Uncommon Sense Pedagogy

Tips and insights from a veteran piano and Alexander Technique Teacher. After suffering from tendinitis for 10 years, Kay started exploring ways to teach for more physical freedom. She now adds sensory training and continues to research how brain studies direct better ways to teach and learn with simple, enjoyable applications.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Parental Pedagogy

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If you haven't heard of "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" by Amy Chua, I'd be surprised. In her family memoir, as she call...

Friday, December 31, 2010

"It's music!"

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Preparing for the annual recital is always a little nerve-wracking for students and teachers alike. My job as teacher is to focus on the pos...

Thursday, November 4, 2010

The irony of it all

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Think about the music. Honor the composer. Listen to the sounds you are making. Advice from past teachers is echoing in my head during recit...

Sunday, October 24, 2010

This is a test. This is ONLY a test?

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The screech preceding these words vibrates through my bones like a dentist's drill. I can't ignore it. That's the idea. I'm ...

Monday, October 11, 2010

Same old, same old

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Merriweather played beautifully at her first adjudicated master class. I should know - I'm her teacher and one of the two judges. I had ...

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Them Bones, Them Bones

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Hammer, anvil, stirrup. One by one, these are large objects with a common connection to saddle and horseshoe construction. Together, they ar...

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Do I Hear the Walls?

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Ear training and hearing training are not the same thing. Ear training coaches us to listen to the structural elements of music - the chords...

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About Me

Kay S. Hooper: People, music and movement are the three most important elements in my life. I am fortunate to work with all of them at the same time. After suffering from tendinitis due to faulty movement patterns at the piano, I began exploring the many elements that help or hinder musicians in practice and performance. My blog is dedicated to these discoveries, which continue day by day. Susquehanna University, B.M., Illinois State University, M.M, The Alexander Foundation, ATI certificate, Licensed Andover Educator Body Mapping Teacher™.

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