Category: Singing teacher

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The Joy of Singing Duets

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Building Confidence and Harmony in Uppsala

Singing duets is a great way to develop musical skills and enjoy the shared experience of making music. There is just something special about a duet- the harmonies, the shared experience and the building of skill.

As a singing teacher in Uppsala, sometimes it is nice to include duets in my lessons. They’re a fun and effective way to strengthen key skills such as pitch accuracy, rhythm, tone control, and teamwork. Whether you’re new to singing or have some experience, duet work can bring a fresh perspective to your practice.

The bass part of this song is a little low for both of us, but the main thing is my student shone!

Benefits of Singing Duets

  1. Improves Listening Skills – Learn to balance and blend with another voice.
  2. Builds Confidence – Performing with a partner helps ease nerves and develop stage presence.
  3. Encourages Collaboration – Duets promote communication and musical awareness.
  4. Enhances Expression – Two voices allow for greater depth and storytelling in performance.

Getting Started with Duets

Start with a song you would both enjoy. Practice each part separately before combining them. Focus on breathing staying in rhythm, and creating a balanced sound. You need to focus on your part, but also listen out for and be aware of the other persons part.

Duet singing isn’t about perfection — it’s about learning to listen, connect, and enjoy the process of making music together.

If you’re interested in improving your voice or exploring singing lessons in Uppsala, I offer personalized vocal training for all levels. Together, we can develop your technique, build confidence, and help you enjoy singing even more.

🎶 Ready to start local singing lessons?
Book your trial singing lesson today

beginner tutorial, Entrepreneur, learning environment, Music Lessons, piano lessons, piano practice, piano teacher, Singing teacher, Uncategorized

Creative music crafts for children: Reinforce Rhythm and Notes in music Lessons.

lizteachespiano

Music learning for children is all about creativity. While traditional piano and music theory lessons are essential, they can be even more effective when paired with hands-on, imaginative activities. That’s where creative music crafts for children come in!

Crafts bring musical ideas—like rhythm, time signatures, and keyboard layout—off the page and into the real world. They help kids see, touch, and build the concepts they’re learning, turning lessons into play.

In this post, you’ll find two creative music crafts for children that reinforce key skills in rhythm and note recognition. I’m sure you can find these ideas online as I have, I’ve just added my own little twists to them- I recommend you do the same!

🕷️ Craft #1: The 4/4 Rhythm Spider

This adorable Rhythm Spider is more than just a fun project—it’s a clever, hands-on way to explore rhythm and understand 4/4 time signatures.

🧩 How to Make the Rhythm Spider:

  • Start with a spider body (cut from card or paper).
  • Add 8 legs, using paper strips or pipe cleaners.
  • Each leg represents one bar of 4/4 time (4 beats).
  • On each leg, children create their own rhythm pattern that adds up to 4 beats.

They can use:

  • Drawn notes
  • Rhythm stickers
  • Note stamps
  • I recommend black paper and white pen for added realism!

💡 Sample Rhythm Ideas:

  • 4 crotchets (quarter notes)
  • 2 minims (half notes)
  • 1 minim + 2 quavers (eighth notes) + 1 crotchet
  • 1 dotted minim + 1 quaver

Each leg becomes a mini rhythm puzzle for the student. The variety helps students understand that there are many ways to make up four beats.

🎹 Craft #2: Pop-Up Piano Card

This craft transforms the keyboard into a 3D learning tool. The Pop-Up Piano Card helps children visualize and memorize the layout of piano keys—especially the black key patterns that guide note identification.

🧩 How to Make a Pop-Up Piano Card:

  1. Fold a piece of cardstock in half to form a card.
  2. Cut and glue white keys in a row on the inside fold.
  3. Add black keys in groups of 2s and 3s, just like on a real keyboard.

🔍 Learning Goals:

  • Understand how black keys are grouped to help identify white notes
  • Recognize patterns in the keyboard
  • Build familiarity with note names and key positions

🎵 Why Creative music crafts for children reinforce rhythm and notes in music Lessons.

Children don’t just learn by hearing or seeing—they learn by doing. Children are all different, and your lessons should be to.

I recommend adding a craft activity to your lessons for:

Multisensory learning: Combines sight, touch, and movement
Supporting different learning styles: Great for visual and kinesthetic learners
Boosts engagement: Keeps children interested and focused during lessons

Creative music crafts aren’t just fun—they’re a meaningful part of music education. Whatever you decide to make, these activities help children engage in your lessons, and with musical concepts.

So the next time your student struggles with rhythm or note placement, take a break from the piano. Grab the scissors, paper, and glue—and let them build their understanding one beat (or key) at a time.

💬 Have you tried crafts in your music lessons?

Thanks for reading!

