This message goes out to all the amazing home-school families in the North Atlanta area – it is time to start planning your fall curriculum (but you probably know that already!)

As a former home-schooler of 8 years, I know how overwhelming it can be to find the best teaching resources from the ocean of choices that are now available. ( I ended up going “cafeteria style” and chose what I felt were the best materials from a number of different sources.) But I know that, curriculum preferences aside, all home-school families have a common purpose and goal:

To develop in their children a true love of learning.

Talk about easier said than done! There is no simple formula – because there are no “simple” children. It is amazing to note the differences in even the closest of relations, namely brothers and sisters. How can kids from the same parents be so different from each other?? One thing is for sure – Our Creator knows everything there is to know about being CREATIVE.

I delight in teaching because of the very fact that my students are so diverse. It is a thrill and a challenge to find ways to make the most of their individual talents and to encourage them through difficult stages in the learning process.

If you are interested in having piano lessons as part of your home-school program. I would be honored to be chosen as your teacher.
Please fill out the student application form and I will be sure to get back with you in a timely manner.

As I gain more experience as a teacher, one thing has become very clear to me: Children really need parental support and involvement to get the most out of their lessons. This is especially important if they are young children ages 3-6.

There is so much to learn in the beginning that it can be overwhelming for a child to take it all in. I am very careful not to try to teach too much all at once, but then there is the problem of keeping things interesting and fun. Going over the same old thing week after week may avoid overload, but BOREDOM can be just as deadly! I can always give assignments to reinforce the lesson…. but what happens when the child goes home and forgets the instructions? (Nothing!)

So, what is a teacher to do? My solution is to offer Parent/Child lessons where the learning is done together. This type of lesson is unique because the emphasis is on the parent and child learning together through games and activities that can be done during the week. Because the parent is present and attentive during the lessons, I am able to explain the purpose of each activity and give instruction when needed. For parents without musical experience, it is a wonderful opportunity to learn alongside your child. Parents who already know about music will learn fun and effective ways to reinforce musical knowledge and concepts with their children.

If you have a young child who is interested in music, taking a class together will not only be fun, but the learning will LAST.

Please visit our Rates page to learn about fees and scheduling.

When my family moved to Alpharetta, GA back in 2002, we had no idea that in a few short years, our address would change to Johns Creek, GA. Alpharetta was a well known area and we were happy to have an Alpharetta address.

All that changed a few years back and, suddenly, our house was no longer in Alpharetta. We belonged in a new city district – and a lot of people had no idea what happened. Of course the people in the new city knew what was going on – we voted on city-hood. I am talking about people who live nearby who were not involved in the political process and had no way of knowing that Johns Creek was made up of parts of Alpharetta, Roswell, Duluth, and Suwanee.

I am writing this blog to make it clear that, even though my address is officially in Johns Creek, I am in what used to be Alpharetta. If you are looking for a piano teacher in Alpharetta, then I am probably convenient for you. Don’t let the Johns Creek address throw you off – this area was Alpharetta for a long, long time before the city of Johns Creek was voted into existence.

Please take a look at the rest of my site – there is a map that shows exactly where I am and how to get to my home from all of the surrounding areas – Norcross, Roswell, Duluth, Alpharetta, Cumming, and Suwanee.

Thanks for visiting!

Help! What Kind of Keyboard Do I Need?

Honestly, having to search through all of the different brands and types of keyboards available on the market today is a big job – even for someone like me who knows what they are looking for! Then, once you have found what you want (or think you want) THEN you have a new trail to blaze on the web to make sure that you are getting the BEST DEAL available. By the time you are done with all of that you are probably ready to go hibernate somewhere for awhile… Whew!

So, I have done all the nasty searching/price comparison work for you so that you can easily decide between just 3 different products. All three happen to be made by Yamaha, and each one listed is sold at the best price I found on the web – AND the shipping is free on any model you choose.

