Linda Piatt & Jessica Retana

Unlocking Progress: Visual Tools That Empower Students

Helping Students See, Organize, and Celebrate Their Musical Growth

Presenters: Linda Piatt & Jessica Retana

Two Suzuki teachers from the United States, Linda Piatt and Jessica Retana, share practical visual systems that help students overcome learning obstacles, stay motivated, and make consistent progress in their repertoire study.

This session introduces two powerful organizational tools that can transform the learning process:

Skills Tree

A visual learning map that connects technical and musical skills while helping students recognize their development and understand how individual skills contribute to long-term growth.

Kanban Method

A visual workflow system that helps students organize tasks, prioritize goals, and maintain steady progress through clear and manageable learning steps.

Drawing on examples from the IMTEX Online Media Library and Kerstin Wartberg’s educational publications, participants will discover practical ways to:

• clarify skill development and learning sequences
• organize practice goals effectively
• make progress visible to students and parents
• strengthen motivation and personal responsibility
• create a more engaging and rewarding practice experience

These innovative tools help transform music practice into a clear, structured, and motivating process, empowering students to take ownership of their learning while experiencing the satisfaction of meaningful and measurable progress.

Presenter Biographies

Linda Piatt

Linda Piatt is a dedicated violin and viola instructor, performer, clinician, presenter, and event director. She is passionate about helping students develop productive practice habits, artistic excellence, and confidence through a combination of structure, clarity, and compassionate teaching.

Her innovative Practice Makes Performance curriculum has helped students practice more effectively and perform with greater ease and reliability. As an active performer for more than twenty-five years, Linda currently performs with the San Diego Symphony, California Chamber Orchestra, Classics 4 Kids Philharmonic, and the Hutchins Consort.

She has appeared alongside distinguished artists including Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Gil Shaham, Itzhak Perlman, and Yo-Yo Ma. Linda has presented workshops and clinics for organizations including the Suzuki Association of the Americas, the American Viola Society, the Southern California Viola Society, the International Music Teachers Exchange, and the German Suzuki Association.

Linda holds degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Minnesota and is a fully registered Suzuki teacher for both violin and viola. She also maintains a strong interest in performance psychology and has studied peak performance strategies with Dr. Don Greene and Dr. Noa Kageyama.

She lives in San Diego with her husband and their two children.

Jessica Retana

Jessica Retana is a Suzuki violin teacher, Suzuki Early Childhood Music Educator, and founder of The Well-Balanced Violin Studio in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is committed to fostering a lifelong love of music while helping students develop both artistic excellence and strong personal character.

Jessica is co-founder of the 505 Suzuki Collective, an organization dedicated to providing high-quality Suzuki education through group classes, parent education, and community events.

She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Violin Performance from Belmont University and Southern Methodist University and has completed extensive Suzuki teacher training under the guidance of Charles Krigbaum, Daina Volodka Staggs, Lynn McCall, and Sharon Jones.

In recognition of her dedication to teaching and professional development, Jessica received the Suzuki Association of the Americas Certificate of Achievement in 2023 and the prestigious Distinguished Young Teachers Award in 2024.

An active performer, Jessica is a tenured violinist with the New Mexico Philharmonic and regularly performs with the Santa Fe Symphony, Opera Southwest, and the Giovanni String Quartet. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the New Mexico Chapter of the American String Teachers Association and enjoys spending time with her husband and three cats.