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Eventide Space pedal: More Than Just Reverb?

lizteachespiano

I have never used a guitar pedal before, so I wasn’t even sure what to expect. I know pedals add effects like distortion or delay, but does it make a real difference? Pedals all seemed a bit like background stuff, or pedals are for people so proficient they know exactly what it will aid with. So when I managed to try out the Eventide Space pedal — this mysterious, brick with 11 knobs and names like “Blackhole” and “Mangled Verb” — I wondered what it would do.

What happened instead was more like falling to another dimension of live sound 🌠.

There isn’t just delays and distortion. Its texture, depth, movement — sounds I didn’t even know a guitar could make. As someone totally new to the world of pedals, the Eventide Space really inspired me in guitar playing and musical ideas.

If you’ve ever wondererd, “What would it sound like if my guitar was echoing inside a black hole?” —now you can wonder no more!

First Impressions:

Physically, the Eventide Space is built like a tank — solid, black, serious. It looks more like a piece of studio gear than a pedalboard buddy. There’s a screen, 11 knobs, multiple footswitches, and lots of buttons. I like how tactile it is.

If you’re coming from a basic Hall/Room pedal, your first reaction might be: “Wait… what do all these do?” If you take a minute or two to play around with sounds and then twist knobs the other way whilst playing sounds, you’ll figure it out quite quickly.

Yes, Space does hall, room, plate, and spring — and they sound good. But that’s not why people buy this thing.

People buy Space for the Blackhole, Shimmer, and MangledVerb algorithms — lush, sweeping, otherworldly sounds that feel more like film scores than guitar FX.

Put simply- it sounds really cool without having to try.

And the modulation. The delays. The reverse features. You start with reverb, but end up somewhere between Blade Runner and a sunrise on Mars.

Not Just for Guitar

One of the best-kept secrets about Space is that it works on vocals, synths, and even drums. I’ve yet to try this yet, but I will. In fact, some producers treat it more like an outboard effect than a pedal . Ambient musicians and post-rock bands would especially love it for its pad-like qualities.

Specifications

  • 100 presets (including 50 user slots)
  • Full MIDI control
  • Expression pedal inputs
  • tap tempo
  • A “HotSwitch” for instant changes

you can get incredible results by just tweaking three knobs: Mix, Size, and Decay.

This is actually a Drum and Bass song I wrote (which you can check out here with all my music), but I’m demonstrating how inspirational and diverse this pedal is.

Downsides?

Very few.

  • Price: Around 5000kr , so it’s not cheap.
  • Learning curve: If you don’t like menus, be prepared to spend time tweaking.
  • Mono input: It can limit how you use it with stereo rigs without extra routing.

These feel like small trade-offs for what you get in return.

Here is a link if you want to look at it further Eventide Space Pedal

 Who Is This For?

Bedroom guitarist chasing dreamy soundsYes, but expect to lose hours
Ambient musician layeringAbsolutely
Straight-ahead blues playerMaybe try a simpler cheaper pedal
Studio producer or synth wizardThis is gold!

The Eventide Space is the kind of pedal that makes you play differently. Think less about solos and more about soundscapes. Yes, it’s expensive. Yes, it’s deep. But if you want reverb that feels like actual space, this is the one🌌.

Thanks for reading!

learning environment, Music Lessons, music performance, piano lessons, piano performance, piano practice, piano teacher, singing lessons, Singing teacher, Uncategorized

From Practice to Performance

lizteachespiano

Over the past few weeks, one of my students (as well as learning scales, arpeggios and two other more traditional pieces) went from practice to performance, giving a gorgeous rendition of “Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star on piano.

It started with the basics—practice getting comfortable with the chords , smoothing out transitions, and keeping a steady rhythm. Slowly but surely, the song performance began to take shape.

This post is about how that hard work paid off!

To help the student experience the feel of moving from practice to performance, I picked up a guitar and began to accompany them—singing the melody while playing a bit of an accompaniment .As the familiar chords rang out from the piano, supported by gentle strumming and vocals, everything clicked.

My student wasn’t just practicing anymore—they were playing music. 

From practice to performance

Hearing their part in context brought a new level of understanding and confidence. It was a real collaboration, and a reminder that even simple chords can create something powerful when shared.

Moments like this are what music lessons are all about: connection, creativity, and the joy of turning practice into performance.

Never underestimate a good teacher, an amazing student and a song.

beginner tutorial, Entrepreneur, learning environment, Music Lessons, music performance, piano lessons, piano performance, piano practice, piano teacher, singing lessons, Singing teacher, Uncategorized

Overcoming Performance Anxiety.

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Plus a free resource!

