpful to see how different teachers handle the same process!