A little about Leila
Leila Viss generates imaginative and tech-savvy resources for her Colorado piano studio and website. She offers Space to Create courses which inspire pianists to nurture their creativity through improvisation, composition and arranging. Viss is a longtime church musician, is known for her engaging presentations and recently co-authored Found in the Wake a memoir of loss and resilience. Viss is Colorado's 2024 MTNA Foundation Fellow and a 2025 recipient of the Frances Clark Center Outstanding Service Recognition Award.
“The presentation was simply marvelous- appreciated!!
Thanks for all you do in the world of music!”
-Betsy, WMTA
Topics
Creative Conditioning for the Rookie Composer
It’s easy to get stuck in the creative process. Explore and gather activities that coax creativity into action and prep teachers and their students to craft pleasing improvisations and compositions.
Does your feedback Need Fixing? How to find Words That matter
Communicating meaningful feedback is directly related to student progress Learn three reasons why typical feedback often falls short and takeaway six steps to flip feedback to effective “feedforward” that keeps students coming back for more.
“What a fantastic presentation! Our group is buzzing about you, the positive and practical message you bring, and the graceful, articulate way you bring it. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I hope we are able to get you back to NC one way or the other so that more of our membership can benefit.”
-Victoria Fischer Faw
Professor Emeritus, Elon University
Teach more with Less
In this session, attendees see how to repurpose ordinary household items that can gamify instruction and make things stick for good.
Heads up: some assembly may be required!
What makes things stick?
Concrete teaching tools engage with novelty and encourage comprehension and retention.
Comprehension: an understanding of the underlying principle in order to understand how it applies to different situations.
Retention: retrieving information when a problem or situation calls for it and building upon it with more advanced knowledge.
“Learning is stronger when it matters, when the abstract is made concrete and personal.”
― Peter C. Brown, Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning
Empty tissue boxes with note values taped on each side quickly and clearly explain the subdivision of a quarter note.
Why repurpose
Yes, I’m best friends with my printer and laminator because kids love cute games with shiny graphics.
Beyond paper tools, I have a strong affinity for clever ways to repurpose items for three reasons:
I like the challenge of teaching more with less paper (and money.)
What accumulates in my recycle bin calls my name and I can’t resist it.
When there’s a gap in student understanding, I reach for tactile, three-dimensional teaching tools that help me explain concepts more clearly.
The session takes a tour of my favorite repurposed teaching tools organized around the concepts covered in daily lessons like rhythm, scales, etc.
The intent? You see how ordinary things can reinforce your instruction and soon, you too, will be designing your own DIY tools.
Warning– some assembly may be required. ;-)
Another warning, as you retrain your brain to teach more with less, beware–other’s people’s trash will become your treasures.
Give your Students a Gift that Will Make them the Life of the Party
Encourage pianists to create their own arrangement of “Happy Birthday.” Acquire plans for private and group lessons that equip pianists of all levels to play the traditional tune with style. This process can be easily applied to any other tune.
Attendees will gain
specific steps on how to teach this tune by ear
a unique method for adding chords to the melody
strategies for creating a more elaborate arrangement
activities for group lessons that include ensemble opportunities and improvisation
insight on how to create a “keepsake” arrangement that can be pulled out at every birthday
ideas on how to modify this process for every level of student
lesson plans that offer bite-sized portions to serve and build upon from week to week
Activities for group lessons that include ensemble opportunities and improvisation
tech-savvy tools and dynamic manipulatives to enhance the learning process
the knowledge that can be transferred to unlocking any lead sheet.
Increase Summer Fun and Income: Let the Games Begin!
Income can dip during the summer months even if your policy requires lessons. A break from the routine can be just the ticket to reinvigorate student learning and teacher earnings. Discover how to customize a Piano Olympic Camp with activities that engage, motivate and meet the needs of your students.
Attendees will gain tips on
Finances: how to boost income during summer months and what to charge.
Logistics: how to successfully schedule camps to suit students’ busy summer schedules.
Curriculum: how to develop and modify a curriculum that combines learning and fun for groups of mixed skill levels and ages.
Activities: how to find and implement on-and-off-the-bench activities that engage and reinforce learning.
Resources and inspiration to invent a customized camp to attract and retain students.
Keys to Improvisation at the Piano
Accumulate tips on how to infuse improvisation into every piano lesson. Experience examples of creative-based activities for private and group instruction and gather a list of savvy resources to trigger musical imaginations.
