Hufhand Studios

Who says you can't play Happy Birthday for yourself?!

Happy birthday to sweet Eliana who has a knack for memorization and a drive to be the best she can be!

And special thanks to Cascade Method for making songs so accessible to learn at any level.

Drop a 🎉 to wish this sweet girl a happy day!

On the eleventh day of recital videos ❄

Give a warm welcome to Nina playing "Jingle Bells" (arr. by Faber - it was a big Faber year!) This arrangement is at least one full level above where she is in her lesson books, and she absolutely rose to the challenge. We had a wonderful time using this piece to talk about musical expression and really adding some elements to make it her own. This piece brought out a love and a desire to work on more challenging music - I can't wait to see what she will accomplish in the new year!

On the tenth day of recital videos ❄

Our last arrangement of "Silent Night" (arr. by Faber). I loved hearing so many students enjoying a song that brings me such fond memories of Christmas time and that I love so dearly as well. It is a joy to be their teacher. I am so proud of the hard work all my students have done, and hope they are equally proud of themselves.

On the ninth day of recital videos ❄

Kadeesh is a great musician! In addition to his work on piano, he plays saxophone for his school's band. Having the knowledge from band class really helps in his piano lessons! One of his favorite Christmas songs is "The Little Drummer Boy" so please enjoy this Glover arrangement.

On the eighth day of recital videos ❄

I didn't play this for our Winter Recital, but on this first day of Winter, I wanted to share another one of my favorites "Winter Wonderland" (arr. by Faber). Check out my stories for the recording that didn't make the cut when my daughter ran in to greet me!

On the seventh day of recital videos ❄

Nokona is back playing this year's favorite "Silent Night." She also said it was her favorite song to learn this year, and because she challenged herself to read music beyond what we have learned in lessons, she is ready to fly through the second half of her lesson book in January! We are so excited to resume lessons in January and work hard through some challenging and fun music!

On the sixth day of recital videos ❄

"Silent Night" was by far the most popular song chosen this year. Zoe came to me and said she wanted to learn this specific arrangement, which is from a lead sheet. She has never played from a lead sheet before so we spent time learning how to play from a lead sheet and the different chords needed for this arrangement. I am amazed by her tenacity and determination to learn an arrangement above her level! Great work Zoe!!

On the fifth day of recital videos ❄

Nokona played "Away in a Manger" just beautifully! She always shows up with a smile on her face and it is such a joy to be her teacher. She rocked her Christmas songs this year and I am so proud!

Whoops! On the fourth day of recital videos ❄️

Here is Jonah! He has a passion for creating his own music and is always playing around with new melodies. This year for the winter recital, we took an improv action piece from Andrea Dow's Older Beginner Book and he composed a melody to play with the chords given in the left hand. He was so excited to share a portion of his song with you!