I’ve always kept a small handheld vacuum in my studio to be able to sweep little things quickly (especially eraser junk off the music rack!). Our old Shark, though, got re-assigned to our camper since it had a beater blade on it we can use to sweep the rug.
I tried going without one but really missed it, so I finally went on the hunt.
What was I especially interested in?
Small and lightweight
Easy to clean
A stand it could be stored on
Minimal attachments – only really useful ones
Replacement filter so after I wash one, I can replace it while the other one dries.
Under $50
Here’s the one I went with. It charges on USB and has a little brush attachment that’s useful for gently cleaning around a keyboard or the tuning pins of the grand piano. There’s a tiny little brush intended to help you clean the mini filter, but I used it to brush junk from around the tuning pins so I could sweep better. Right now, it’s on sale for 40% off at a nice $29 price point!
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Speaking of cleaning the piano, these Guardsman Dusting Cloths (tack-cloths) are great for dusting the piano case.
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I have always liked keeping track of the repertoire students study for various reasons, but mostly because it’s easy to forget how far you’ve come and all students have done. I recently updated my repertoire tracking sheet and am even happier with the results than before. Sometimes, small changes make a big difference!
Here’s what the original sheet looks like (which is still available via the original blog post).
The tweaks I decided to make this year were about helping me easily track how many times a student plays a “memory” piece for me in their lesson. I also included “Happy Birthday” at the bottom of the page as a reminder for students to always keep the tune at the tips of their fingers!
I just circle the little icon under “achievements” for what they did with the pieces. The majority of them are just a thumbs up “mastered” piece. Most students have a couple of “studied” pieces and a couple “level up” pieces (Thanks to Christina Whitlock for the “level up” idea!).
The number of memory pieces varies greatly between students and their desire/enjoyment of memorizing repertoire.
I would be remiss if I didn’t start this week’s Friday Finds with the most recent news shocking our community: The End of Finale.
While Finale was a leader in the industry for decades, I can understand the reasoning behind the decision. Several years ago, after doing a monthly subscription with Noteflight for years, I was considering whether I wanted to continue with Noteflight or move to Dorico or Finale. Between the latter two options, I would have chosen Dorico. My needs were minimal, however, so when Noteflight opened an option for a lifetime license, I jumped on board.
We are big-time into the whole “Chili Crisp” phase that’s been around the internet in recent months. So much so that I went searching for ideas on what to do with it besides just Chili Crisp Fried Eggs and came across this Miso-Parmesan Pasta with Chili Crisp. We liked it! There are a couple of ingredients you might have to track down, but if you enjoy the crisp and a little heat, you’ll like this.
If you’re a parent, teacher, coach, or manager who lives, loves, and works with tweens, teens, and 20s-somethings, you know that young people sometimes act in seemingly head-scratching ways, that you don’t always feel like you’re being listened to, and that it can be frustrating to try to guide them in acting towards positive ends.
The source of these challenges is often chalked up to the underdeveloped brains and hormones that tweens through young twenty-somethings possess. But my guest would say that what’s more to blame is the ineffective way mentors often approach young adults.
P.S. One that she mentions is Notion! Organize Your Life With Notion, a 2-day workshop hosted by myself and Joy Morin, will be held September 20-21. Get more details here.
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We have new neighbors next door that are building a small organic farm business. I’m in heaven! Every Friday or Saturday, I pop over there and grab a half dozen in-season veggies and other goodies like homemade wheat sourdough bread, local honey, and high-quality pork products.
I recently snatched a bunch of golden beets. We don’t eat them a lot, but definitely enjoy them. Here’s two of my go-to ways to use them:
After roasting them wrapped individually in foil in the oven for 30-45 minutes (depending on the size) and then cooling, I pull off the skin. Then chop large diced in salads or thick slice on top of burgers.
You don’t have to have recipes for either of those but here are a couple if that’s what you like:
58. That’s the number of items I have saved up to share with you in Friday Finds! I hate to be cliche but this summer has been crazy! I keep thinking I’m going to sit down and write one (which usually takes a 75 minute work block), but it just kept getting bumped. *sigh*
On the positive side, I always have lots of great things to share with you, and the more I have saved, the choosier I become. So, you really DO get the best of what I think is worth your time.
I hope you’ve had a great summer thus far – enjoy what’s left!
As music teachers, our instruments are the most important piece of furniture in our studios (I love my Yamaha Grand!). However, a functional teaching space requires more than just our beloved instruments.
