Classical & Jazz Piano, Voice, Music Theory, Ukulele

NOTICES

The Summer 2025 Piano Inspires Kids has just been uploaded to the Reading Room. Check out the local piano students at SOA who won awards for their compositions!

Junior Keynote Cover Art and Magazine samples are in the Reading Room.  Will you be creating this summer?

NFMC Music Poetry Competition 

Please have your poems ready to submit by October 23, 2025. 

National Federation of Music Clubs  Junior 

NFMC ANGIE GREER MUSIC IN POETRY AWARD CONTEST 

Rules & Requirements 

Annual Award* 

An annual award of $100 in each of the five NFMC Regions to the 

first place winner

Eligibility: 

To be eligible for this award, applicants must: 

  be a member of the National Federation of Music Clubs 

  be an American Citizen 

  not have reached their 19th birthday as of the application deadline 

  not be a previous winner of this award 

Poem Requirements: 

Any form of poetry is acceptable. The poem may be in traditional rhyming form, free verse, story, poetry form, etc. 

The poem must: 

  be an original, unpublished creation of the entrant 

  have a musical theme and musically themed title 

  have a length between eight and thirty lines 

  be submitted as a PDF file  

  not explicitly include personally identifiable information*, such as name, address, contact information, teacher information, club details, etc.  Including PII* on the poem is an 

automatic disqualification 

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Congratulations to our South Carolina Music Teachers Association state piano winners! 

Benjamin W.: placed as First Alternate in his division.

Micah B.: took Honorary Mention in his state division.

Congratulations to our SCMTA District Winners who earned an Outstanding rating from their judges.

Daniel B.

Micah B.

Isabelle S.

Lachlan S.

Benjamin W.

Lucy W.

Congratulations to Lachlan S. who was selected to perform at the Honors Recital for the Charleston Music Teachers Association Achievement Day!

As we wind down the school year, congratulations go out to all our students who took part in local, state, and national audition opportunities this year. We are thankful and proud of our students and their families who support, and take part in, music education. We do our best to post all events here as soon as we have the information. Remember to visit the Student Resources page to learn about more opportunities through NFMC for composition, writing, and performance. 

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The 2025-2026 Lesson Calendar is posted on the Student Resources page under General. This calendar only lists holidays when the studio is closed. (no events)

Rehearsal tips for 2025 

1. Have a clear goal for every practice session (examples would be: improving on, or memorizing, a section in a piece of music; focusing on a scale or a technique that needs work; sight-playing or musical analysis.)
2. Focus on the quality of your practice time, not the length of your practice time. Be sure you are leaving your practice time knowing you have accomplished a set goal.
3. Once you have determined your goal for your rehearsal session, approach challenging sections of a piece first, then play music that you are more comfortable with toward the end of your session.
4. Use your Metronome. A good rule of thumb is to start daily practice on a work 5 - 8 bpm slower than what you achieved the day before. 
5. Rehearse daily. Even a short session of 15 minutes on a busy day can lead to significant improvement. Parents this tip is very important for younger children. Do not wait to help your child rehearse the night before their lesson, or only have one or two days a week set aside for practice. Your child will not succeed as quickly as other students if you create this pattern. 
6. For older students, take short breaks during your rehearsal; Stand up and stretch, get a glass of water, or look out the window. This is a refresher for the mind and body.
7. Keep your lesson assignment notes on your piano where you can reference them in every practice session. Personal rehearsal journals can be a benefit for advanced students.

***Playlists for student listening work can be found on our listening site. ***

Ms. Paul offers private lessons in piano, ukulele, guitar, voice, and mountain dulcimer; locally and online.