Performance anxiety is something almost every musician experiences at some point. Whether you’re playing in front of an audience for the first time or you’re a seasoned performer, nerves can hit and make your performance feel impossible. But the good news is, with the right strategies, you can manage and overcome these nerves and turn that anxiety into something positive.

Understanding why you are nervous

Anxiety is a common experience for many people, including musicians, actors, and public speakers to name a few!

There are several reasons why people experience anxiety when performing, and it can help to understand that it is a normal feeling, and what exactly is causing the anxiety.  Performance anxiety can involve a combination of factors:

  • Fear of Judgment
  • Perfectionism
  • The Need to Control
  • Lack of Experience
  • Past Negative Experiences
  • The Desire to Impress

These are all valid reasons for performance anxiety and all things which I certainly have felt from time to time. My piano performances began with a baptism of fire- I didn’t have much choice as a child. Although I don’t believe this was a particularly healthy way to begin my musical performance career, and has no doubt added to my need for control, it has made me quite resilient when it comes to performing.

As an adult it made me see what I don’t like about performances and how to avoid that. I believe it has also made me more understanding and kinder to people who are feeling performance anxiety, and I can help them better because I understand the feeling. 

I’ve had some less than good experiences as an adult musician too. Through some difficult times, I’ve come into some better times, mentally and musically. And actually, I now have a very strong belief in what I do, which helps with overcoming performance anxiety.

I make sure to incorporate performance coaching and mentoring into my lessons, because I believe it is integral to learning an instrument in any way, let alone performing live.

Why overcome performance anxiety?

Ultimately, musicians perform because it allows them to connect with others, express themselves, challenge their abilities, and experience the magic of music in a way that practice alone cannot replicate. It’s the joy of seeing their art come to life and the fulfilment of sharing it with others that makes live performance such a central part of their musical journey. I’m not going to lie- I may have a strong belief in my musician hood, but other people validating that for me- there is little like it!

Here are some tips to help you overcome performance anxiety:

 Prepare, Prepare, Prepare

This is the most successful tip I have found to help overcoming my performance anxiety. Nothing helps build confidence like being well-prepared. This helps my need to control every element- I simply make sure I control every element WITHIN MY CONTROL. The more you practice, the more confident you’ll feel in your abilities. Knowing your pieces inside and out means you’ll be able to handle any hiccups that might occur during your performance. This preparation also allows you to focus on the music instead of worrying about making mistakes.

Breathe and Relax

Anxiety tends to make us tense up, and this affects our performance. Learning relaxation techniques, like deep breathing can calm your nerves before and during your performance. I personally really like the app headspace, as it has a lot of different meditations, mindfulness activities, and and also some exercises for posture and movement.

Slow, deep breaths help reduce the body’s physical anxiety responses and allow you to focus on the music. I hold a concert for my students in the spring, and during performance week, I encourage my students to take a moment to do a breathing exercise before we even begin the music lesson!

Personally, I use this app in one way or another every day.

Focus on the Music, Not the Audience

I wish I could have told myself this even ten years ago. It’s easy to get wrapped up in how the audience perceives you, but the truth is, most people are just there to enjoy the music. 

Shift your focus away from yourself and instead, immerse yourself in the music. Let your passion for the piece guide you, and remember that it’s about the experience of sharing music, not about perfection.

Its a difficult one, and something I’m constantly trying to work at- this can also be used as an analogy for life too!

Start Small

If the idea of performing feels overwhelming, start small. Go and watch performances! Make a recording of yourself performing something you enjoy and send to a few friends or family members. Gradually increase the number of people in your audience as you become more comfortable.

Then, perhaps invite them to watch you play live in your home, then at an open mic night etc etc… The more you perform in low-pressure environments, the less intimidating it will feel when the stakes are higher. Seek out supportive people, fellow musicians, a music teacher, and others who can support you on your musical journey.

 Perform Regularly

The more you perform, the less intimidating it becomes. Regular exposure to performing will help you build a routine and reduce the anxiety that comes with it. Whether it’s for a small group of friends or at an open mic event, each performance is a stepping stone toward feeling more comfortable on stage.

Final thoughts

Overcoming performance anxiety is a journey that takes patience. Trust in your preparation, and let your passion for music lead the way.

Again I wish I could tell my younger self this, but performing, learning a musical instrument, being resilient with practice and preparation…these are all skills, and don’t let someone who has no experience or knowledge in these skills ruin it for you. Try to use those more difficult experiences to make you a stronger performer in the future.

I’ve added a little colourful handout to help with overcoming performance anxiety to my free resources page- feel free to print it, and take it with you to your next performance!

If you’re feeling especially anxious, or beginning to feel anxiety of any form is taking over your day to day life, then please don’t feel afraid to seek professional help.

Good luck, and happy playing! 🎶