There are frequently used repertoire books to keep nearby, student files we may want to access daily, sightreading material, highlighters, tripods, pedal extenders, and more!
After five years in our new house, we finally finished my studio space this past January. Check out the finished product and get a full tour in this post: ➡️ Check out my Piano Studio.
As I described in that blog post, I spent several years in this new space with minimal furniture. We’ve built our home with the mindset of holding off on certain parts until we were financially ready to pay for another large portion rather than trying to complete it in one go.
The studio space was one of those steps (as were things like finishing our pantry – read about that here – or the laundry room, or the main bedroom closet – both of which are still on the list!) It’s called delayed gratification – a key component to a healthy financial mindset in my opinion. 🙂
Anyway, I was looking for furniture to help me make better use of the space. As you might imagine, this was a struggle for this organized person!
When it was time to purchase furniture, I had a checklist of important specifications to make the space functional for me (details of which I won’t go into detail here but did mention in the tour post). The research was quite time-consuming!
While I came across lots of great stuff that would work well in an independent music studio, it didn’t always meet the criteria for MY space, whether for color, size, design, or functionality.
I DID think of you, though, while researching and saved a list of all of those great finds, which I’m excited to share with you today! So, if you’ve been looking for proper/functional furniture for your music studio space, check out my finds below.
2-Drawer Rolling File Cabinet
This mobile filing cabinet has a nice-sized drawer at the top and an area for hanging files at the bottom.
It would be a great place to store files for student materials or items you frequently use during lessons (like Circle of 5ths sheets, staff paper, etc.)
If you like to rearrange, having furniture on rollers can be useful.
Similar to the one above, this mobile file cabinet provides a little different functionality.
A side pocket and additional shelf provide for a little more storage/working space although the drawers look like they are slightly smaller than the one above.
Check sizes and make sure the space is adequate for what you need!
This modern, simple desk comes in three sizes – 40, 47, or 55 inches. It’s similar to the one that I ultimately purchased for my studio (see it here) – mine has 1 drawer and a file drawer.
It’s also reversible so you can switch which side the drawers are on.
I love the light wood look of this desk. It has lots of good storage space and a clean, simple, modern look.
Most of the furniture you buy online like this will have more than one color option. I was looking for light wood and white to add to my space, which is why you see many of those colors in these recommendations. 🙂
When purchasing furniture, be sure to double-check your space measurements!
Tribesigns is one of my favorite furniture dealers on Amazon. This functional storage file cabinet has a nice little design appeal with the chevron pattern and gold handles.
I can’t tell if the back is open or closed through… My preference is usually closed so things don’t push through to the wall.
Depending on the look you’re going for, if you want to warm up a space, this desk with the slightly darker wood look and white base makes a beautiful statement.
It has lots of great work and storage space built in. Beautiful!
If you look closely, I also like that the back of the open desk has a panel. While I love simple table-top-like desks, the downside is you can see all the chords and stuff coming out the back of your computer hanging down.
A panel like this will clean up the look – especially if you face the desk into a room rather than against a wall.
Well, that’s a wrap, friends! I hope you found a new piece of furniture that’s useful to you or at least used my links to take you down a rabbit hole that allowed you to find something that was even more functional for your space.
Enjoy building a space you love to be in and teach in!
Today is FINALLY the day you get to check out my piano studio – it’s tour time!
If you follow me on social media at all, you might have seen a few “in-progress” photos as we worked to finish the new studio space. It’s been six months since it’s been complete, and I’ve been dying to show you the end product!
Feel free to “snoop around” my piano studio at your leisure.
This is a phrase I state to any teacher who attends the Piano Pantry Digital Organization Retreat at my home in the summer months.
Why?
You know why! You LOVE seeing other teacher’s spaces!
In fact, I knew you loved it so much that I made sure it was the FIRST blog post I published in 2016. ➡️ Welcome to My Studio! (It wasn’t much of a “tour” but just a photo of my then-teaching space.)
Even though I love cooking, I don’t watch many cooking shows or competitions. I did, however, enjoy this chef competition series on Netflix where they were competing for the position of head chef of the Five-Star Langham Hotel in London
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Do something special for yourself this summer and get a color consult! I’ve wanted to do one for years and am so glad I finally spent the money! I was very happy with my experience with Created Colorful. Use THIS link or the discount code AMYCHAPLIN to get $20 OFF all products, including consults, gifts, and the Love Your Closet Audio Course! (I am an affiliate, but it doesn’t cost you extra!)
