Quick Tips for Better Practice

I have a student coming this afternoon whose mother just had her third child, meaning that he's been doing a good deal of practice on his own over the past month. He's a younger student as well as a quick learner, but I've been noticing that his practice habits lately haven't been as disciplined as I'd like them to be. He loves to speed through the music without taking the time to count or take in other details (I have a feeling he'll be getting a fair number of my new 'speeding tickets' but more on that in an upcoming post). So I took a few moments this morning to write up a short handout I'm going to staple into his practice notebook for him to use over the week at home. Hopefully this will help him be a bit more conscientious when he sits down to practice!

What do you do to help younger students whose home practice sometimes leaves a few things to be desired?! Anything you'd add to my list?

New Scale and Arpeggio Visual Teaching Aids

Here are some new studio aids I'm in the process of developing. Over the past year I've been using strictly visual aids for teaching scales to my students. I've found that picturing the scale patterns by seeing them laid out on the keyboard is much more effective than trying to read the scale books. This was most dramatically demonstrated this spring when I had some transfer students who used scale books and were struggling with learning and executing new scales as we got to the keys that had more accidentals. One week I decided to remove the scale book and replace it with visuals- and what a difference it made!

I just recently discovered Natalie Wickham's excellent scale charts on her Music Matters blog. I'd been using visual scales before, but was a bit disappointed that the version I was using didn't have all the sharp and flat key signatures. Natalie's version has every key! I'm excited to start using them with my students- thank you Natalie for your work. :)

I love these visual scale aids, but I had been unsuccessful with finding any type of visual aid for learning arpeggios...so I'm making my own! Here is a picture of how they're turning out. If you notice, I use the 'traditional' 5-3-2-1 LH fingering- any thoughts on that? I'd be happy to revise to include 5-4-2-1 if some teachers prefer that...

I've gotten through all of the Major keys at this point. It's taken me a bit longer to work these up than I originally anticipated, but I hope to move on to minors soon. If you think these would be helpful for your students, please feel free to print them out! My only stipulation is that you let me know how they work and give me some good feedback! :)

In addition to this, I've designed my own scale spinners! WOOHOO! I've wanted to do something like this for a while. I love the musical dice that Joy has over at Color in my Piano, but as I teach from two locations and in students' homes and take a bag(s) with me, anything 3-D isn't likely to last too long! You're welcome to use these as well. They're a bit more detailed (they have all the flat and sharp key signatures on them) so if you're looking for something a bit more simplified, please let me know and I'll see what I can do!

Both of these documents are available under the printables tab of my blog.

I didn't get nearly all the work accomplished last week that I was hoping to, but I got some projects started. Stay tuned for more updates and hopefully some completed projects this coming week!

Great Website for Inexpensive Game Pieces...and Lots More!

While searching around for some studio game accessories, I came across this great website. Not only are there some neat game pieces available like dice, play money, pawns, chips, sand times, and spinner sets (all at very inexpensive prices), check out the beads and findings section! There is also a page with charms, decorative brads, and under the 'ephemera' page you'll find a kitchen sink pack, tickets, paper bits, and an alphamania pack....have I sold you on this website yet!? There are so many great items for games, studio prizes, teacher projects, etc...I am super excited about taking advantage of several of these great deals for my own studio. Happy shopping! :)

Group Lesson Activity: Best and Worst Practice Habits

While I haven't been nearly as productive this week as I had planned, I did want to share some of the fruits of my labors from group lessons. Here is one activity I used in all but my very earliest beginning group:

I found this great Top 10 Best and Worst Ways to Practice list posted on Marcia Vahls' Piano Perspectives blog. I loved the post and thought it would be a great item to present to my students.

I designed a colorful handout for each student to put in their binders, but I also wanted to spend a bit more time focusing on these concepts so that they'd hopefully retain them! So I ended each group lesson with an activity using the list- I printed off and cut out both lists and mixed them up. Up on the wall was a column for "Best Ways to Practice" and "Worst Ways to Practice". Each student had to pick one of the pieces of paper, read it, decide whether it belonged under the "best" or "worst" heading, and place it in the right spot. Sometimes the individual student decided, other times we all voted just to make it more fun! :)

As each group of students left and were given the handout I had designed, it was really cool to see them actually reading it, saying "Oh, I do that!" and sharing it with their parents.

I'm going to be further discussing these ideas in lessons over the coming weeks, but more on that later (I'm still tweaking)! In the meantime, the handout I designed for the group lesson can be found under the printables tab.

Group Lesson Week, Free Cool Music Notation Fonts, and Laminating Madness

It's been group lesson week here at Discoveries Piano Studio, and I think we've all enjoyed a slight change of pace from the usual weekly grind.

I've been working on several 'projects' through the week since I had a bit more free time and I'll be posting about them soon- after my students give them the test drive. But I wanted to share a few great things I've stumbled across and put to use this week.

While browsing the web earlier this week, I lighted upon a this website. Matthew Hindson, the owner of this site, has graciously provided several free music notation fonts for use with Windows, Mac, and Finale. I was so excited when I stumbled on this resource! There are fonts for figured bass, tempo indications, and even some really cool fonts for recorder and saxophone fingerings! I'd encourage you to visit this website and check out all the resources available.

