Walldren Piano Studio

02/15/2026

We've got some cute visual aides to take home for this week's practice challenge. It's going to be a good one!

02/15/2026

Happy Valentine's Day! Here's a flashback to 2020 when some of our students performed for the residents at Benton House. Miss these kids! ❤️

02/13/2026

Method tapping into a very small target market?

02/11/2026

"Rubato" is Italian for "stolen", and in music refers to the use of tempo flexibility for emotional pull. Knowing when to use it (and how much!) takes not only practice, but also emotional awareness and connection to the music which is typically challenging for children. Cathleen, age 11, is doing a beautiful job incorporating rubato into Woman and Child on the Balcony by Catherine Rollin.

02/10/2026

Students are in the home stretch of festival preparation! One of Sophia's pieces is A Peaceful Mountain Trail by Kevin Costley. Her phrasing and expression is sounding really beautiful! Sophia is continuing to work on how deep to pedal to get a connected sound without it coming across as "overpedaled".

02/09/2026

We are recording festival programs this week for the upcoming NFMC event. This process allows students to practice listening to themselves and picking up on things that might need to be addressed before a performance. Here is Max working on Beware the Jabberwock by Jason Sifford. He is doing really well with dynamics and articulation, and will benefit from some metronome work!

02/09/2026

Copies of Ravel's Sonatine were used to create this year's studio Valentines. ❤️

02/07/2026

That's a wrap on our Practice Your Age Challenge. Check out my latest blog post to see how it went.

I started this studio year by planning several challenges for my students.  Challenges designed to encourage progression through practice

01/27/2026

Happy 270th!

01/26/2026

Ok, students...who can add an extra 30 minutes of practice to their schedule thanks to the snow day? Let's make it interesting and see who can get the most creative. Post a photo/video and description of what you are doing below to be considered!

01/21/2026

It's about to get really cold, so here's a seasonally appropriate solo - Winter Starlight by Martha Mier. Students have started working on pieces for our upcoming seasons-themed recital!

01/17/2026

Students definitely impressed with the "Surprise Me!" challenge this week! Ellie and Red both learned new pieces over break. Wesley transcribed music from ear by hand onto manuscript paper. Ava Grace and Max both figured out how to play songs by ear. Lennon, Lillian, and Violet created some wonderful music themed art. Avril listened to new music and played piano with her sister who was home visiting from college. So proud of everyone for getting the year off to a creative start!