Today, I’m at the Ohio Music Teachers Association conference (affiliated with MTNA) all day! Yes, in case you are wondering, I will be posting notes from the sessions I attend later this week. :) But for now, I wanted to share a quick video of a black key improvisation from a recent piano lesson with [...]
Today I have a fun new printable to share!
Before I begin, allow me to give credit where credit is due for this wonderful idea: I got this idea from Laura on her blog (click here). I was so thrilled to see her idea of using these “story cubes” for improvisation with piano students! Meet “Rory’s Story Cubes.” Rory’s Story Cubes consist of a [...]
What follows are the notes I took from a session with Martha Hilley at the 2010 Michigan Music Teachers Association conference. FUNCTIONAL SKILLS ARE IMPORTANT TO EVERYONE ~ by Martha Hilley “Functional skills” include skills such as harmonization, improvisation, transposition, rhythm, and theory. There are many fun ways to incorporate functional skills into group/private settings. Today [...]
What follows are the notes I took from a session with Brian Chung at the 2010 Michigan Music Teachers Association conference. CLASSICAL IMPROVISATION ~ by Brian Chung Introduction Is improvisation really for jazz only? Why can’t we classical pianists learn improvisation from our own tradition (as did Liszt, Clara Schumann, and others)? Two goals for [...]
A continuation of the previous post……see Part 1 here. THEORY & IMPROVISATION: THE PB&J OF MUSIC ~ by Martha Hilley Activities Continued….. 5. Progression Based Improvisation 1) Show the student a progression such as: A | D | A | Bmin | E | A | E | A || 2) Be sure the students [...]
The first of a series of posts summarizing the 2010 Michigan Music Teachers Association conference. In this post: my notes from the “Theory & Improvisation as the PB&J of Music” session by Martha Hilley (Part 1).
The benefits of including improvisation activities in piano lessons. The freedom to explore and be creative. Discovering musical concepts on your own. Developing your musical ear. Playing by ear. Composing an original composition.
I recently came across this great video/podcast on Mario Ajero’s YouTube channel: an interview with pianist and piano pedagogue Dr. Julie Knerr. Both Maria Ajero and Julie Knerr are graduates from University of Oklahoma’s widely recognized piano pedagogy program. In this video, Dr. Knerr shares some of her game ideas for her group piano classes [...]
One of the reasons I’ve been considering offering early childhood music classes is because I am a firm believer in the strong relationship between music and movement. As an undergrad, I took two semester of Dalcroze Eurhythmics which I found incredibly useful. We learned movements that fit different meters and learned to respond expressively to [...]
We’ve arrived at the end of the series on incorporating improvisation! We’ve already discussed the obstacles, history, and value of improvisation. And in the last few posts, we discussed at length a practical, 4-part method for incorporating improvisation into the piano lesson. Today’s consideration is the last of the series: what are the major benefits [...]
Joy is a pianist and teacher in Ohio with great passion for helping students experience the wonders of music making!
