Your “Best seller” list

Over the Christmas break, I had a good look into my Amazon account to see what products and books you guys had been purchasing through my links, reviews and recommendations in 2015.

It turns out that there were some surprises and so I thought I’d share my first “Best Seller List” for piano teachers…thanks to all my readers.

Here are the top 5 selling books and general resources from 2015 in order of number of purchases:

Books

1. Coffee with Ray – Nick Ambrosino
2. Scales Bootcamp – Philip Johnston
3. Say Something, Counting Stars and more hot singles – Pop Piano Hits (make sure you check out the whole series)
4. River Flows in You and other Eloquent Songs for Piano (this is a great mix of those film-type scores and favourite new age music – great for teens and adults)
5. Rhythm Bootcamp – Philip Johnston

Equipment/Tools

1. Ladybug Squeezie 6 pack (great for hand shape in young students. Check out Diane Hidy’s post about how to use them)
2. Logitech Z313 speakers
3. Quartet Chrome Pocket Pointer (read more: Teaching with a Telescopic Pointer) 
4. Metal Retractable/Telescoping Pointer AA-778NO (this is the more up-market version of No. 3!)
5. EPL Black Portable Fold up Stand (great to use when performing with your iPad)

I wasn’t surprised to see Nick Ambrosino’s fantastic book, Coffee with Ray, at the top of the list as I know it’s a favourite amongst my readers (and rightly so). If you haven’t already watched the podcast I just recorded with Nick where we talk about this book and his teaching philosophies, then you can check it out here: Episode 26 Relate > Create > Educate.

I’m pleased to see that teachers are investing in decent sound systems (eg. the Logitech Speakers), however if you can go the extra distance, I still prefer the Logitech Z623 which has a much better bass and volume range. The more you use YouTube, play-along and backing track apps in your studio, the more you’ll benefit from a decent sound system.

Whatever you do, please don’t rely on your iPad speakers for backing tracks and play-along activities unless you absolutely have no other choice. The improvement in sound quality that you’ll get from spending between $100-$150 on a simple sound system is HUGE and well worth the investment, particularly given the set of Logitech speakers that I’m using are now well over 10 years old and show no signs of needing replacement in the near (or distant) future.

If you’re exploring pop backing tracks, your kids will love the immersive experience that can only come with either headphones (impractical when teaching) or a good sound system that will fill the room and, most importantly, a sub woofer that will provide some solid bass. Trust me, you’ll appreciate the difference – even for your own musical listening.

Also great to see that more and more people are saving their backs and teaching with a telescopic pointer!

Full Resources List

During last year, I started to receive more and more questions from teachers about the equipment that I use in my studio, so I put together a full list of resources so that you can access it whenever you need to.

I’ll keep this updated with new gear as I test it.

Rest assured that the resources that I share with you are things that I currently or have recently used and recommend highly. I wouldn’t want to risk my reputation on dodgy gear, so you can be assured that everything in my list has been thoroughly tested and used with my own students.

The new Resources Page lists everything from tablets, holders, mics, website hosting, website themes, scheduling apps – everything I use in my day-to-day teaching and website work.