055: Catching Up with Composer Chrissy Ricker

Composer and piano teacher Chrissy Ricker joins us today to share insights into her creative process, teaching philosophy, and passion for composing engaging music for students of all levels. She discusses how she integrates improvisation into lessons, the inspiration behind her compositions, and the importance of creativity in piano education. Chrissy also introduces her latest publications, shares free resources available for teachers, and offers practical tips for helping students build confidence in their musical expression.

• Chrissy shared her journey as a pianist, teacher, and composer based in North Carolina.
• How she started writing music for her students and eventually pursued publishing.
• She highlighted her extensive catalog of original compositions and arrangements, including video game and film music.
• The importance of creativity in piano lessons and how it helps students develop musicianship.
• Some insights on how teachers can integrate improvisation into lessons through small, structured activities.
• Using storytelling and black-key improvisation to help students gain confidence.
• The value of repetition in improvisation exercises to build student comfort and skill.
• Her transition from teaching to full-time composing and how she continues to engage with students through teachers who use her music.
• Her approach to composing, preferring to start with a strong title for inspiration.
• Advice on teaching improvisation to adult students, including using backing tracks to ease performance anxiety.
• She introduced her latest books, including Better Together, a duet collection, and First Rhapsodies and Reveries, designed for expressive elementary-level playing.

Links Mentioned

• Chrissy Ricker's Website: www.chrissyricker.com
• Chrissy Ricker's Facebook Page: Chrissy Ricker Music
• Chrissy Ricker's Instagram Page: @chrissyrickermusic
• Better Together Songbook
• First Rhapsodies and Reveries Songbook
• TopMusic Piano Podcast 013: Using the Piano Pronto Series with Jennifer Eklund

Today's Guest

Chrissy Ricker is a pianist, teacher, and composer from North Carolina. She holds a Master’s degree in music with a concentration in piano performance and pedagogy. A Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM), Chrissy enjoys sharing her ideas with other piano teachers. Her articles on piano teaching have been featured in American Music Teacher magazine, and she blogs regularly about piano teaching and composing at her website, chrissyricker.com.

A prolific composer and arranger, Chrissy specializes in creating exciting music for piano students of all ages and skill levels. She has published over 40 collections of piano solo and duet music for students that are available from Piano Pronto Publishing and Neil A. Kjos Music Company. Chrissy is also a “Signature Artist” arranger with Musicnotes.com, where she has a catalog of over 1,000 arrangements, from video game themes to pop songs, for pianists at every level.

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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