Our Latest Blog on Music & Instruments

Clarinet upgrades

Affordable upgrades for the beginner clarinetist

Liz Ramirez
Wednesday, February 6th 2019

Often it’s the smallest changes that can lead to the biggest improvements. This kind of change can be made using three affordable equipment upgrades I recommend for any beginner clarinetist (these are also great upgrades for anyone who wants higher quality basic equipment). The main outcome of each of these upgrades is more ease of playing and aid in producing a more beautiful tone.

Goal-Giveaway Winners Announced

Claire Cunningham
Friday, February 1st 2019

Thanks to everyone who set goals or interacted in the forum in January and entered our giveaway!

Today we are happy to announce the three winners, in no particular order: congratulations to Charlie, Becca, and Eileen!

We have notified the three winners by email. 

It's not too late to set goals, ever, of course!

If you'd like to use the goal-setting tool on Lessonface to keep track of your goals, first sign in to Lessonface (registration is totally free), and go to the green menu, then Profile, and Goals. 

Enter Our Goal-Setting Giveaway

Claire Cunningham
Tuesday, January 22nd 2019

 

Enter the Lessonface Giveaway

Do one OR both of these two steps to enter the Lessonface Goal-Setting Giveaway:
1. Create goal(s) using the Lessonface goal-setting widget -- sign into Lessonface, then go to the green left-hand menu, and choose "Goals" under "Profile." 
OR
Lessonface presents graphic

Lessonface Presents: Conversations with Artists and Educators

Claire Cunningham
Wednesday, January 16th 2019

Lessonface Presents Rebecca Foon, Wolf Eyes, and Michael Attias! Lessonface Presents are open conversations with accomplished artists, which we broadcast live from the Lessonface studio in NYC. We started this line of programming this fall, under the name Face the Music, and are continuing to build on the concept in 2019.

We are excited to announce these upcoming interviews:
Watch them on this page, or click the links and sign up for free to get access to the recording after.

School of Athens

Introducing the Lessonface Forum

Claire Cunningham
Friday, January 11th 2019

Have questions or thoughts you'd like to share with others here at Lessonface? We invite you to take part in the Lessonface forum. Teachers and students are posting on topics that go before, alongside, & beyond lessons. 

Got zeal but not the skills... yet

Musical Resolutions for 2019

Leah Kruszewski
Friday, January 4th 2019

It's that time of year again!  As holiday festivities wind down and the new year is upon us, it's a great time to step back and reflect on your progress in 2018.  Did you articulate some concrete musical objectives at the beginning of last year?  Which of them did you accomplish?  If you fell short of some goals, do you know why you didn't meet them?  Learn from both your successes and failures, and articulate some fresh aims for the new year.  Be sure to make your 2019 resolutions specific, measurable, and achievable. 

Happy New Year!

Claire Cunningham
Saturday, December 29th 2018

Wishing you a happy, healthy, and joyful 2019!

Cloudy summit

The Nature of Progress

Leah Kruszewski
Monday, November 12th 2018

It would be lovely if progress were a smooth upward incline from playing our awkward first notes to maturing into a skilled, expressive musician.  It would be great to finish each practice session playing everything better, and if, signing in to each lesson, we were confident in having advanced since the last class.  However, musical growth doesn’t happen in a smooth easy line.  We have our leaps and bounds forwards, but we also have setbacks, plateaus, and sometimes feel our playing has worsened.  

Alex Skolnick with Ray Suhy and Lessonface staffmembers

Lessonface Presents Alex Skolnick

Claire Cunningham
Thursday, November 8th 2018

Alex Skolnick, the extraordinary thrash and jazz guitarist, was interviewed by Ray Suhy in our second installment of our Lessonface Presents series on November 1, 2018. 

You can watch the entire conversation by enrolling (for free) here

Skolnick delighted us by demonstrating some of his techniques on our trusty classroom guitar, sharing great anecdotes and insights, and even creating a lesson on the fly from the Whale of Fortune. 
 

Using play dough for musical exploration

Teaching the Science of Music and More with Melissa Salguero

Claire Cunningham
Thursday, October 25th 2018

Our first Face the Music event kicked off on Thursday, October 18, with 2018 GRAMMY® winner for music educator of the year Melissa Salguero. With deft questioning by Chris Ott, dedicated teacher trainer and lifelong educator, who himself was part of the Lessonface staff around 2013-2015, Salguero discussed her tools and techniques for engaging her kids and remaining motivated herself. 

It was a fascinating look into a stellar educator's process. Watch the entire discussion here below.

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