Ashley Wilson Piano Studio

08/12/2026

Equal Measures grew out of a simple goal: I wanted students to hear more music, especially music by women and other historically underrepresented composers, and I wanted to give them practical tools for engaging with music they haven't heard before.

The project works on both a large and small scale. On the larger scale, this year’s group classes will use Equal Measures as a kind of piano-history curriculum as we move through different eras, styles, composers, and instruments. On the smaller scale, short listening prompts, comparisons, improvisation ideas, and other “micro-activities” can be done within individual lessons and modified for different age groups.

The activities are built around the ways students already listen, describe, compare, imagine, and experiment in lessons. I wrote a little more about the ideas behind the project, how it has developed, and what I hope students will gain from it this year. You can read the full post here:

Many of this year’s Saturday group classes will feature a new theme! Each class will include activities from Equal Measures, a piano history and listening project I’ve been developing for my students for over two years now. When I began making a conscious effort to represent an equal number of m...

07/23/2026

I invested in the complete Sound Shapes magnetic music notation system for the studio this spring, and it has become part of nearly every lesson!

Students have really enjoyed the hands-on approach, and the materials are adaptable for different ages and levels. We’ve used them for both foundational musical concepts with beginners and more advanced work with older students--and everything else in-between. It has been such a cool and useful addition to our work!

06/15/2026

Equal Measures is a composer listening and discovery project I’ve been building for the studio for over a year now. The goal is to make diversity an inherent part of how we listen to, learn, and talk about music. More than half of the composers students can choose to explore are women, woven in alongside the familiar names they’ll continue to meet.

Here's a snapshot of a few of the composers students have chosen for their summer projects:

🎹Hélène de Montgeroult

Beethoven is often credited for bridging the Classical and Romantic eras, but de Montgeroult belongs in that conversation, too. Her études showcase the elegance of Classical piano merged with broader and more expressive Romantic sounds.

🎹Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre

She was famous as a child at the court of Louis XIV and went on to write bold and virtuosic music for harpsichord. Her pieces are a wonderful doorway into the drama and sparkle of French Baroque music.

🎹Marie Jaëll

A late Romantic pianist, composer, and teacher, Jaëll was fascinated by what actually happens when a pianist touches the keys. Her music and teaching invite students to think about sound as a combination of physical awareness and imagination.

05/28/2026

For the record, this is who keeps saying, “Smaller sections. Better repetitions.” 😉

05/13/2026

This summer has an exciting lineup of group learning opportunities! 🎹☀️

In June, we’ll begin with a Path to Songwriting series, where students will build creative tools and music theory foundation for shaping their own musical ideas.

In July, group lessons will include sharing a work in progress (a great early performance experience for students who plan to perform at the Sonata and Sonatina Festival in October), improvisation games, and a student composition showcase.

All summer long, our music history focus will connect with my Equal Measures project, which highlights a wide range of composers and stories from piano history, with special attention to giving historical women composers equal emphasis.

These group lessons are open to current studio students and may be used as make-up lessons or attended as bonus summer enrichment. Registration will open soon!

05/10/2026

What a fantastic spring recital! I am so deeply grateful for the students who played with such poise and artistry; for the families who support them week after week; for every parent and friend and colleague who helped make the day run smoothly; and for the teachers who nurtured me long before I was the one running the show.

To my students: I am so proud of the musicians you were on stage today, and even prouder of the effort and persistence that brought you there.

To my studio families: thank you for entrusting me with your children’s musical growth and for being part of a community that values patience and creativity.

Congrats, everyone, on a job so very well done.

05/08/2026

A little preview of something I’ve been building: Equal Measures.

This project grew out of a simple question: where are the women? As I looked through piano history timelines, repertoire lists, student materials, and the usual stories we tell about the development of the instrument, the same names appeared again and again—and many others were much harder to find.

Equal Measures features 100 composers—50 women and 50 men—placed side by side across the larger story of the keyboard. It treats music history as a living story shaped by changing instruments, changing musical styles, and the composers, performers, teachers, and creative voices connected to them.

This summer, I’ll be using the project first with my own students as we explore composers, listening, historical context, and the way the piano itself changed over time. From there, I plan to expand it into purchasable studio materials for fellow teachers, listening guides, and possibly student-centered arrangements.

Same staff, fuller score, more soon! 🎹❤️

04/15/2026

I’m so excited to congratulate the 12 students who participated in AMTA's eFestival this year!

Each student earned a Gold rating, and I am incredibly proud of the preparation and musicality they brought to their performances.

Congratulations to all 12 students on a wonderful achievement!

04/15/2026

New on the blog: middle school students, the “teenage slump,” and how teachers can work with all the changes happening in adolescence instead of fighting against them.

Many piano students go through some version of a teenage slump—a student who once learned eagerly can begin to seem more distracted or less invested. It is easy to interpret this as a loss of discipline or interest. When we look at how the teenage brain develops, however, we can begin to understan...