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.

Flu, Flu Go Away...

There's a lot of sickness going around in Maryland, but up to this point my studio has been blessedly healthy. Until this week, when all of a sudden they're dropping like flies! One canceled yesterday, two more today...who knows what the rest of the week will hold?!

This means the fun of lesson rescheduling begins! I try to be really nice about offering either a make-up lesson (I purposely set aside the final week of the term for make-ups) or deducting the missed lesson off of the next month's tuition, but sometimes it gets to be a bit of a headache trying to keep track of everything.

So here's hoping that my student's get better quickly, I stay healthy, and I can keep track of the rapidly increasing amount of missed lessons.

If anyone has methods that have worked for keeping track of missed lessons that need to be refunded or made up, I'd love to hear them!

I LOVE Having a Keyboard in My Studio :)

I got an email this afternoon from my choir director asking me if I had time to make a recording of the children's choir anthem for Sunday and send it to her before their rehearsal tomorrow. I walked into the studio, recorded the anthem, hooked my thumb drive up, copied the file, transferred the file to my laptop, and sent it on its way. Just like that, in less than 20 minutes I was able to take a song, record it, and turn it into an audio file.

I used to be an acoustic piano purist. And when I started to teach I vowed that I would always use an acoustic piano for my students. I couldn't imagine teaching on one of those 'fake' electronic keyboards, much less even owning one!

Well, as I've learned over the years, I spend a good bit of my life eating my words! Not only have I owned a keyboard for about 2 years now, I teach from it and I have found it an invaluable asset to my studio.

I originally bought the keyboard to have as a good alternative for gigs. When one plays for private events, one quickly discovers that the ritziest locales can end up having the crappiest instruments. They just don't understand the value and difference a quality (or at least decent!) instrument makes. I got tired of my music sounding terrible because of the instrument I was stuck with.

Then I got married and my keyboard moved with me to our condo. After a few months, I started toying with the idea of opening a second studio location in our home. At that point I couldn't afford a piano, so after a lot of deliberation I decided to temporarily teach using the keyboard.

This past November I finally purchased my piano for the studio! I was so excited to have a quality instrument to play and teach on. But, surprisingly, in the interim between opening my second studio location and actually buying the piano my perception of the benefit of a keyboard changed dramatically. My students loved being able to come to lessons and try their pieces on a variety of settings and experiment with different sounds. A second instrument in the studio is an invaluable asset. And while I haven't yet experimented with recording my students, it's something I definitely want to explore in the future.

So while I still believe that there is no substitute for the acoustic piano and will never change my opinion on that count, I have come to acknowledge the keyboard in it's own right and appreciate what it has to bring to the modern music studio. Technology and music can be a wonderful partnership!

Question of the Week: Feb. 21, 2011

I realize that I skipped last week...but as I posted about teaching twins and got some feedback on that, I think I'll count that as my 'question of the week' for last week! ;)

This weeks' question focuses on adult students. I've had my fair share of these, and they usually don't last more than a few months as the demands of weekly lessons or the failure to meet their own expectations makes them drop out. Can anyone identify here?!

One of the most common phrases I'll hear from my adult students in a lesson is:

"I played it so much better at home."

I can identify with this frustration as I have experienced the same phenomenon myself- a piece that I have practiced flawlessly completely bombs during the lesson. So, what can we as teachers do to foster a non-threatening teaching environment? I personally don't think of myself as a very threatening personality, but there's something about playing for another body (especially if it's the teacher!) that can be really unnerving for the most prepared student.

I'd love to hear your ideas or tips on how to deal with this issue!

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!

Double Trouble? (Teaching Twins)

I'm about to embark on a new teaching adventure, namely, teaching twins! They are two girls, age 7. One began lessons two weeks ago and she's enjoying it so much that her twin sister has decided to join in! I'm a bit nervous about teaching two sisters who are so close in age. I have a lot of siblings in my studio, but no two who are so close in age and ability.

Have any other teachers had experience with teaching twins? Do you have any advice to offer?

I'll be teaching them on two separate evenings, but I'm questioning whether to use the same method with both and if (and how much) I should change up my usual 'beginner' routine so that they're not having the same experience. Should I treat them just like two beginners and ignore the fact that they are sisters? Or should I try to change things up for each sister?

I'll let you know how this new endeavor goes!

Valentine Activity for Note Recognition

As I'm always looking for innovative ways to emphasize and brush up on musical concepts, I couldn't let Valentine's Day pass me by without incorporating that theme into a special activity somehow ;). I've been wracking my brain since the beginning of the month trying to design a game/activity that I felt would work well for my students. I looked a several different websites, and read many many great suggestions.

Here is what I'm planning to do with my younger students this week:
I printed the Valentine Notes page off of Susan Paradis' website and bought some candy hearts.



Each student will choose 10 flashcards and then place a piece of candy on the correct note on the Valentine Note page. Then, they uncover and name each note. If they get it right, the candy goes in their bag. If they get it wrong, the candy goes back in my bag. A fun, and hopefully motivational activity!

For my earliest students who are not yet reading on the staff, I plan to use the actual keyboard as the 'gameboard' by having them draw musical alphabet letters and then placing candy on the correct key.

That's my plan for an opening activity this week- I'll let you know how it goes ;)

Photo credit: D Sharon Pruitt
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbetphotography/5354219167/