Amazing Bach Duo on Floor Keyboard

Just a little fun for your Saturday morning. A friend posted this video on facebook, and I just had to share! :)

Teaching Musical Playing + My First Giveaway!

Good morning fellow bloggers! It's been a while since I've posted. I'm not sure how many other teachers have found themselves more and more pressed for time as the term advances, but I certainly have! Unfortunately, as a result my blogging has taken more of a backseat role these past few weeks.

This morning I wanted to discuss playing musically. Musicality is an aspect that I've been really emphasizing with my students this fall. While I do believe that this is something that should be taught from the very beginning, there are always some students who seem to be more in tune to all those subtle nuances that make the music come alive. Other students notice, but put it in as a matter of course, not because they feel it. And then there's that last category- the students that never pay any attention to the dynamics, tempo, touch, etc. and see the piece as successful only when they've plowed straight through and arrived at the end.

With so many approaches from the student toward the performing of music, there is no set formula that works across the board. Some students will more naturally pick up on the musical elements that appear in the music, while others will struggle with incorporating those elements, even after repeated reminders.

When I speak of musicality, my primary emphases are on aspects like the dynamics, articulation, tempo, and mood. Before we start a new song, I always take some time to have a discussion with the student about these elements- even on the most basic of pieces. I'll have them circle all the dynamics with a colored pencil, or trace the slurs to remind themselves to play with a smooth, connected sound. We'll discuss the title of the song, and how the music fits the title. By making the student aware of these elements from the very beginning, the musical results are generally much more positive.

As an added visual accompaniment, I often use this hand-out. It's especially helpful with those students who seem to really struggle with the concept of playing musically to help them be more in tune with these elements. It's available under the printables tab if you're interested in using it for your own students. Any thoughts on what else I could include?



I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you teaching musical playing to your students. What is the best way to teach this? Is there a time to start introducing musicality, or should it be part of lessons from the beginning? How do you help students who may struggle more with this issue? Do you consider a piece complete even if the musical aspects are not all there, or do you insist on all the elements before leaving a piece of music?

In addition to this discussion, I'd like to offer my first blog giveaway! Over the summer, I had time to read the excellent book "Scribbling in the Sand" by Michael Card. This book explores what it means to express ourselves creatively as Christians, and it really challenged my perspective of worship and creativity. I'd love to share this excellent book with one reader, so please, if you'd like to be included in the giveaway leave me a comment below telling what it means to you to be a Christian artist and how the presence of Christ in your life has shaped your approach to music and teaching. I'll pick a winner next Friday. Good luck!

Fun with Acrostics

Did you know that when Father Charles Goes Down And Eats Breakfast...

...he has granola?
...or that the granola sometimes gives him amnesia?
...or that if Father Charles is having a particularly bad day, the granola might end up eating him?

Oh the fun one can have in lessons when making up new acrostics! As you can see, one of my students from yesterday got pretty creative.

What kind of fun things have your students been up to in lessons recently?

Middle C and C Position Flashcards (Revised)

Ever had one of those moments where your best laid plans didn't quite turn out like you'd hoped? I went to print my flashcards yesterday in preparation for some games this week, and realized that the margins did not line up AT ALL! My apologies to those who may have printed them already.

I spent some time yesterday re-vamping these sets of flashcards to make sure that they lined up correctly. These new and improved sets can be found on my printables page under flashcards.

Making flashcards and worksheets is definitely a learning process for me! If anyone has tips they'd like to share, I'd love to hear from you! :)

It's the Little Things

Yesterday afternoon, I answered the door for my first students of the afternoon (a brother and sister who do back-to-back lessons) to find them bearing smiles and these lovely flowers which they handed to me with the words, "thank you for being our piano teacher."

I was so touched! There are many days when I don't feel appreciated as a teacher, and when students and their parents go out of their way to give just a small gesture of appreciation it really makes my whole day brighter! It truly is the little things that make teaching so worthwhile.

Have you had any little surprises recently that have brightened your teaching week?

Football Note Match-Up: More C-Position Review!

Here is another set of worksheets I designed with my beginning readers in mind. They can be found under the printables tab, scrolling down to the worksheets section. Enjoy!

A Family Wedding

Yesterday, I had the wonderful privilege of playing for my first family wedding. My cousin Laura was a beautiful bride, and I was so happy to be a part of her special day. I've played for a lot of weddings, but as this was the first wedding I've ever done for family, I was surprised at how emotional I found myself over the ceremony. As I watched the sanctuary filling with family I was able to pour myself into my music as my own personal gift of love to both the bride and our extended family.

This was also the first time during a wedding ceremony that I have been asked to perform the special music all by myself. Some couples have asked for a vocalist or instrumentalist, while many others simply opt not to have special music. But Laura and Tony asked me to perform one of their favorite songs, "Your Hand in Mine" by the group Explosions in the Sky. It is written for guitar, so finding a piano transcription and then adapting it to fit within the space of ~4 minutes was interesting, but so worth it!

My musical contribution to the wedding was my gift to the bride and groom, but that didn't stop Laura's mother from writing me a lovely card and passing along an Amazon giftcard as a token of thanks. I'm going to be visiting the music section of Amazon.com later this week to purchase some more music books for myself as a special treat- I can't wait!

Have you ever played for a family wedding? Did you find yourself more involved emotionally in the ceremony?