115: Sight-Reading and Collaborative Skills for Young Learners with Jenna Braaksma

Helping students become confident sight readers and collaborative musicians starts much earlier than many teachers realize. In this episode, Dr. Jenna Braaksma shares practical strategies for developing sight-reading and collaborative skills in young learners through games, improvisation, duets, and ensemble experiences that build listening, communication, and musical awareness from the very first lesson.

• Jenna explained how previewing patterns and hand positions improves sight reading.
• The value of recognizing intervals, chord shapes, and progressions quickly.
• How strong sight readers connect visual, auditory, and physical responses together.
• Why scales and arpeggios support faster pattern recognition.
• The benefits of sight-reading games for developing keyboard awareness.
• How scrolling sight-reading apps help students keep their eyes moving forward.
• Jenna recommended rhythm and sight-reading apps for different skill levels.
• Why collaborative piano helps students build listening and communication skills.
• The value of collaborative experiences for reducing isolation in piano study.
• How teacher-student duets build ensemble awareness from the first lesson.
• Jenna shared collaborative activities that work within one-on-one lessons.
• The benefits of call-and-response games and improvisation activities.
• Why collaborative and solo piano skills should be developed together.
• How pairing students for duets builds accountability and teamwork.
• How studio classes can encourage collaborative learning.
• Why duet repertoire should be slightly easier than solo repertoire.
• Jenna recommended beginner-friendly duet books and trio repertoire.
• The value of starting collaborative piano experiences at a young age.

Links Mentioned

• Get your TopMusicLive 2026 On Demand Pass here.
• Rosamund Conrad's Books
• Rayan's Duet Book
• Fairyland in Treble
• Celebrated Piano Duets by Robert D. Vandall
• Masterwork Classics Duets
• Tunes for My Piano Trio 1
• A Tableau Of Piano Trios for Piano, Violin & Violincello

Today's Guest Dr. Jenna Braaksma is Assistant Professor of Collaborative Piano and Piano Pedagogy at the University of Northern Colorado, where she teaches collaborative piano, class piano, and piano pedagogy courses. She also advises graduate assistants and serves as a collaborative pianist for faculty and guest artist performances. A dedicated educator, Dr. Braaksma brings a wealth of experience from applied studios, secondary schools, and higher education institutions. Prior to working at UNC, Dr. Braaksma served as Class Piano Coordinator and Instructor in the Piano Pedagogy Laboratory Program at the University of Michigan. She has also held faculty positions at Buena Vista University and Dordt University. An active collaborative pianist, adjudicator, and researcher, Dr. Braaksma regularly presents at regional, state, and national conferences. Her research focuses on collaborative piano pedagogy, functional piano skills for music educators, and visuo-motor coordination in sight-reading development. Her work has appeared in American Music Teacher, the MTNA e-journal, Iowa Music Educator Magazine, ArkMEA e-journal, and National Center for Keyboard Pedagogy Conference Proceedings. Dr. Braaksma holds a PhD in Music Education with an emphasis in Piano Pedagogy from Florida State University, dual master’s degrees from the University of Missouri, and a Bachelor of Music from Iowa State University. About Rachel Ehring Dr. Rachel Ehring is a pianist, teacher, music administrator, and lover of piano teaching gadgets. She holds a DMA in Collaborative Piano from the University of Colorado Boulder and a MM in Accompanying from the University of Kansas. She currently serves as Director at St. John’s Conservatory of the Arts in Orange County, CA. Previously, she held positions at Concordia University Irvine and Henderson State University. Rachel is passionate about empowering music teachers to create engaging and exciting lessons for students of all ages. When she isn’t playing the piano, you might find Rachel reading books with her son or walking her beagle Frieda.

• Visit her website at RachelEhring.com
• Visit her Instagram page: @rachelehring
• Visit her YouTube channel: @dreamlavendermusic6694
• Visit her Etsy shop at Dream Lavender Music

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