Home again Home again!!!

Hey guys! I've missed you! As most of you know, I had the opportunity to spend two weeks with my family in Europe and have been traveling around like crazy! I saw amazing things I never thought I'd be able to see, and I was able to spend quality time with my family.  Here is a sneak peak (through my iPhone) into what I got to do and see while I was away!

The BigBen skyline! This was the only blue sky we saw during our week in London haha

Close up of Big Ben on a dreary, yet gorgeous London day

These bright yellow fields are all over England! This is what they use to make Canola Oil.  Who know it was so pretty!!!

Cardiff Castle in Wales

Florence, Italy was breathtaking

Me and the little brother at the Mediterranean!

The Queen's Garden in London

Me and Sam pigged out on Gelato the whole time we were in Italy!

Oh yeah....I ran through Platform 9 3/4....no big deal ;)

Italian window boxes made me want to plant flowers everywhere!

Mom and Sam in London

Italian street musicians were insanely amazing!

The Palace

Pizza in Italy makes me want to move there.

Poppies were growing all over Italy!

Stonehenge

Westminster

Amazing street artists in Florence!

I'm so glad I had the opportunity to spend this time with my family and see incredible things I never thought I'd be able to see! I'm ALSO tremendously glad to be home to my students, my fuzzy little kittens and puppy, and the Charleston summer sun :)

Summertime = Playtime!

Hi guys! Happy Monday! 

I just wanted to pop on and share a few thoughts on practicing in the summertime.

1. Take a mini break! You've worked HARD this year and you deserve some fun in the sun! Give yourself a whole week of no piano - all play :).

2. Don't forget to start back practicing at the end of your mini break ;)

3.  Don't make it hard or stressful! Summertime is supposed to be relaxing.  So don't force yourself to sit at the piano for 30 minutes if all your friends are outside playing! Practice for 15 minutes in the morning after you eat breakfast (you know when the neighbor kids are still sleeping), and then practice for 15 minutes at night after dinner or before bed! Even break your practicing up into 10 minute segments if thats easier!

4.  Set a timer.  This will make your life SO much easier because you won't be constantly hopping up to check the time.  The more you think about it...the slower it goes.  Just focus on your song and before you know it you'll be done for the day! 

5.  Work with your teacher to find music you love.  If you can't stand the songs your trying to learn, your practicing sessions will be SO much worse.  Pick songs you WANT to know how to play and songs that intrigue you! This doesn't mean pick easy songs by the way...pick something that challenges you and you'll be proud of yourself when you've mastered it in a few weeks :). 

Here be Pirates

HAPPY MONDAYYYYYY

(or whatever we're supposed to say to get through waking up early again ;) )

I'm going to have two of my students working on this piece this week so I wanted to show it to the rest of you too!

Anybody a Pirates of the Caribbean fan? I LOVE the Davy Jones organ piece in the 2nd movie!!! Definitely my favorite song out of all 4 movies.  Go check it out here!

Happy Spring Time!

I can't get enough of the warmer temperatures right now! I'm planning on spending all of next weekend on the beach!! Are you guys getting out in the sun yet?

I want to post a link to a new song for you guys today.  Its a little  challenging but SO worth it.  One of my students is working on it right now and he ALMOST has it mastered! I'll ask his permission when he's done and see if we can post a video of his final product once he is satisfied with it.  

This is basically Twinkle Twinkle taken to a whole new level.  Its "Ah, Vous Diral-je, Maman" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart! Check it out and let me know what you think! 

Ah, Vous Diral-je, Maman

As usual guys remember to tell your friends to give me a shout if they'd like to try out lessons! I've got some available time slots and I'd love to chat about getting started! I'll be passing out some of my beachy business cards to all my current students this week too so you can share the love with your friends! <3

Love Is In The Air!

Happy Valentines Day guys!!

My Valentine gift to you:  If you sign up for lessons in the month of February your first lesson is free!!

I love this candy/flower/pinkandred filled holiday!  I thought I'd pop on here and give you guys something romantic to listen to.  One of my girls is actually playing this song for her upcoming talent show and she's doing SO well with it! Its a gorgeous fun piece and perfect for this love-filled week.  Shoot me a message if this is something you'd like to add to your repertoire!

PS:  I've opened up my schedule to include some new timeslots!!! I love my kids so much I just couldn't help but take on some more this year :).  Give me a call 803.370..1275 or shoot me an email ashleyerinw@gmail.com for details on availability and any questions you may have!

I am speechless

This video is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.  Watch this and I swear you'll run straight to your piano to practice.

PS:  watch his hands feel for the correct position before he plays each bass clef chord.  Keep your eyes on your music boys and girls...this kid is showing you that if you work hard enough and you play long enough, you wont need to stare at the keys to find your place on the keyboard.  If you can't find it with your eyes closed, then you haven't finished practicing.

Batten Down the Hatches

Oh my...my summer has disappeared in a whirlwind of crazy!  I don't know about all of you...but I think something was in the water this summer and kept everyone's schedules stirred up and flying left and right! I think this very moment is the first chance I've had to breathe in about two months.  Anybody else experiencing this summer anomaly?   I thought summer was supposed to be lounging on the beach and eating watermelon!!!! Well...I have officially decided to take back my summer starting today...and that means back to blogging with you guys :)

So lets start by rewinding.  I simply MUST share with you the incredible trip that I took this summer with my family.  Family vacations are limited once kids become grown and live in other cities (enjoy your vacations now boys and girls!).  However, my family has always been close and managed to keep with tradition this year and get both me, my little (not so little) 19 year old brother, mom and dad all together for a family trip to (drumroll pleases) IRELAND!!! This was my first time out of the country AND to the place where my family originally comes from (can you tell by the pale skin, red hair, and freckles?) so I was in awe the entire trip.  Let me let the pictures do the talking:

Real Italian Food

I developed a new love for hot tea...mmmmmm

Cathedral on a BEAUTIFUL sunny day

Look at that organ....breathtaking 

Can you tell I liked the food? 

Me and my little brother <3

The Cliffs of Moher (ummmmm beautiful...but TERRIFYING)

The Cliffs of Moher (at this point I threw a hissy fit and made the whole family stop and go back...my reason? The path from here on out was ON the cliff edge...no more pretty grass and flowers between us and certain death...one mis-step and you were over the edge...We ended up enjoying the cliffs from here with a cup of hot tea and watching the bravest of the travelers try to wind along the rest of the path.  My fear of heights kept us all on safe ground ;)

Incredible castles everywhere

Beautiful

Green :)

Sam and Mama

Castle Moat

DUNGEON DUNDUNDUNNNNN

Scary Moat around the castle after a crazy storm. 

Driving through the Countryside

Summer updates: to be continued....