I also wanted to share about my latest favorite gadget- my laminator. ;) Now, I'm sure that many of you teachers out there already own a laminator and use it on a regular basis, but I just recently bought mine and have been thrilled with the results! I found it for a very decent price on Amazon. I went a little wild this week (using the group lessons as my excuse!) and used it for the first time. I laminated flashcards and worksheets- it was a breeze! I'm only sorry that I didn't take the plunge and buy it sooner.

So that's been my week. A change of pace with group lessons and tapping into some great new resources. What new and unique resources have you found recently?

Keyboard Note Template for Teacher Use

If you have beginner students who need a little more work with note names, I've designed this template for use in a variety of ways. I plan on using it for flashcards, worksheets, and maybe even some little sticky labels to put in students' notebooks. It took very little time to put together, and I'm excited about the multiple ways I can put it to use!

Anything great is better when shared :), so I thought I'd post this on my blog for other teachers to utilize in designing their own activities. There are two pages- the first has just blank keys, and the second has stars on keys to drill specific notes. You can download the template by following the link on my printables page. It is a Publisher file, so please let me know if you need another format. You should be able to re-size the keys to whatever works best for your current activity. Enjoy!

Finger Number Worksheet

I have taken on several beginner students in the past month, all of which seem to need a little extra work with getting comfortable with finger numbers. In trying to come up with multiple creative ways to help them drill the finger numbers, I came up with this worksheet.

After tracing each hand, the student gets to use a little bit of artistic creativity! I've only created a worksheet for the RH so far, but a corresponding LH sheet will follow soon! These worksheets are available for download on my printables page.

Lily Pad Interval Game

Interval recognition is key to good sightreading skills, and with that in mind I've designed this simple game for my students. You can use it with individual students, or in a group lesson setting as a game for teams.

Print the lily pads using card stock. Place the lily pads on the floor or table top. (You can pick and choose which lily pads to use depending on the students skill level or if there are specific intervals that need work). Then give each student or team a stuffed frog. Hold up an interval card (Jennifer Fink has some great 'interval tower' flashcards available at her website here) and see how fast the student or team can identify the interval and make their frog leap to the correct lily pad!

I'm looking forward to trying this game out in upcoming group lessons, but please give me any feedback you may have from using the game and if you have any suggestions. I wasn't too pleased with the image quality on the lily pads. You can find the game on my printables page.

Rainbow Landmark Note Worksheet

I don't know about all of you, but I am more than ready for spring! We had more snow this past week- yuck! To take my mind off of the snowy landscape outside, and to find just one more creative way to help my students learn their landmark notes, I created this worksheet:

It's perfect for spring and for St. Patrick's Day! Please feel free to use the worksheet in your studio, and send me any comments or suggestions you may have.

Chord Challenge Worksheets for St. Patrick's Day

If you have students who need a little more practice building major and minor chords, I've designed these worksheets for use in the coming month:

Students are given the root note of the chord on the first cloverleaf and are asked to build the rest of the chord in the remaining leaves. You can print individual sheets for each student, or laminate each sheet and reuse it for multiple students. There is a major and minor worksheet. They are available under the printable section of my blog.

This is my first attempt at designing a worksheet and offering it for general use, so please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions!

PA Primer Reference Sheet for Teachers

I blogged about this a few weeks back, but it's taken me this long to finally get started on the project! In the coming months, I hope to create teacher help-sheets for each of the Piano Adventures levels with information on what students learn in each book, the concepts they should have a firm grasp on before moving ahead, some common struggles many of my students encounter, some of the more popular songs, etc.

At this point, I only have a few students in the Primer Level, but it's the one I'm most familiar with, so that's where I started. I attempted to color-coordinate each section; for example, I used purple since that's the color of the Primer books, pink for the technique portion as it's the color of the Technique & Artistry Book header, green for the supplementary section as it's the Performance header color, and so on and so forth. As you can see, this form is pretty empty at this point, but I wanted to post to get some feedback.

Please feel free to use this form in your own lesson planning and pass along any suggestions on how I could tweak it or what else I might want to include in a given category. You can download the form here.

Question of the Week: Jan. 17, 2011

I can't believe that January is half over already! Where does the time go?

Last week, I posited a question about using/over-using the metronome. I provided my own thoughts yesterday afternoon, but I'd like to keep to the same vein this week with a few more rhythm-related questions.

As a teacher, how do you introduce the metronome in lessons? When do you feel a student is ready for the metronome? Other than the metronome, what do you use with your students to help instill a good sense of pulse?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this, and as always, I'll be posting my own this coming weekend.

My Thoughts on Metronome Practice (This Week's QotW)

At the beginning of the week, I posed this question:

How important do you feel the metronome is for daily practice in your studio? Do you make it a requirement or just a suggestion? Can it be overused?

And, wouldn't you know it, I had the perfect illustration of the usefulness of metronome practice this week! I had a student working on memorizing a piece who came back to me this week super excited about the work he'd put into memorization. And then he started playing...

