Colourful Keys

Nicola Cantan is a piano teacher, blogger and creator of teaching resources. She loves getting piano students learning through laughter, and exploring the diverse world of music making; through improvisation, composition and games. You can find lots of creative teaching freebies and ideas on her blog at www.colourfulkeys.ie/blog.

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Awesome free workshop for piano teachers on Wednesday. Register and join me live! http://colourfulkeys.ie/teach-beginner-piano-technique-without-forehead-hitting-desk/

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Musical Maths Game and Teaching Intermediate Note Values

Musical Maths Game and Teaching Intermediate Note Values

This is where rhythm starts to get a little tricky… Teaching intermediate note values can cause some confusion with students who have trouble understanding fractions.

This game and the concise flipped learning music theory video are designed to make life a little easier in your piano studio.

When teaching intermediate note values we need to be clear and to the point, but give a well-rounded…

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First Month Goals for a 4 Year Old Piano Student

First Month Goals for a 4 Year Old Piano Student

One of the biggest traps I think piano teachers who are new to teaching preschoolers fall into is expecting too much of them…or too little. One or the other.

I fell into the too much camp.Not because I had lofty goals for my students, but mostly because I was worried what the parents would think. I was so used to teaching 8 year olds where they would be playing something parents would recognise…

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How to Teach Ledger Lines with Chopsticks and Plasticine

How to Teach Ledger Lines with Chopsticks and Plasticine

Ledger lines are a useful tool. But new piano students won’t always see them that way. Our students need to see how necessary and valuable these little lines are.

The best way to do this is not to tell your students but to explore the staff with them. Getting to experience the structure of music notation with activities like this one will make the understanding stick in your students’ minds.

And…

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Treat Your Teen Piano Students to a Musical Escape

Treat Your Teen Piano Students to a Musical Escape

Think back to when YOU were a teenager. What was it like? How did it feel? Did you find it stressful?

I’m technically a millennial by most definitions. But I don’t think I’m what most people think of when they use that word. I got a phone when I was thirteen…but it was a Nokia 3310. It had snake (anyone remember snake?) and text, that was pretty much it.

Teenagers these days have it very…

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5 Awesome Practice Strategies to Teach Piano Students

5 Awesome Practice Strategies to Teach Piano Students

Are your students in need of some practice strategies to fix specific problems? Do you struggle to get them to practice more effectively – with a practice plan?

This workshop will take you through five fantastic practice strategies for piano students. Watch the video to learn what each of the practice techniques is for, and how to implement them with your piano students.

[youtube=http://www.yout…

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What I Wish I Knew About Teaching Piano Practice 12 Years Ago

What I Wish I Knew About Teaching Piano Practice 12 Years Ago

I started my piano teaching journey twelve years ago. Not to the day, but more or less. And when I started teaching I really had no clue when it came to piano practice techniques.

How can that be? Surely I was able to play piano before I started teaching it, right? RIGHT?

Yes of course. But looking back on my own practice, it was pretty…terrible. I wasted a ton of time by not practicing…

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The Piano Practice Physician's Handbook

The Piano Practice Physician’s Handbook

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Don't Leave! Proven Ways to Keep Teenage Piano Students from Quitting

Don’t Leave! Proven Ways to Keep Teenage Piano Students from Quitting

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Tricks to Teach Tempo Terms to Piano Students

Tricks to Teach Tempo Terms to Piano Students

My students tend to remember dynamics and other markings without much of an issue. But tempo marks? Forget it.

I think it’s because they don’t even notice them in their repertoire. The positioning means that they’re a little “out-of-the-way” of the line of vision. Plus the words themselves are just that little bit trickier to spell and pronounce.

The first four tempo terms I need to teach are…

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How to Host a Teen Friendly Piano Recital

How to Host a Teen Friendly Piano Recital

Concerts should be a wonderful time for all your students to show off their skills. So how can we make sure we provide a teen friendly piano recital?

Think about it from a teenager’s perspective. If your student concerts have mostly young kids, with balloons and silly “kiddy” songs, they might not feel like they fit in. Especially if they’re a teen beginner.

Jammin’ Tunes

Make sure your students…

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How to Introduce Piano Scales and Scale Notation

How to Introduce Piano Scales and Scale Notation

By the time I introduce piano scales, my students take to them pretty easily…at the piano. But writing the scales on the staff? That’s kind of another story.

The combination of these videos and the piano scales game is designed to get your students to connect the page, the keyboard and the key signature when it comes to scales.

Connect the dots for your students and lead them to more concrete…

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March WOWZERS: Rotating piano lessons, pattern pieces & physicians

March WOWZERS: Rotating piano lessons, pattern pieces & physicians

There’s been so much to WOW me this month. Let’s jump right in to these awesome piano teaching resources and refuel your teaching fires.

These three recommended resources are extremely varied, but they all share one thing – they keep piano students engaged and involved in their learning.

This is especially importantfor teen piano students, as we all know this is a time when students are very…

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4 Fun Ways to Teach Preschoolers Keyboard Geography

4 Fun Ways to Teach Preschoolers Keyboard Geography

I recorded this tutorial on Facebook live earlier all about teaching preschoolers about keyboard navigation. Finding their way around the keyboard is one of the primary goals for beginning preschool piano lessons. I hope you get some new ideas for your littlest piano students!

This post contains some affiliate links. Buying from one…

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How involved are your students in creating their own piano practice strategies? http://pianophysician.com/

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Top Tips for Keeping a Preschool Piano Lesson Under Control

Top Tips for Keeping a Preschool Piano Lesson Under Control

Preschoolers are super fun, energetic and enthusiastic. But teaching preschool piano lessons definitely has it’s challenges. How can you keep these bundles of excitement under control?

I’ve been teaching preschool piano for a little over four years. I’ve learnt a ton in that time, and my littlest students continue to teach me more each week.

The biggest lesson that I’ve had to learn is about…

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Piano Teaching Analogies and Musical Metaphors for Articulation

Piano Teaching Analogies and Musical Metaphors for Articulation

When it comes to concepts like articulation, analogies and metaphors are some of my favourite teaching tools. Musical metaphors make abstract terms like this relatable even for young piano students.

The featured video today correlates to chapter 4 of Thinking Theory Book One. This is when I introduce slur, staccato and accent notation; as well as ritenuto, ritardando and rallentando.

These three…

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