It starts simply. Two blocked jazz chords with I-V in the bass. And then the vocalist comes in:

“Twenty-four hours can go so fast. You look around, the day has passed…”

This is Leonard Bernstein’s song “Some Other Time” with lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, written for the 1944 musical, On the Town. It’s about three sailors on 24-hour leave in New York City who meet three women before leaving for war. Four characters perform this song (in the stage version), hoping to catch up some other time, but knowing they may never see each other again.

I first heard this song a few weeks ago on Bill McGlaughlin’s weeknight radio show, Exploring Music. We’ve been listening to this show for over 16 years—we have it on while we cook and eat dinner.

A few weeks ago, he did a series called “Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant Us Peace).” Nestled in the middle of the Wednesday night program, he paired Bernstein’s “Some Other Time” with jazz pianist Bill Evans’ improvised solo piano recording, “Peace Piece.”

I was captivated.

I got up from the dinner table and went to the piano to find the two chords by ear, playing along gently with the recording.

Today, I’m taking you behind the scenes of these two pieces of music—exploring how they’re made, what they have in common, and how hearing them played back to back inspired a listening and improvisation project in my intermediate-level studio class last month.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

“Some Other Time” (Bernstein)

Exploring Music with Bill McGlaughlin

“Peace Piece” (Bill Evans)

The Profound Impact of Peace Piece – Bill Evans Time Remembered Documentary Film

“Flamenco Sketches” (Miles Davis)

“It’s Been a Long, Long Time” (Harry James)

“Put on Your Sunday Clothes” (Wall-E)

“It Only Takes a Moment” (Wall-E)

Ep. 042 - What Does It Mean to Be a Teacher-Facilitator?

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Whenever you’re ready, here are three ways we can work together:

1️⃣ Need fresh teaching ideas? Schedule a quick 25-min. call and we’ll brainstorm on a topic of your choice. Build an idea bank that you can pull from in the months to come.

2️⃣ Have questions about teaching or managing your music career? Book a 60-min call and get personalized advice, creative ideas & step-by-step strategies on up to 3-4 teaching/business topics.

3️⃣ Develop the skills and strategies you need to plan the year, refine your teaching methods, and manage your time more effectively with a suite of online courses and professional development trainings

March is Women’s History Month and by extension, Women in Music Month—an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate women’s contributions to our field.

As a teacher, I love finding ways to honor and celebrate things like this with my students. A few years ago, we did a studio-wide blues composition project (see Ep. 045) during the month of February, Black History Month.

Then, there was the year I created a 4-week study unit for one of my high school students focused on women composers. In Ep. 057, I talked about the composers and scores we were planning to study and shared a resource list of elementary and intermediate piano music written by women composers that you can reference in your teaching.

This year, we’re celebrating Women in Music Month with a series of musical informances. In this episode, you’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at how we’re preparing including how I’m structuring the events, how we’re highlighting women’s contributions to the field, expectations I have for my students, and ways we can include the audience in the process.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through some of these links.

Ep. 045 - The Blues Composition Project

Ep. 057 - Women in Music Month in the Studio

The Oxford Handbook of Public Music Theory (2022), ed. J. Daniel Jenkins

Ep. 071 - 3 Things I Learned from Hosting a Musical Informance

Democracy and Education (1916/1997), John Dewey

Musical Informance Planning Guide

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>

Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

Whenever you’re ready, here are three ways we can work together:

1️⃣ Need fresh teaching ideas? Schedule a quick 25-min. call and we’ll brainstorm on a topic of your choice. Build an idea bank that you can pull from in the months to come.

2️⃣ Have questions about teaching or managing your music career? Book a 60-min call and get personalized advice, creative ideas & step-by-step strategies on up to 3-4 teaching/business topics.

3️⃣ Develop the skills and strategies you need to plan the year, refine your teaching methods, and manage your time more effectively with a suite of online courses and professional development trainings

When you think about practicing, what do you picture?

Maybe you think about your instrument in the living room or your favorite practice room at school. Maybe you picture your studio with morning light streaking across the floor or in the evening with a few lamps casting a cozy glow.

Certainly, practicing happens in all of these spaces. But it can also happen at your desk, in the car, at the breakfast table, on a walk, in a carrel at the library, or in a classroom where no instrument is present.

How? Because practicing is more than the mechanics of playing an instrument. Practicing involves all the different components of musicianship—many of which can be practiced and developed away from your instrument.

It all starts by thinking a little more creatively about what practicing can look like.

In this episode, you’ll learn about the importance of thinking in music plus 14 practical ways to practice away from your instrument (for students, teachers, and music professionals alike).

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through some of these links.

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World (Cal Newport)

The Music Man (1962)

Speaking the Piano: Reflections on Learning and Teaching (Susan Tomes)

The Gordon Institute for Music Learning

How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens (Benedict Carey)

Ep. 023 - How to Practice Efficiently in 30 Minutes Or Less

Ep. 039 - The Secrets of Interleaved Practice: What We Can Learn From Cognitive Science

Ep. 60 - How Do We Approach Mistakes in Music Teaching & Learning?