The rhythm was TOTALLY wrong! I sat there and listened to him perform, cringing through the entire performance as his rhythm errors continued throughout the piece. At the end, I handed him back the music, discussed a few of the pertinent areas, and then we tried it again- this time with the metronome. And guess what- the counting problems magically fixed themselves!

I had asked him to practice with the metronome while memorizing the piece, but since I could tell it hadn't happened (hence the rhythm errors!) I stressed again that he MUST ALWAYS practice this week with the metronome.

It's amazing to me how students can really not seem to hear their rhythm mistakes, even when they are counting out loud. Sometimes, just relying on a students' own ability to count just isn't enough. Enter the metronome.

As my studio continues to grow, I've become increasingly convinced as to the indispensability of the metronome in daily practice. Not only does it force the student to slow down, it also ensures the students feels and maintains a steady pulse.

I don't often use a metronome with my younger students, except maybe as a fun exploratory exercise, but for those who are at a late elementary level and beyond, I think it's too valuable of an asset to overlook.

Whether you make metronome practice a suggestion or a requirement depends largely on the individual. Some students take every suggestion to heart and follow through, others won't and need more specific directions (ie orders!). If you know your students well, you should be able to tell which method is needed.

Finally, can the metronome be overused? I think so. While some practice is essential to help a student in developing pulse and learning the benefit of slow practice, too much metronome work can result in a lack of musical expression and a rubato feel. Students need to understand the value of pulse, but also the fact that a good sense of pulse is relative to the larger construct of the piece as a whole, and that each piece will require a different emphasis.

So there you have it, my rather wordy answer to the QotW! Hope this gave you some food for thought. Stay tuned for next week's question.

New Question of the Week Series

At this point, there aren't too many people reading my blog, but my hope is that that will change over time! In light of that fact, I've decided to post a question each Monday for feedback through the coming week. It may be a question pertaining to my personal skills as a pianist, an issue about church musicianship, or a teaching dilemma I'm at a loss as to how to handle. Through the week I'll ask other readers to provide feedback or suggestions.

So...here's the first installment of my new QotW Series:

How important do you feel the metronome is for daily practice in your studio? Do you make it a requirement or just a suggestion? Can it be overused?

Additional Studio Foci for the Spring

Yesterday I shared about my spring practice incentive. That's an activity that's always fun to plan, and even more enjoyable as I see my students get caught up in the spirit of the competition.

In addition to the spring practice incentive, however, I have a few other drills I'm incorporating into weekly lessons.

1) To help my students develop a better sense of familiarity with the keyboard and basic intervallic recognition, I'm using the Across the C's sightreading sheets from Natalie Wickham's Music Matters Blog. I love how these worksheets drill spatial and intervalic concepts. The series is also great for drilling additional concepts like: looking for repeated patterns, reading ahead and preparing the next hand position, and maintaining a steady pulse. These sheets are easily accessible, which allows the student to feel a sense of accomplishment.

2) For students who need a bit more work on note recognition, I'm assigning Notes in the Fast Lane sheets from Susan Paradis' website. I've been amazed at how much my students (especially the guys!) love this activity.

3) Another concept I'm really emphasizing for my intermediate students this spring is pulse. This means (oh no!) metronome work. I'm not one to assign a huge amount of metronome practice for my students, but for those who seem to struggle with feeling and maintaining pulse, I've made a resolution with myself that I will start incorporating more metronome work into their weekly assignments.

I'm sure that as the weeks progress I'll start pulling out additional drills to address new issues that crop up, but these were ideas I decided to incorporate right from the start, and I'm hoping to be able to give a positive report in the weeks to come on the success of each drill!

Studio Practice Incentive: Spring 2011

This past week was the first week of lessons for my spring term. I had a lot of fun coming up with an idea for this term's practice incentive, although, to give credit where credit is due, it was really my husband who inspired the idea behind the contest.

Once Christmas is past, my brain jumps ahead about 6 months and starts wishing for warmer, summer-type weather, so to keep with this theme, my spring practice incentive is tropically centered.

My students are participating in two different contests this spring. At their first lesson, I handed out a page for their activity binder with information about the two contests.

Practice Incentive #1: Just Mon-key-ing Around
This contest involves each students' weekly practice. I created a palm tree and the students' monkeys climb the palm tree as they add up practice minutes and days. I have always struggled as a teacher with whether it's better to emphasize how much students practice or how well students practice, and while I still haven't come to any definite conclusions, I felt that the contests that emphasize collecting practice minutes generally result in greater diligence on the part of my students. You can see in this picture the palm tree I created with all the monkeys piled up at the bottom waiting to begin their ascent.



Practice Incentive #2: I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts
I try to encourage memorization with my students whenever possible, but there are some students who just struggle with committing music to memory. I decided to make memorizing a goal for my studio this spring and created a contest to help inspire my students. Each student has a palm tree and they collect one coconut on their tree for each piece they memorize. I hope to encourage my students to take the idea of learning a piece by memory to heart and help them develop good memorizing habits and skills. You may not be able to see from this picture, but a few of my students already have coconuts on their palm trees!



It may still be winter here in Maryland, and cold to boot, but I'm dreaming of the tropics and I hope to see my students excel this term with these two contests!