And the Winners of Elena Cobb's Books Are
CONGRATULATIONS...
to Le Piano Academy for winning Higgledy Piggledy Jazz
to Coo Jarvis for winning Blue River
I'll be in contact with both of you shortly about receiving your prize.
Thank you to all those who left a comment in hopes of winning a free book from Elena. For those who didn't win, please order Elena's books here. There are options to download digital editions as well which helps save on shipping.
CONGRATULATIONS ELENA!
A HUGE congratulations to Elena as her workshop "Improvisation for Classically Trained Pianists" 
made number 1 on the TOP FIVE piano workshops at the MusicExpo 2014 in London as listed in the International Piano magazine Jan/Feb 2014 issue.
SINCE WE ARE ON THE TOPIC OF CREATIVITY...
It seems this topic of improvisation ignited a great deal of attention. What I gathered from the numerous comments left for this drawing is that most teachers are predominantly classically trained, recognize the need for improvisation in lesson instruction and are continually looking for guidance on how.
I too, am one of those teachers and I seek to expand creativity at the keys in my own skills and those of my students. In fact, the next couple of years, a great deal of my time will be dedicated to the cause of creativity...
March 2014
The MTNA 2014 Conference will take place in Chicago. Prior to the conference is Pedagogy Saturday which will feature a Jazz/Pop track chaired by colleague and friends, Bradley Sowash and George F. Litterst with some assistance from me. You won't believe the dream team assembled for this jam-packed day:
- Philip Keveren
- Richard Grayson
- Paul Sheftel
- Brian Chung
- Forest Kinney
- Christopher Norton
- George F. Litterst
- Bradley Sowash
- Leila Viss
July 2014
Sam Holland, provides a yearly Institute for Piano Teachers at Southern Methodist University in Dallas called SMU-IPT. This year the entire event will be dedicated to creativity with a number of hands-on opportunities for attendees led by Forrest Kinney, Bradley Sowash and also me. There are SO many more things to share about this event--coming shortly.
Late July-Early August 2014
My good friend, colleague AND business partner Bradley Sowash and I will hold our second 88 
Creative Keys Camp in Denver. We had overwhelmingly positive support of our efforts to encourage off the page playing last year from students ages 10-18, teachers and adult pianists. Again, stay tuned for more details.
July 2015
NCKP (National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy) part of the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy and directed by Sam Holland will devote a good portion of the 2015 conference to creativity at the keys and teaching creatively. I'm in on the early discussions as a committee member and this promises to be a one-of-a-kind conference.
II III II III II III II
With the thoughts and comments you shared with me, it is good for you to know that many others--yes, even those in higher education recognize that making music is more than regurgitating the classics composed by dead European composers (no disrespect intended). Thanks to people like Elena Cobb and those listed above we are en route to navigating ourselves and our students beyond the page.
Hop on board, the Queen Mary of traditional teaching is turning, ever so slowly, but turning nonetheless!
Can the iPad serve as a creative tool--oh YES!
Learn how by purchasing my book here.
-Leila
