A 9-year-old piano student devises a plan to improve her practicing

Into her seventh month of music study, Liz has more clearly defined her approach to practicing various pieces by devising a well-written outline of phrase-loving reminders. And though her vocabulary is an understandable offshoot of her teacher's, with its emphasis on floating, flowing wrists, side-by-side with "pokey" finger prohibitions, she manages to offer an original…

Liz, age 8, composes a piece at her third piano lesson

Creative explorations are intrinsic to musical growth at all stages of learning, so piano teachers should encourage students to compose at every opportunity. Liz rose to the occasion and shared her first creation that followed a lesson segment that focused on echo phrases. She had watched a you tube video of duo pianists, Arie Vardi…