115: Sight-Reading and Collaborative Skills for Young Learners with Jenna Braaksma

How a student learns to think in music, not just read it, shapes everything that follows in their playing. In this episode, I’m chatting with Anne Katherine Davis, an online piano teacher based in Mexico who built her teaching around Edwin Gordon’s Music Learning Theory. We talk about audiation, the foundation of this research-based approach, how it shows up in lessons from toddlers to teens, and how Anne found her way into this method without formal certification. She also shares where curious teachers can start exploring it for themselves. Anne shared how she moved to Mexico in 2019, then went fully online in 2020. How Music Learning Theory shifts teaching from fixing mistakes to understanding each student. Why audiation, the ability to think in music, is the theory’s foundation. She described how toddlers can identify tonic, dominant, and subdominant through play. Anne recalled being an improviser whose childhood teachers discouraged her own musical ideas. Her first student was her younger sister, who later earned a piano performance degree, too. How she discovered the theory through Edwin Gordon’s book at the University of Missouri. Marilyn Lowe built Music Moves for Piano directly from Gordon’s research. Anne described keyboard games as the informal, movement-based entry point for young kids. The value of movement in bridging the gap between language and musical thought. She called “Keyboard Games” Marilyn Lowe’s magnum opus, useful for any age. Why she trained informally through years of conversations with Marilyn Lowe herself. Anne runs a Zoom read-aloud series to help teachers learn the theory for free. She recommended the Gordon Institute’s skill learning sequence as a next step. Anne encouraged teachers to explore the free previews on the method’s website.

Turning a creative idea into a real product takes far more than a great design. In this episode, we're chatting with Claire Rehmke, founder of Musically Minted, a small business creating fun, musically accurate products for music teachers. We go behind the scenes of designing, manufacturing, and launching products, from her early lessons learned to her current best sellers. Claire also shares practical advice for teachers who want to create their own physical or digital products. Claire shared how virtual teaching in 2020 sparked Musically Minted. How a sticker-only start grew into apparel and accessories. She left classroom teaching in 2023 to go full time. Why Pantone colors matter when ordering manufactured products. The challenge of long sample timelines and 100-piece minimums. Some products, like sublimated items and pressed apparel, are made in-house. Best sellers include the birthday sticker roll and musical moment notepad. This year's holiday launch features Nutcracker and winter wonderland themes. Her digital shop offers worksheets, classroom decor, and rhythm resources. She learned Procreate entirely from TikTok tutorials. The importance of staying organized as a business grows. A teacher's story about feeling seen captures her mission. Why a brand-new product can take about a year to develop. The value of planning every detail of a physical product first.

The right method book can shape a student's entire first year at the piano. Today, I'm chatting with Phoenix Vera, known as The Tattooed Piano Teacher on YouTube. We compare popular beginner methods, from Piano Adventures and Piano Safari to Piano Pronto and Wonder Keys. Phoenix also shares how she chooses books for new students and a creative way to bring beginner technique to life. Phoenix shared why she mixes method books instead of following one series. Why Piano Adventures remains a balanced, moderately paced framework. The value of choosing a go-to book for each beginner age group. She tries a different method each lesson before settling on a final set. How Alfred's Premier moves faster than Piano Adventures with a classical lean. Why she prefers Alfred's Premier over the older Alfred Basic series. She described Piano Safari's rote pieces and pattern-based reading. The importance of teacher training when adopting Piano Safari. How Piano Pronto teaches through familiar tunes, best for ages 10 and up. WunderKeys hooks kids with comics but needs theory and technique supplements. Why she favors mixing books over all-in-one methods. The approach behind Chord First, which pairs lead sheets with traditional pedagogy. Chord First began as a simple printable and grew into three books. The value of teaching technique through imagery, like a left-hand cello. She outlined which older beginner method fits which type of student.

A single bad memory from a recital can shape how a student feels about performing for years. Today, I'm chatting with Elizabeth Zajac, a Utah piano teacher known for her elaborate recital themes and hand-painted pianos. We talk about the recital that changed her whole approach, how she restores and repairs the old pianos she paints, and the creative touches that make her recitals memorable for the right reasons. Elizabeth also shares how she helps hesitant students ease back into performing at their own pace. Elizabeth shared how a post-COVID recital changed her whole approach to performances. How her painted piano idea started small, with solid colors, before going rainbow. The rainbow recital had students dress in color for rainbow-themed pieces. Why she buys cheap, used pianos from Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. She keeps the paint job a surprise from the piano's original owner. The value of swapping damaged ivory keys for new plastic tops. Why she lets each recital piano settle on-site for a few days first. The importance of offering low-pressure mini recitals for hesitant students. The value of asking fun interview questions, printed in the program, for each performer. Elizabeth encouraged teachers to keep recitals fun and pressure-free.

The way we're taught to learn music shapes how freely we play it for the rest of our lives. In this episode, I'm chatting with Giana Nguyen, owner of Dancing Keys Music Studio in Irvine, about how she went from a classically trained, page-dependent pianist to a devoted teacher of the playing-based Simply Music method. We talk about her own skepticism turning into 13 years of belief in the program, how she structures group lessons, and her approach to practice and memory retention. Giana also shares advice that applies to any piano teacher, whether or not Simply Music is part of their studio. Giana shared how she and Rachel first met at a TopMusic Local meetup. How a chance radio performance led her to discover Simply Music. She described being skeptical of the playing-based method at first. Why Simply Music delays sheet reading in favor of hands-on, immersive learning. Founder Neal Moore created the method while teaching a blind student. Simply Music now reaches over 700 instructors across 126 countries. Giana described teaching in weekly "streams," covering reading, improv, and composition. The value of Simply Music's training program for teachers at every level. How her Practice Lab concept was built around same-day memory retention. Why she reminds students that practice makes progress, not perfection. She explained intervallic reading, which teaches note relationships over individual letters. Giana encouraged teachers to explore playing-based methods without fully committing. The importance of giving yourself grace as a teacher, on good days and bad.