Essays on artistry & upbringing
Notes from the studio on practice, pedagogy, and raising serious young artists.
Choosing the right metronome
Three we recommend, and who each one suits. A pendulum you can watch, a Japanese mechanical one built to hold its tempo, and a combined tuner for the child who plays two instruments.
Three traditions in one theory class
Solfège from Eastern Europe, RCM theory from North America, reading drill and guided listening. No single tradition has all of it, so we assembled ours from three.
Choosing a first instrument
Why the piano is usually the right answer, what the violin really asks of a family, and the factor that outweighs all of it.
Why we teach theory alongside the instrument
Theory is not the boring part or the optional part. Taught from the beginning, it is what turns a student who learns pieces into a musician who understands music.
How much practice does a child actually need?
An honest answer by age - and the thing that matters more than the number.
What happens in the first year
What we teach before anything is visible, what a first year usually produces, and what we deliberately do not do.
A serious teacher should not depend on where you live
Conservatory-trained teachers cluster around the conservatories. We think the children who need them are everywhere else - and that is the reason this school exists.
MEA-NJ piano auditions: a parent's guide
The Music Educators Association of New Jersey runs an annual piano audition that is not a competition - what it involves, who it suits, and the March deadline families miss.
RCM piano examinations: a parent's guide
What the Royal Conservatory's Certificate Program actually involves - the levels, what is examined, how it is marked, and the theory requirement families most often overlook.
ABRSM examinations: a parent's guide
The two kinds of ABRSM examination, what each one assesses, how they are marked, and the Grade 5 theory rule that catches families out.
Why we never rush a beginner
The first year at an instrument decides the next ten. Here is how we protect it.
What an examination really teaches
Exams are not the point. But preparing for them changes a young musician profoundly.
The grandmother the conservatory is named for
Galina Fidler believed a serious artistic childhood was a gift. We built a school around that belief.