I sometimes wish I’d majored in an orchestral instrument instead of the piano. Not because I don’t love the piano or that I don’t think it’s the best instrument – I do! – but because playing the piano can be a very solitary pursuit. And frankly at times, a little lonely.

And I’d wager quite a few of my piano students feel similarly because after my students’ end of year piano recital on the weekend, a comment that came back to me from quite a few of my students was how much they enjoyed seeing other students play the piano.

One of my lovely adult students. She blew everyone away with her performance!

So for many of them, the highlight of the concert wasn’t getting up on stage and performing but rather seeing and listening to their friends and others playing the piano.

Which is why I’ve decided to try and make learning the piano much more interactive for my students. As much as I enjoy our end of year concerts, I’ve decided they really aren’t enough.

Joy from Color In My Piano does a wonderful job of making learning the piano fun and interactive for her students. From music camps to piano parties, she has loads of ideas of how to bring piano students together to learn more music and have fun! Many of her blog posts have inspired me as I start to think about my piano teaching for the new year.

And in the meantime, I’ve decided the first thing to do is to start a Facebook page. For my music studio. So students can find out what other students are up to. And hopefully this will be another platform to celebrate their musical journeys.

I’ll let  you know how that goes.

What about you? Do you have any recommendations for making piano playing a more interactive pursuit?