If you are spending your hard-earned money and precious time on piano lessons, then it only makes sense to have something decent to play when you are at home. A plastic floor mat piano or a little kiddie- multi-colored-tiny-keys keyboard it NOT what you want. Period.

The keyboards I recommend all have full size keys (very important) and are touch sensitive (also very important).

Touch sensitive means that you are able to play softly or loudly depending on how light/hard you press on the keys. In other words the volume button is in your fingers. They each also come with a stand – no playing on the floor!

The entry level keyboard has 61 keys, and includes a stand and headphones. It is the Yamaha EZ200.

Most students will do well with this model, and it is easy on the budget.

The mid level keyboard has 76 keys, and includes a stand and headphones. It is the Yamaha DGX 230

Mid-size keyboards are hard to find – this one, however, isn’t just bigger than the entry level product, it is also built to play more like a real piano (called “Graded Soft Touch Action”).

The Yamaha DGX 530 is as close to real piano as you can get (for the price). 88 full size keys, built to play like a “real” piano -Graded Soft Touch Action – and has a very nice furniture-like stand and a pedal.

If you are serious about having something really nice to play that you won’t outgrow – this is it.

And, budget-wise, it is a tremendous value. Old, beat-up real pianos usually cost more than this – and they will never sound as good.

I hope that this post has been helpful in your keyboard purchasing decision. For more detailed information and/or to purchase a keyboard, click here for my online store

In my previous post I shared my piano lesson experiences from age seven (2nd Grade) to age 13 (7th Grade). In a nutshell, I confessed that my first months of lessons were stressful and difficult, and I did not make much progress. It took quite a bit of time for me to catch on and have fun playing, but it did happen eventually.

So, on with the story:

In the summer of 1974 my family moved from California to Athens, GA – and my dutiful mother soon found a new piano teacher for me. Her name was Mrs Randolph, and she was very different from my first teacher. Mrs Randolph had a degree from the prestigious Julliard School of Music, and quickly set about fixing my bad playing habits (that I didn’t even know I had) and teaching me music history and music theory.

Mrs Randolph did an excellent job rounding out my musical knowledge. I learned about composers and different types of music, and all about scales and intervals, chords, harmonies, key signatures – you name it. For the first time in my many years of lessons I was shown how to do finger exercises, and they helped greatly with my playing and technique. I left my pop tunes behind (well, a lot of them) and began playing what most people think of as “classical” music. You know, those songs with the highly imaginative names like “Minuet in G” and “Sonata in F” or, simply, “Dance”. I can’t say that my piano lessons ever became the high point of my week, but, for the most part, I enjoyed my time with Mrs Randolph.

So, why did I quit? Two words: Mandatory Recitals. Some people are comfortable performing, and some are not. I definitely fall into the latter category, and the recitals were terribly stressful for me. I think that sometimes teachers can lose their perspective, and end up placing too much emphasis on their students’ public performance skills as a measure of their own success as instructors.

My goal as a teacher is to motivate each student to reach their individual playing/learning goals without a lot of unnecessary stress. Lessons are about the students and how to help them do their individual best, so that they can feel proud and encouraged about their achievements.

Alpharetta Piano Lessons & Duluth Piano Lessons Websites Launched

We have launched two new websites to make sure that parents looking for affordable piano lessons for kids in the north Atlanta area will be able to find us easily. The two sites - www.AlpharettaPianoLessons.com & www.DuluthPianoLessons.com are sites designed to be easily found and used by piano lovers who are looking for piano instruction in the northern Atlanta, northeast Atlanta area near Alpharetta, Duluth, Johns Creek, Norcross, Cumming, and Forsyth townships.

These websites have pages for affordable rates for piano instruction, directions to Piano Lessons with Julie, and piano student applications which will be processed by and responded to by the staff at Piano Lessons with Julie.

We hope that you find the sites useful and will share them with your friends. They are part of our mission – to bring affordable piano lessons to kids of all ages in the north Atlanta area.

You can read the annoucement of the Alpharetta Piano Lessons site here; you can read the annoucement of the Duluth Piano Lessons site here.