Blog Archives - Upbeat Piano Studio

Enjoy our Classical and Contemporary Christmas Playlist

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Christmas time is here! This year, our teachers finally got to return to teaching in-person and we can’t stress how happy we are to be working with our students on their Christmas songs in person. If you haven’t gotten too sick of Christmas songs already, our studio has crafted a Christmas playlist of classical and contemporary Christmas music that we personally love jamming out to. Keep scrolling to find out more about the different songs on our playlist! 1. The Nutcracker Suite (1892) – Tchaikovsky (full Nutcracker Suite): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk5Uturacx8&ab_channel=AVROTROSKlassiek Dance […]

5 Major Ways to Support Your Young Child’s Music Education

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After your child begins piano lessons, you may be wondering—exactly what is my role as a parent in all of this? If you have little or no knowledge of music, it may be tempting to simply sit back and leave everything to the teacher. However, as parents, there is a role to fulfill that music teachers cannot. As amazing as it would be, music teachers cannot be there every time your child needs to practice. Therefore, to fully optimize and support your child’s progress, we have listed 5 major ways […]

Enjoy Our Popular Songs Summer Playlist

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As we eagerly approach the summer months, it seems like the weather outside can’t warm up soon enough. Online school is coming to an end and all students are looking forward to a well-deserved break. Although some students opt out of piano lessons during their summer vacation, we believe that music should still have a role during those hot summer months. As a result, we have carefully curated a playlist of songs to get you excited for that upcoming summer vacation. You can find the link to the playlist on […]

10 Qualities of an Ideal Music Education

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No doubt you’ve heard of all the benefits and positive responses to music education, but where exactly should you start? What should you expect? For many parents, when they begin to enroll their children in music or piano lessons, they are at a loss of where to start and what to expect. This can be an extremely daunting experience because of course, as parents, you only want what is best for your child! So you may be wondering—what exactly should I be looking for in a quality music education? […]

An Introduction to the Royal Conservatory of Music

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As you are enrolling yourself or your child in piano lessons, you may have heard of the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM). However, not everyone is familiar with the Conservatory’s program, curriculum, and its role in our studio. In this blog post, we will break down and explain what exactly the Conservatory’s curriculum is, how it works, and how it plays a role in our studio. What is the Royal Conservatory of Music? Founded in 1886 and based in Toronto, the Royal Conservatory of Music is the oldest music […]

Adults Picking up the Piano: Better Late than Never

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Maybe you have a piano sitting in the corner. Maybe you heard an old song on the radio that you really loved. Maybe you want to take a break from working at your desk all day. Maybe you just want to try something new. Although it may seem that piano lessons must start at a young age, there are many adults seeking to begin piano lessons. For some, their children have since learned piano and grown out of it, leaving the piano in the corner of the living room. […]

Upbeat teachers finish music degrees and stay ‘upbeat’ amidst covid-19

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Upbeat teachers Nikki Puchkov and Giselle Chan are recent graduates from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music. Nikki holds a Bachelor of Music Education with a minor in Historical Keyboard and History and Giselle holds a Bachelor of Music with a minor in French Language. Both teachers finished their degrees in April 2020. When Upbeat teachers Nikki and Giselle first met during university orientation, little did they know that they would become not only good friends, but also coworkers in the future. Being in the same program, they shared many classes such as […]

Why We Love Recitals

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The Studio is excited to be holding three student recitals this weekend. As the students are polishing their pieces the last few times, it’s worth a look at the value of recitals and of live performance. The first recital I participated in was in my teacher’s small house. All the students were crowded in to the area surrounding the piano with standing room only, and when it was our turn, we squeezed past the other students to get to the piano. We shared our talents in the true spirit of […]

18 Major Benefits of Playing the Piano

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There can be little doubt that children learn through creative expression. Strengthening and encouraging their natural creative ability at a young age is key to a child’s development. While school will teach children structure and academics, it all starts with imagination, and developing a musical skill at a young age channels a child’s imagination and lays a foundation that will benefit them throughout their lives. When we think of playing the piano, or taking piano lessons, perhaps what comes to mind is a concert pianist playing a fantastically complicated piece […]

Why Do Music Students Quit?

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In the world of music, it is extremely common for children and teens to quit playing music. Whether they play the piano, trumpet or flute, practice requires a great deal of time. To do well, students often must sacrifice other activities in the process. In a two-part blog, we’d like to talk about why students quit playing music first. In our follow-up, we will discuss how parents, and students too, can better balance their lives and keep music as a part of it. In a previous blogs, we discussed why […]