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In a recent Friday Finds, I shared some resources on women composers one of my teacher friends discovered while attending the 2024 MTNA Conference in Atalanta (Thanks, Shelley!). After seeing those, another teacher friend reached out with another suggestion. Thanks, Garreth!
“There’s also a wonderful compilation of women composers from Karen Marshall called Herstory; it’s a real joy! It’s progressively organized, like Melanie Spanswick’s series, but what I particularly like is that each composer is introduced in a really warm way. It’s also a very high-quality book. It’s worth checking out!”
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If you’re fascinated by how the brain works, then you’ll definitely want to check out this two-part podcast episode with Gregory Chase on Keys to Music Learning. He shares some absolutely fascinating information on neuroscience and how we can use it to structure our lesson time, the impact of hormones, and more.
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One thing I think it’s important for all piano teachers to own is some kind of foot prop for students’ feet so they can sit at the proper height and position at the piano. I keep a variety, and simple platforms work just fine, but it’s really nice to have an actual pedal extender so even younger students can enjoy using the pedal while sitting at a proper height. I have two different ones. This one is the one I would recommend first because it’s half the price of the other and very comprable in quality. CPS Pedal Extender
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I’ve been making food plans for this week’s digital organization retreat in my home. Between catering both my own retreat and Joy Morin’s over the past few years, I have a few favorites that work well for these events. Food plans for every event always vary a bit depending on the dietary needs of attendees, but one thing that I make every-single-time is this delicious Herbal Iced Tea from Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten).
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My husband and I have really been enjoying Vitamin String Quartet on Spotify. They give a classical spin on pop tunes. If you’re one to play music while you work, this might be a fun option!
Assignment Sheet #23 is here and it features practice tips and techniques! The assignment sheet bundle here on Piano Pantry continues to grow little by little.
The last time I shared a new assignment sheet was not long after the pandemic. It was a Star Wars-themed sheet. Check it out here.
After the closure of Tonara, switching practice apps greatly affected many of my students’ usage. I’m fine with not having all my students use the practice app, but a couple of students actually requested getting a written practice sheet again. (BTW If you’re interested, I moved to Vivid Practice.)
As of now, I don’t mind some students using the app and some using a written page. I do still struggle a bit taking the time to fill them out since it’s not something I do at every lesson.
The newest practice sheet features a practice schedule and practice technique tips to aid students in creating a varied practice routine. I find it works well for students ages 10 and up.
Download This Practice Tips Assignment Sheet
You can access this free assignment sheet as part of the growing assignment sheet bundle.
It’s been three years since we first learned that Piano ExplorerMagazine was being discontinued. It was a sad day for many who enjoyed sharing the fun and unique resource with students.
Luckily, in 2023, The Francis Clark Center launched Piano Inspires Kids– a similar publication!
Printed quarterly, each issue will contain feature articles on musicians, composers, musical styles, music in the news, practice tips, new music, theory lessons, creative activities, games and puzzles, and student submissions.
At the time of this post, individual subscriptions are $29.99/year or $14.99 for a single issue. Group subscriptions of 5 or more copies are available at $24.99 (per copy) per year. (International subscriptions are also available.)
Even though I no longer include music labs in my studio offerings, I know many of you do, so I wanted to provide a fresh resource to accompany this great product!
I would have created it sooner, but I wanted to wait until a few publications were out to ensure I produced an accompanying study sheet that would work across all issues.
This two-page guide is designed to allow extreme flexibility in how the student spends their time exploring the magazine. The questions are intentionally open-ended to help students reflect on what they’ve read and to simply use the process of writing things down to aid retention.
Here’s a preview!
Buy This Music Lab Sheet
Add this item to your cart.
More Music Labs
If you’re interested in checking out more of the music labs available, you can find information in each of the posts linked below:
If you’re still looking for a professional development event to attend this summer, consider the Music Teacher Turboboost Nicola Cantan is hosting in July. My friend Christina Whitlock and I were both invited to share as part of this event—Christina on Saturday and me on Sunday—along with lots of other great sessions put on by Nicola and her team. Hope to see you there!
A couple of months ago, I checked out a game from the library to play with my BBBS lunch buddy, Eliza, called Point Salad. It was so much fun! My mom and I even played it together one evening and she loved it too. If you like the game Sushi Go, I think you’ll like this.
I shared my own Trader Joe’s shopping list here on the blog a few years ago if you want to see some of my favorites – many of which are still the same!
Of Lindsay’s list, I’m in agreement that these six are absolute must-haves:
