The Race is On!

After 2 weeks of summer lessons, I thought I'd share a shot of our music racetrack. Unfortunately, the second week of summer was the week that almost half of my studio went on vacation, so a lot of the racecars are still down at the starting line, and the race is still missing a few students, but you can see that there are a few who have entered the race.

I've also had several students who have already shown the initiative to memorize some of their music, which is what the checkered flags in the middle of the racetrack are for.

We're off to a pretty good start, but I'm hoping that this week will see more cars up and in the race!

Summer 2012 Practice Incentive!

This week has sped by! I can't believe it's Sunday evening, and lessons start up TOMORROW! I think I'm all prepared... ;)

One of the things I most look forward to at the start of each new term is a new practice incentive! I have so much fun coming up with a theme and getting everything together. This summer, our theme is "The Great Music Race". Students will be racing their cars around the track to see who can get closest to the finish line by the end of the summer. The racetrack will also get decorated over the term, as each piece memorized will earn a student a flag to put on the track.

Our race track is all completed and ready to go! I'll provide more pictures at the end of the week once students have their cars all set up at the starting line.

I'm also continuing our flashcard study by using Susan Paradis' Notes in the Fast Lane worksheets. I have all 12 levels laminated and I use them with students from time to time, but I thought that this summer would be the perfect opportunity to really make use of those excellent note drills. As an extra incentive, each student who makes it to Level 6 over the 8 weeks of the summer term will earn a ticket to a pizza party at the end of the term!

I'm hoping to see some dedicated practice from my students over these summer months. What are you doing to help motivate your studios over the summer?!

Music History Discovery: Printable Music History Timeline

In prepping for group lessons this week, I stumbled upon this excellent music history resource available on the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra's website.

 

The timeline has a brief summary of each era of music history with information on the characteristics of each era, information on the role of the conductor, and a handy list of famous composers from each period. Along the bottom is a running world history timeline to provide some context. I'm really excited about using this in my group lessons (more on that in a later post)!

 

The site also has some great handouts on the instrument families, activity pages, as well as some music notation worksheets. It looks to be a great resource! I love it when I stumble upon a great resource like this completely by accident! It makes my day. :)

I'm interested if any other teachers have found some great music history resources on the web. Please comment if you have any to share!

Finger Number Flashcards for the Beginning Student

I started 2 new students this past week, which inspired me to make these flashcards to help them learn their finger numbers. It seems like every student has their own personal challenges and I try to cater to those specific needs and help them overcome those challenges. These particular students were having a bit of trouble remembering their finger numbers.

The cards are very simple and can be used for a matching game, or just to drill finger numbers during lesson time. There are 2 types of cards, with a set for RH and LH. One set that shows a hand with a finger number in the middle:

and another set with an arrow pointing to the different fingers:

These flashcards are available on my printables page under the flashcard section. Please feel free to print them and use them with your own students!

Latest Addition to the Home Studio

Look what's been going on in my studio this week:

I finally got a Piano Life Saver System installed on my piano! I've been wanting to do this ever since I purchased my new piano over a year ago, but the piano purchase was enough of an expense that I needed to wait for a time to save up for the system.

Finally, with the help of a little Christmas money, I was able to schedule an install of this system. I am thrilled that it's finally installed and running. There were a few hiccups in getting the system set up, involving drilling holes in my piano so that the tubing could fit:

but I know that this will really help extend the life of my instrument. Maryland is famous for it's hot, humid summers, and we don't run our air-conditioning system all that often, so I really wanted to be as proactive as possible in protecting my piano.

Have you taken steps to get a similar system on your instrument? Do you think that this is a good investment? I'd love to hear your opinions!

Note Wizards! Studio Project #1

It's a COLD, windy day here in Maryland. After an unseasonably mild December (I was walking around outside without a jacket on Dec. 30!) winter seems to be here at long last :(

While I am mourning the onset of winter weather, the cold weather has kept me inside and focused on getting some projects accomplished for the upcoming spring term.

I am putting the finishing touches on my big practice contest, and I'll post about that later in the week, but I completed another smaller side project today that I want to share.

My studio is mostly comprised of beginner and elementary level students. One resolution that I have set for myself this spring is to really help these kids learn their notes. While note reading isn't everything, it certainly factors in reading fluency.

To help my students learn their notes and encourage them to practice their flashcards (as well as foster some healthy competition!) I'm inviting all my students to try their hands at becoming music wizards over this term.

There are 2 charts, one for my beginners, and another for those that are a bit further along. Each chart has rules to pass each level, with more flashcards added for each new level. Going along, students earn stickers to put on the chart as they move closer toward becoming music wizards!

It's amazing how competitive kids can be- and I'm hoping that having a visual representation will encourage my students to master their notes!

What kind of projects do you have up your sleeve as you get ready to start a new teaching term?

My Favorite Holiday Resources!

Good morning! My presence on the blog will probably be scarce as Christmas looms closer and closer, but I wanted to share a brief list of some of my favorite places for Christmas resources for my students. I've been using these worksheets and games in lessons this week, and plan to use them at our term party in just another week as well.

1) Susan Paradis' website has a wealth of Christmas-themed activities and individuals and groups alike. Check out this post for a complete list of all the Christmas materials on her site.

2) D'Net Layton has some adorable sets of flashcard ornaments and stockings that are perfect for the Christmas season.

3) Jennifer Fink at Pianimation has several excellent games and theory activities as well. All of her Christmas resources can be found in this post.

Did I miss anyone? If you know of other great resources, please let me know! Merry Christmas to you all! :)

Fun New Rhythm Instruments for the Studio!

Yes, it's recital week at the studio, but in the midst of planning group lessons and getting all the recital details taken care of, I came across a few items on Amazon that I just had to purchase for my studio!

The first was a Band-In-A-Box kit which contains a variety of musical instruments perfect for rhythm activities both in individual and group lessons.

I also picked up a set of 4 egg shakers at the same time. I've been wanting to get a few of these for some time now, and this was the perfect opportunity.

The box arrived yesterday, and while I'm dying to use them in lessons, that's going to have to wait until lessons resume after Thanksgiving, giving me lots of time to come up with some creative ways to use these instruments in lessons. :)

I'd love to hear ideas from other teachers out there. Do you ever use other musical instruments in your lessons? How do you incorporate them?

I got something else very special in the mail yesterday as well; a lovely Thanksgiving card from one of the families I teach. In the midst of a rather hectic week, it was such an appreciated gesture, and gave me the extra boost I needed as I went about my recital preparations yesterday evening.

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!

1 Octave Minor Arpeggios Just Added!

I was able to complete my 'weekend project' late Sunday afternoon, and the 1-octave arpeggio visual guides are now complete with both major and minor sets available under the printables tab.

Please check them out if you are interested, and, as always, send feedback my way!

Visual Guides for One Octave Major Arpeggios

I'm in the midst of re-working my visual arpeggio sheets...and while fixing up the 2-octave sets, I decided to do some 1-octave sets as well.

The blank set is for students to write in the fingerings on their own and has grey keys for ease with writing. Please feel free to use these in your studios and comment if there are any mistakes you might find. I am an amateur at any computer-generated materials like this, but hopefully these will be useful! Both of these sets are available on the printables tab.

New! Teacher Resources Page

It's finally up! I hinted last week that I might be compiling a teacher resources page to put up on my blog. As a teacher, I am always looking for good sites that offer free resources as well as items that I need for various musical projects at inexpensive prices. I've come across a few really wonderful resources over the past few years of teaching, and wanted to share them for the benefit of other teachers.

I don't want my list to stay it's current length though! It's my goal to continue to grow the list as I discover new resources- whether through my own research or from the input of other teachers. So...please check out the list and let me know if there are any sites I might have missed!

I hope you enjoy this new blog resource :)

Another Great Resource for [Almost] Everything Musical

I have to confess- I LOVE getting magazines in the mail! And when I received a catalog from Music Treasures Company earlier this week, I couldn't wait to look through it to see just what they had to offer.

I was completely blown away by the variety of items they offered, and at pretty reasonable prices too! Not to mention a clearance section (always where I look first ;) ). From apparel to accessories and fun gifts, certificates and trophies to classroom and studio decor, they have a little bit of everything.

So I'm curious. Have any other teachers out there heard of this company or had experience with their service and products? What other companies have you ordered from in the past? Do you have and standard go-to places that offer hands down the best selection and deals?

I'm thinking of adding a page to my blog with a list of great resources like this, so any additional companies you can recommend would be great!

Question of the Week: July 4, 2011- Creating a Music Lending Library

As a relatively new piano teacher, the idea of a music lending library is one that has become increasingly attractive to me in the past year. However, it is an option that I know next-to-nothing about.

As a student, I can remember the excitement of receiving a brand new book and relishing the fact that it was mine. I would write my name on the inside cover, and if there were any pictures in the book it wouldn't be long before I had colored them in. There's also something special about looking back at those old books and remembering my favorite pieces from each one. This is one reason I've always been a bit hesitant to embrace the idea of a lending library.

On the other hand, I know that many of my students would welcome the opportunity to borrow a book rather than spend the money on it. I already try to cut down on repertoire costs for my students as much as possible, and this would be another great way to do it.

As you can see, I'm still kind of on the fence about this issue, and before I make a decision one way or the other, I wanted to get some feedback from other teachers who may have used this idea successfully (or maybe not so successfully!) in their studios. So here are my questions:

1. Why did you start your lending library? Was there a large initial investment on your part?
2. What kind of material makes up the bulk of your library? Do you have any specific books/series that you'd highly recommend as a core of the library?
3. How do you decide when a student may choose a book? Is it a reward, a fun occasional activity, or does their selection make up part of their main repertoire?
4. How do you keep track of all the music? When a student has a book, what are your policies about the condition of the book, and how much do your write in the music?
5. Have you found this a successful investment of your resources?

I'd love to hear your answers to any/all of these questions!

Free Scale and Arpeggio Progress Charts and More on Teaching Scales

As a follow-up to my question-of-the-week on teaching arpeggios I thought I'd provide a bit more background on how I approach scales as well as provide my free scale checklists! I developed these for my own studio use just a couple of months ago. Previously I'd been printing and using a checklist from another source, but I was looking for something a bit more comprehensive, so I got creative and designed my own.

For the longest time, the hardest question for me was "WHEN do I start teaching scales?" Was there a magic moment when I should whip out my scale charts and dazzle my unsuspecting students with this exciting new concept? And, more importantly, "just how should I present scales?"

Over time I've come to believe that while there may be a magic moment, it's different for every student. Some students will be ready far sooner than others, and it's up to me to judge when each one is ready for the task.

I always begin with pentascales, and don't even consider moving on to scales until the concept of 5-finger scale patterns and tonic and dominant are well-established.

When I feel students have a firm grasp of pentascales, I introduce 1-octave scales followed by a tonic triad. The number of scales assigned each week depends on the student. Rather than using a traditional scale book, I opt for providing each student with a scale binder with printable materials. Susan Paradis' Picture Scales are part of their scale binder material and serve as a visual guide. In addition to these, I also include a blank Circle of 5ths chart found here (at the bottom of the page) as well as a blank key signature chart found here. Students fill these out as we learn each new scale/key signature.

Once students have mastered the basic scale, we gradually augment the pattern. We might add in staccato scales, or arpeggios might seem like the next logical step. In other words, while I have a definite starting place for when I feel a student is prepared to begin work on scales, the pattern after that point will look very different depending on each student.

For further reference, I've included copies of my Scale Master progress charts under my printables page. I designed these charts with three levels, each one adding more octaves, increased levels of speed, or more finely tuned skills. Please feel free to use these in your own studios- and send me any ideas you might have for making these more student-friendly.

In addition, I've love to hear from other teachers on their own scale secrets! I'm always open to new ideas!

Finally Completed! My Musical Alpha Gems

I bought my gemstones at least a month ago, planning to make my own sets of alpha-gems (inspired by this post from Joy over at Color in My Piano) within the week. Somehow, that never happened! So on my term break week I was determined to get these completed and ready for use over the summer!

It took quite a bit more time than I'd anticipated, but I finally got them completed this afternoon. I took Joy's idea and ran with it- creating a few more sets then just the original alphabet letters.

I grouped my alphagems and have them stored in some cute, colorful plastic containers so I can easily pull out the set that I need. And now a bit more detail about what's inside each container (descriptions follow each picture)...

This set is simply the alphabet letters. I'm going to use these for my beginner students to help them identify notes on the keyboard, and also to drill notes on the staff with some of my elementary students.

This set turned out to be the smallest, and is made up of what I call 'Landmark Notes' (some people like to call them 'Guide Notes'), the first notes new students learn and ones that help orient them on the staff as they continue to learn more notes.

Another set makes use of intervallic relationships. Within this container are gems noting half and whole steps, steps and skips, and intervals from the 2nds to octaves. Beginner students will use the step-skip gems, while more advanced students will drill intervals. These can be used along with the basic alphabet keys- draw a letter and an interval and place both gems on the correct keys or line/space on the staff.

The final group is basic alphabet keys with added sharps and flats. I plan to use these with students as we learn pentascales.

So there's my project for the week! What do you think? Any suggestions on additional ways I could use these in my studio? I'd love to hear other ideas!

Organization Projects and New Studio Finds!

With the recital coming up I've not been developing as many new teaching aids, so my attention has turned to organizing over the past week! A recent post by Nicole over at Nickel Notes started my creative juices flowing, and a subsequent trip to Hobby Lobby resulted in some of these new organization attempts:

I found these great little boxes sold in sets of 3 for $5.99/set. While not incredibly cheap, I loved the clear design (makes it easy to find what's inside!) and the fact that they were stackable. So bought two sets and labeled them with each Piano Adventures level.

Up to this point I've just had all my flashcards, games, and other small manipulatives in one big box, which makes it a bit of a headache when I'm trying to find something!! I figured having larger boxes for each level would help keep things better organized, and hopefully help me find what I need more quickly. While the games and flashcards that go into each box will not be mutually exclusive to that level alone, I'll be placing flashcards and games into the box where those concepts are taught (FACE in level 1, eighth notes in 2A, etc.).

I also picked up these gems for only $1.99 and plan to make a few sets of alpha-gems this week! I also have a few other ideas up my sleeve...

Something else I picked up at Staples a while back but thought I'd mention as well are these great little mini dry-erase boards. They're great to use for ear-training activities in lessons, and my students love being able to use the dry-erase boards for many other activities as well.

Finally, my accordian file. I wanted a better way to organize all my worksheets, scale charts, stickers, etc. and Nicole mentioned using an expandable file. Why had I never thought of that?!

It was a great idea! I used bright colors and designated separate folders for worksheets, scale binder materials, stickers, and other lesson materials.




I don't know about you, but I LOVE getting organized! Have you found any great organizational methods or materials recently?

Updated Major Arpeggio Visual Guide and NEW Minor Arpeggio Visual Guide

With the recital coming up in (gulp!) just two weeks, my blogging time will most likely be scarce, or at least the number of new resources posted. My main focus will be on preparing my students for the performance, not about teaching new skills.

However, this is a project I've been wanting to finish up for weeks now, and a rainy, cold Sunday afternoon was just the motivation I needed to complete it.

On my printables page you will find an updated, more colorful version of my 2-Octave Major Arpeggio Visual Guide, as well as a completed Minor Arpeggio Visual Guide!

Please enjoy using these in your own studios- and drop me a comment to let me know how they're working for you (and if there are any ways I can improve them!). Hope you all are having a bit more sunshine this afternoon- what a way to welcome in May!

FACE Worksheets

I've been having so much fun with my new laminator! It is probably one of the most versatile investments I have ever made for my studio. Not only can I use it to protect flashcards and game pieces, but I've recently started laminating my worksheets to eliminate paper waste.

Her are a few that I've created in the past week (and laminated of course! :) ). I can't wait to start using them with my students this week.

I have a fair number of students who are in Piano Adventures Level or have recently started Level 2A. I created these worksheets to help drill the treble clef space notes. Using FACE is an excellent way to reinforce spatial recognition as students use both 3rds and 5ths to identify these notes.

My goal is to drill these notes and then continue by translation that knowledge onto the keyboard, which is part of the purpose of the final worksheet. Note recognition doesn't mean anything unless they can translate it onto the keys, in my opinion at least!

As always, please feel free to provide feedback and use any of these worksheets for your own personal studios (click on the printables tab and scroll down to find these worksheets).

Re-Thinking Practice: Week 1

If you read my post on the group lesson activity on practice I planned, you already know that I have made it my goal to emphasize practice over the remainder of the spring piano term in my studio.

Taking the ideas introduced in group lesson and branching out from there, here's how I've been implementing the concept of better practice in my studio this week.

First, I enlarged and printed off the handouts I passed out to my students and hung them on the wall in my home studio- hopefully as an eyecatching reminder that I can reference with my students in the future.

Then, I spent some time thinking about the number 1 item on both charts and created a handout for students to fill out at the beginning of their lessons this past week to help them think about better practice. I plan to do this each week to help my students internalize good practice habits. I got all kinds of responses from my students- all the way from one student who took almost 20 minutes to fill her sheet out (I finally had to call it to a close since I wanted to get some playing time in!) to one student who looked a the sheet and 10 seconds later told me, "I don't know how to answer any of these" (yeah right- I don't think he'd even had time to read any of the questions, much less think about answers ;) ).

Finally, I'm getting creative and developing some alert stickers for my students! This weeks' stickers centered around spots in the music where students may have experienced a 'fumble', or sections where they speed ahead and forget to pay attention to details or wrong notes and rhythms

(a turtle reminds them to slow down, or they'll receive a 'speeding ticket' ). I'm hoping that putting these fun stickers on the music will make my students more conscious of their mistakes and help them be better listeners while they're playing.

This afternoon I'll be working on the handout for week 2- and some new stickers :)