Carrie Mouse is Almost Here!

Carrie Mouse and the Piano Lesson comes out next week!

I'm super excited about this...as a music teacher, it's a story that's very special to me. So, to help you get excited about this book too, I want to share some fun facts about the book.

It's inspired by one of my students.

I had a student whose mom told me he was disappointed after his first lesson that he couldn't just sit down at the piano and play songs already, but he worked hard to learn the concepts he needed to play Star Wars music and did a great job playing a custom arranged Star Wars medley the next spring. (BTW, I'm pretty sure I've taught more John Williams in my studio than any other composer.) This was the primary inspiration for the book. I just decided it was best to go with something public domain for the song Carrie wants so badly to play.

Miss Legato's teaching method is loosely based on Step by Step by Edna Mae Burnam.

It's a series that's pretty much never used by anyone but me in my music circles, and it's kind of theory-lite, but I've had the best success with teaching kids to read music with this series. It teaches the notes one at a time, which is a lot easier for someone new to music to keep up with, particularly for auditory learners. (I have a much easier time teaching sight reading to visual and tactile learners.)

Miss Legato's statement "The more you practice, the faster you'll learn," is one I've used repeatedly.

Yep, trying to get kids to practice is a constant part of teaching music. I actually used a variation of this phrase with a student last week. Practice 40 hours a day!

(This book is a good excuse to go binge watch TwoSetViolin. 😁 Or...go practice.)

There is an object in Carrie's room that foreshadows the next Carrie Mouse book my sister and I have planned.

But I'm not going to tell you what it is. 😉

You're not going to find any five-stringed violins in this book.

I mean, this is about piano, so there aren't any violins, but the point is, my sister plays piano, so the illustrations of instruments are as accurate as can be on that scale. I've seen some really inaccurate portrayals of instruments in picture books and they always drive me crazy.

Music is amazing.

And teaching it is one of my favorite things. So is writing, so combining the two in this little story was a lot of fun, and I love the way Rebekah's illustrations came out. 

And I can't wait to share the book with you next week!