Attendees will gain
innovative teaching ideas to inspire musical imaginations on and off the page
tech-savvy tools and how to integrate them into lesson plans
off-the-bench activities to enhance student engagement and learning.
How to Prep the Worship Pianist
Many pianists find themselves playing for church services and discover that it demands a unique skill set. This session describes the required skills and shows how to prepare for the church piano bench.
In an informal poll, most teachers said that they play, have played or teach students who want to play for worship services.
In college, I learned how to play the organ which helped me secure a church keyboardist position that I’ve held for over twenty-five years. From my time on both the piano and the organ bench, I’ve acquired numerous skills “on the job” that I never learned from a teacher or in grad school. It was assumed that a master’s degree in piano performance and pedagogy would prove sufficient and so it was embarrassing to learn that there were significant gaps in my skills. This led to a significant change in how I teach my own students. The session outlines what’s expected of worship pianists and how to prepare students for the church piano bench.
Highlights include:
suggested accessible sacred repertoire
a review of the basic theory requirements
a comparison of sheet music, lead sheets and chord charts and why it’s good to be familiar with all three
tips on how to play with a band
pointers for following a conductor
inspiration for how to improvise on the fly
insights to share with students looking to be a worship pianist.
Attendees will
feel equipped to prepare as a worship pianist
gain tools to guide their students to become one as well.
Off-Bench Matters
Experience how to introduce and explore new repertoire through singing, movement and clever manipulatives to ward off nasty pitfalls during practice.
Attendees will learn how to
pinpoint the new concepts and tricky parts of a piece
make rhythm count when it doesn’t make sense
prepare engaging lessons plans in advance that lay the foundation for new concepts
design activities so that students get the tricky parts right the first time
lock the piece inside the body so it can’t get out during home practice.
Goal Setting: It’s all about Sprints and not a Marathon
It can overwhelm when prioritizing essentials like sight-reading, improvisation, ensembles, and composition into lessons already crammed with repertoire and technique. Discover a system that helps you organize your priorities, activates student engagement, and guarantees progress.
Not being a goal setter myself, I was surprised to find that I gravitated towards a goal-setting system I learned from Kalyn Brooke, Simple Solutions for Everyday Life.
Brooke whittled down her system from one year to 90 days and then eventually to six weeks. She claims six weeks is the sweet spot for setting and achieving goals. It’s because the six-week sprint system demands action right away with no time to procrastinate.
In the session, I explain
why I decided to test this system,
how I choose goals,
how I continue to implement the six-week system
how this impacts an increase in student progress.
Studies show that different types of goals are important for various stages of learning and so those will be discussed in detail.
Attendees will gain
ideas how to choose goals based on their priorities and
tips on how to design their own six-week sprints for their studio.
Innovative Tools for the Hybrid Piano Studio
There’s an overwhelming amount of tech tools available for teaching. Here’s a list of tried and true online teaching resources that equips you to make informed choices about what’s best for your hybrid studio.
Tools to be discussed include
Google Docs
Tonara
Loom
My Music Staff
Canva
Noteflight
Digital Escape Room Games
and many more.
Keeping It Together When Life Falls Apart
A tragic accident has compelled me to find purpose in it. Through my story, attendees will be inspired to take courage amidst crisis and identify with the restorative power of music when life falls apart.
Life took an unexpected plunge on Thanksgiving Day 2019. Our 25-year-old son Carter was in a boating accident. All his limbs were severely injured and he lost his right arm. Living this nightmare introduced me to a new companion: grief. Ever since, it’s been crucial to me and my family to find meaning in our brokenness. And now, the world has been handed a pandemic. We ache to find purpose and good in our collective grief.
Carter’s recovery and our family’s grief process are tethered to the magnetic pull of music. Most are familiar with Huxley’s quote: “After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.” In the wake of this tragedy, our family came to live and breathe this profound statement. When life fell apart, music picked up the pieces.
In this session, I speak my heart and share how grief
begs for a voice,
demands coddling and
craves an outlet.
Then I share how music
feeds grief as it soothes gaping wounds
generates a vocabulary for feelings when words fail
reunites the pieces of a shattered heart
nurtures the soul and beckons meaning from despair.
My musical intervention as I trudge through the stages of grief will resonate with attendees as they tend to their own grief. As I unravel meaning in the midst of tragedy, I hope others will
cherish their time with students
find encouragement to unlock their inner musical voice
leave with renewed hope.
Blossoming within Boundaries: A Recipe for Budding Composers
A good recipe includes quality ingredients and clear directions. So it is with developing composition skills. Learn how to inspire budding composers with a recipe that offers built-in success and invites creative decision-making.