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>

Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

The Spring semester can be busy. With extra performances, we end up focusing more on performance skills—starting and finishing well, lifting hands back to our laps, how to practice performing at home, bowing, and memorization strategies.

But as you know, there’s so much more that happens in a music lesson—so much more that we’re teaching and cultivating in our students. It’s not just about performance or mastery or checking things off. It’s about developing musicianship—developing musicians—and helping them develop the skills and creativity and confidence they need to continue making music throughout their lives.

I made some notes about this in my teaching journal at the end of last year. As I was preparing for the first week of lessons last week, I recognized six things I’ve been focusing on and prioritizing in lessons recently that I want to make sure to carry into this new year.

I hope this inspires you to reflect on what you’re prioritizing in lessons and to plan your lessons and classes with intention.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Ep. 068 - How to Plan a Musical Informance

Ep. 069 - A Musical Informance to Celebrate the Solar Eclipse

Ep. 071 - 3 Things I Learned From Hosting a Musical Informance

Musical Informance Planning Guide: A Resource for Studio Teachers

Piano Safari piano curriculum

Hand Position at the Piano: 5 Foundations of Piano Technique, Part 1 (Kate Boyd)

The Thumb in Piano Technique (Kate Boyd)

How to Use Notability for Assignment Sheets in Your Studio

Piano Safari, Repertoire Book 2

The Perfect Wrong Note: Learning to Trust Your Musical Self (William Westney)

Ep. 60 - How Do We Approach Mistakes in Music Teaching & Learning?

Insights from William Westney’s “The Perfect Wrong Note” (Musician & Co. Book Club)

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>

Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

It’s the middle of December, which means you’re probably caught up in the rush of holiday performances, concerts, and recitals, studio classes, parties, and general busyness as we wrap up the year. Your to-do list is long, but the days are short, and you’re doing your best to stay on top of it all.

But as busy as this time of year is, it can also be a time to pause and reflect. To embrace the quiet and stillness that comes with the first snowfall or sitting in the living room late at night or early in the morning by the light of the Christmas tree.

As a teacher, December is a time to acknowledge everything you’ve created and accomplished this year—everything you’ve learned and all the ways you’ve changed and grown and evolved as a musician and educator.

That’s what today’s episode is all about.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

The Gap and the Gain (Benjamin Hardy & Dan Sullivan)

Join the Musician & Co. Book Club

Ep. 071 - 3 Things I Learned from Hosting a Musical Informance

Through the Windowpane (Chee-Hwa Tan)

Ep. 077 - A New Approach to Teaching Group Classes

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (Carol Dweck)

Feel-Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You (Ali Abdaal)

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle (Emily Nagoski & Amelia Nagoski)

Mindfulness for People with Voice Disorders - Body Scan (Catherine Brown)

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>

Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

I have a love/hate relationship with studio classes.

I love the idea of them, and I love being able to offer them to my students. But I’ve never found a structure or approach that works.

At the school where I teach, I’m limited to a classroom with a single piano, which means students have to take turns or do activities that don’t involve an instrument.

In addition, having a group of 6-8 students in a room together for 45-60 minutes (again, with one instrument) was challenging. It’s difficult to keep everyone engaged and focused, give directions, facilitate meaningful learning activities, and assess each student individually.

As an introverted teacher, it can feel a little chaotic and overwhelming.

This year, I was committed to figuring this out. I decided to offer more classes than last year, limit the number of students in each group, and plan more level-specific musicianship activities.

Today, I’m sharing a behind-the-scenes look at one of my studio classes from this month and as always, a few things I’m experimenting with this year.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Teaching Piano in Groups (Christopher Fisher)

Frances Clark Library for Piano Students

The Music Tree, Part 1

Lyric Preludes in Romantic Style (William Gillock)

Chord Inversion Worksheet (Chrissy Ricker)

Preludes in Patterns (Kevin Olson)

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>

Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

It’s my second full week of teaching. I know some of you have been back to school and lessons for a month now, but I’m still getting my bearings, adjusting to a new schedule, organizing studio classes, and setting my intentions for the year.

This is not a formal practice, but it’s something I sort of subconsciously do to mark the beginning of the new teaching year. I ask myself a few questions:

- “What do I want this year to look like?”
- “What do I want my students to experience?”
- “What do I want to prioritize or focus on?”
- “What do I value in the music teaching and learning process that I want to lean into?”

Do you do this, too?

If you’re on my email list, I shared in last week’s newsletter three things I’m bringing with me into the new year drawn from this practice. Today, I’m sharing a few more—7 things to carry into the new teaching year—and I hope this inspires you on your teaching journey.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

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Ep. 068 - How to Plan a Musical Informance

Ep. 069 - A Musical Informance to Celebrate the Solar Eclipse

Ep. 071 - 3 Things I Learned From Hosting a Musical Informance

Musical Informance Planning Guide for K-12 Piano Teachers

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in Apple Podcasts >>

Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew