Weekly Studio Update - End of Year Thank-You - 16/12/19

With this week being my last week of teaching for the year, I wanted to simply take the time today to thank each and every one of you for making my year in teaching very rewarding. Each one of you give me an opportunity to play a part in your own lives, and for that I'm extremely grateful. Your lessons are a two-way street - each day as I challenge you to be a better musician, you also challenge me to be a better teacher through investigating and experimenting with new ways to approach solutions to problems. I really do mean it when I say that every lesson I teach is unique, and that's what makes my job so easy to remain engaging and exciting day in and day out.

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The end of the year also gives you an opportunity to reflect on your past 12 months of learning by taking note of all the things that you've achieved, the pieces you've learned and the challenges and rewards of doing something that you love. Hopefully all of you can recognise your progress, and it makes me very proud to see that progress each week in your lessons.
So again, thank you!

My holiday break is from this Friday the 20th of December, with lessons resuming on Monday January 6th. Some of you have already indicated dates for your return from holidays a little later in January, please let me know with plenty of notice if you'll be away through January.
The 2020 schedule will remain as similar as possible to the 2019 schedule for the time being. I'll be sending through a request for an update of your available hours in January so as to best try and accomodate any changes in your plans as well as to squeeze in any new students.

Things I've been watching/listening to this week:

1. VULFPECK /// Live at Madison Square Garden - I've watched this twice already in the past week, I'm sure it's going to get plenty more plays in the days and years to come! What a concert!
2. Star Wars x Avengers Piano Mashup | HDpiano Original - my friends at HDPiano shot this great arrangement of two iconic movie soundtrack themes mashed together.
3. How To Play "Greensleeves" for Christmas | HDpiano (Part 1) Piano Tutorial - speaking of HDPiano, here's my tutorial for Greensleeves. It's fairly easy so go ahead and give it a try!
4. Stop Listening To The Blues - The Lachy Doley Group - LIVE at BLUES ON BROADBEACH 2016 - one of my lessons this week involved learning about the Hammond Organ, so I went to my go-to organ player for a demonstration of just how much it can rock!
5. Albums beginning with the letter G: Spoon (Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga), Yeo (Ganbaru), 'Garden State' Soundtrack, Coldplay (Ghost Stories), Elbow (Giants of All Sizes), Spoon (Gimme Fiction), They Might Be Giants (Glean), Ben Kweller (Go Fly a Kite)