Once you taste a cookie from a master baker, it’s hard to stop at just one. That’s when you ask for the recipe so you can make the cookies yourself. So it is with helping students compose. This session demonstrates a methodical recipe for composing that produces appealing original work and gets students asking for more. The recipe will be put to the test as attendees will together compose a 32-bar piece by the end of the session.
The recipe calls for three main ingredients:
exploration of common chord progressions borrowed from today’s hits
basic patterns that can be morphed and plugged into the progressions
organization of these elements within a strong structure.
Attendees will
learn that a blank canvas overwhelms
see that providing clear boundaries for students sets them up for success and at the same time allows for creative decision-making along the way
gain tips on how to generate professional-looking publications with the aid of tools like Noteflight, Canva, YouTube, and QR codes.
This process is similar to a coloring book that invites participation and imagination by individual choices of media, color and tint.
Art professor Walter Nottingham states:
When given no boundaries, 90% of the time is spent on what to do and 10% of the time doing it.
When given clear boundaries,10% of the time is spent on determining what to do and 90% of the time doing it.
Is it Time for your Studio to Go Baroque?
Transport your digital native students back to the 17th century. Discover steps to develop a studio-wide theme based on Baroque repertoire and composers that will create an engaging immersion into the style period.
Most students learning to play an instrument usually don’t ask to perform a piece from the 17th century. Although they may request to play Pachelbel’s Canon or a Bach Minuet, most may not know that both Pachelbel and Bach were legendary composers of the Baroque period.
Realizing that it’s hard for anyone to appreciate what they don’t know and knowing that I could do better with educating my students about music from the Baroque, it became my challenge to immerse students into all things Baroque and have fun doing so. The session will outline this dynamic “Baroque Bash” experience that features a studio-wide theme and incentive program.
Highlights include:
insights into the seven stages of learning
a unique approach to adding and executing ornaments
tips on how to improvise 21st-century arrangements
engaging apps that explore the style period
explanation on how the visual art of the time relates to the music
group improvisation within Pachelbel’s chord progression
action-packed activities requiring audience participation
The interactive slide presentation will be rich in content and details.
Attendees will receive
receive encouragement
inspiration
hands-on experience so they can implement their own Baroque Bash in private or group lessons.
How to Spark Creativity with the Blues
Boost the creative confidence of students at any age or level with the Twelve-Bar Blues. This interactive session outlines steps suitable for private or group settings that develop improvisation skills within the standard progression.
The Blues is a rich and versatile framework for guiding creativity at any age. The strict chord progression promises a guaranteed “win” even for those who are new to teaching students how to improvise.
The presentation breaks down the elements of the Blues and features clear steps to develop confident improvisers. Using Eric Clapton’s “Walking Shoes Blues” as an example, attendees will discover various ways to jumpstart a theme and lyrics for an original Blues through innovative and tech-savvy methods.
Videos of students at various playing levels will demonstrate how a simple idea or theme can be developed and amplified into an original Blues. Attendees will follow the tried and true steps themselves, construct their own 12-bar Blues “by committee” and even jam on it!
Attendees will gain…
ways to stimulate musical imaginations to build a Blues from scratch
carefully sequenced instructions for constructing a Blues melody, lyrics and bass line
methods to amplify and develop student improvisation skills within the framework from year to year
tips for using the Book Creator app as a way for students to generate illustrations, audio and video of their Blues
ideas for incorporating the 12-Bar Blues in group lessons and how to jam on the pattern
additional student-friendly apps that can publish students’ original content
first-hand experience creating a Blues and jamming on it with fellow colleagues
see how the app iReal Pro can enhance playing the Blues.
From Overwhelmed to Organized: Putting Apps to Work for You
Although apps can be handy, the sheer volume of them can be overwhelming and apps can waste time if not used diligently.
Attendees will
witness top apps for teaching in action
learn how to organize and integrate them into music lesson plans
develop skills to assess each one
discover how to use and reuse the provided assessment tool
be empowered to build a personal list of go-to apps that will serve them well now and in the future.
Pop Music: The Gateway to Creativity
Pop music is full of repetition and often the “same four chords.”
Attendees will
gain tips on how to teach pop music
learn how the limitations of pop music serve as a gateway to improvisation and composition
engage in dynamic activities that can help them help their students put music theory to work, lock into a groove and find their creative voice
discover how boundaries benefit creativity
leave equipped with tools, off-bench activities, apps and resources to enhance student imaginations and production of original content.
