Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and Hannukah! 2025 finished out with a bang. I had four gigs in 8 days: a private party, 2 choral concerts, and a funeral. Then, my church's Christmas Cantata, of course, which is always a good time. My semester officially ended on December 15, when grades were due. Snow in the mountains messed up the finals schedule a bit, but we made it through! I am happy to say that I am taking over as the organist at St. Luke's UMC, along with playing...
13 days ago • 3 min read
Issue #3 Notes from The Music Hub December 16, 2025 Learning Music, Not Just Songs Music majors in college take a wide variety of classes beyond learning to play their instruments. Of course, they do take lessons focusing on their performance technique. But they also study music theory, music history, and music literature (the repertoire for their specialty.) Additionally, they perform in a variety of ensembles which play music across genres. The combination of all these classes produces a...
20 days ago • 2 min read
Issue #3 Notes from The Music Hub December 16, 2025 Writing Notes to Yourself - in the Music When I was in high school, I played lead tenor saxophone in the jazz band. But I was new to saxophone and new to jazz, so I had a lot to learn. Why I ended up as lead tenor is a story for another day... One of the ways I learned was by writing notes to myself in the music. I kind of made a mess of my music since I wrote SO MUCH back then, but I am convinced it was what helped me to learn how to play...
25 days ago • 4 min read
Issue #3 Notes from The Music Hub December 9, 2025 How Much Should You Practice? Over the years, my cats have always visited me while I've practiced, even jumping on the piano and walking on the keys themselves like they know how to play. So, I had to pick a kitty picture for this post! It seems to me that animals love music. Have you also noticed that? Anyway, back to the question at hand: How much do you need to practice? This is a difficult question to answer, because it depends. It...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Issue #3 Notes from The Music Hub December 3, 2025 Why You Need a Teacher Yesterday, as I was lesson planning, I did a little research online. I was hoping to find out more information about Boogie-Woogie bass lines than I already know. I know quite a bit, but since the internet is a big, wide world, I thought I would be able to round out my knowledge. I was wrong. I found two types of websites: 1) websites that gave me good information that I already knew. 2) websites using AI to create...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Ends tonight at Midnight! December 1, 2025 Black Friday Sale! Ends tonight at midnight! The Piano Accelerator Program is ON SALE! Have you been struggling to learn to play the piano? Or maybe you've been wanting to play for a long time but just didn't know where to start! Maybe you played for a while as a kid and want to start over at the beginning? Now is your time! I am opening doors for the next cohort of my Piano Accelerator Program, which will start in January 2026 and run through June...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Issue #1 The Piano Accelerator Program is On Sale! December 1, 2025 Black Friday Sale! The Piano Accelerator Program is ON SALE! Have you been struggling to learn to play the piano? Or maybe you've been wanting to play for a long time but just didn't know where to start! Maybe you played for a while as a kid and want to start over at the beginning? Now is your time! I am opening doors for the next cohort of my Piano Accelerator Program, which will start in January 2026 and run through June...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Issue #1 Black Friday Sale from The Music Hub November 28, 2025 Black Friday Sale! The Piano Accelerator Program is ON SALE! Have you been struggling to learn to play the piano? Or maybe you've been wanting to play for a long time but just didn't know where to start! Maybe you played for a while as a kid and want to start over at the beginning? Now is your time! I am opening doors for the next cohort of my Piano Accelerator Program, which will start in January 2026 and run through June 2026....
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Happy November! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Mine was quiet, but I got to talk to my kids for quite a while, which was great. So much happened this month, and there is a lot to be thankful for. I was hired as the new accompanist for the Swannanoa Valley Community Chorus. This chorus started in February and is still in its start-up phase. Now that I am out of school, I am very excited to be getting more connected with musicians and ensembles in the region. It is definitely helping...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read