Color In My Piano

A Piano Valentine Variation…

joy (admin) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:03:07 +0000

Susan Johannessen shared this cute variation of the Piano Valentine idea I shared on Monday on the ColorInMyPiano facebook page…

Love this!!

If you have photos of the valentines you’d made, please send them to me at admin[AT]colorinmypiano.com. I would love see your creativity!

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New “Start Here” Page

joy (admin) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:17:42 +0000

I recently added a new page to the Color In My Piano website — a “Start Here” page. This page is intended for anyone who is a recent subscriber to the blog, and might be interested in viewing some of the most popular posts from the archives from the last couple of years.

Click here to visit the new Start Here page now!

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Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom

joy (admin) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:58:32 +0000

“It is a funny thing, but when I am making music, all the answers I seek for in life seem to be there, in the music. Or rather, I should say, when I am making music, there are no questions and no need for answers.”

– Gustav Mahler

Every Wednesday brings Words of Wisdom here at the Color in my Piano blog in the form of a musical quote or joke, intended to bring inspiration or humor to the middle of your week. Have suggestions? Send an email off to admin[at]colorinmypiano.com.

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Musical Instruments Quizzing/Sorting game

joy (admin) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:14:55 +0000

My Homeschool Class and my Piano Readiness Class both recently finished their Musical Instruments Workbooks. We usually complete just two pages each class, so it took us awhile to get through it!

Now that we’ve finished it, we’ve been playing a fun little sorting/quizzing game using the deck of instrument cards that came with my MiniMusic kit. This competitive game has been quite a hit!

Instructions for Gameplay:

On his/her turn, each student draws a card from the top of the deck and has the opportunity to earn three possible points:

By correctly naming the instrument.
By correctly categorizing the instrument into its instrument family. We make piles for each family on the floor as we go.
By stating a fact about the instrument (e.g., how the instrument makes sound, what the instrument is made out of, how the instrument is played, etc.).

I keep track of each student’s points on a piece of paper. My students having been playing this game with a great deal of enthusiasm, and I’ve been impressed with how much it has helped them review / memorize the instruments! They love the satisfaction of being able to name facts about each instrument and being able to sort them correctly.

Note: If you don’t have any instrument flashcards, here is a website that has some beautiful (and free) ones to download. (The link in the post to download the pdf isn’t working when you click on it, but I found that it worked to copy and paste the link into my browser.) To play the game I described above using those cards, you will need to cut off the instrument names from the bottom of the card so the answer isn’t there for the students to read! :)

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Piano Valentine Craft (Printable & Tutorial)

joy (admin) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:11:52 +0000

Today, I have a fun little printable and tutorial to share just in time for Valentine’s Day.

The ladies in my Bible Study decided to hold a Craft Night last Friday, so I decided I to find a project to make music-y valentines for my piano students. However, when I googled and checked Pinterest for music-themed Valentine ideas, I came up empty-handed. So, I decided to design my own piano valentines.

I designed the grand piano shape and keyboard in Microsoft Word, and then printed the pages out on red, pink, and white cardstock paper. After cutting everything out, I embellished the piano lids with foam stickers and felt stickers. Using a glue stick, I glued the keyboard onto the piano shape, and then glued the whole piano onto the box of Sweetheart candies.

There is even a stick to hold the piano lid open! That part is optional. To make this project a little simpler, you could skip the stick if desired.

To download the free pdf for making these valentines, visit the Printables > Other Resources page and scroll down to P’s for “Piano Valentine Printable.” Directions are included in the pdf. Enjoy!

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Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom

joy (admin) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:14:04 +0000

“As a great democratic society, we have a special responsibility to the arts. For art is the great democrat, calling forth creative genius from every sector of society, disregarding race or religion or wealth or color. What freedom alone can bring is the liberation of the human mind and a spirit which finds its greatest flowering in the free society. I see of little more importance to the future of our country and our civilization than the full recognition of the place of the artist.”

– John F. Kennedy

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Forum Q&A | Perfectionist Piano Students

joy (admin) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:40:21 +0000

Last week, our Forum Q&A discussion was about saying goodbye to piano students before moving away. Today, I’d love to hear your thoughts about students who are perfectionists. We’ve all had them! Sometimes they are so hard on themselves when it comes to making mistakes that they stop having fun. They may even stop making progress in their piano study as a result of their intense fear of making mistakes.

On the other hand, as a professor at my alma mater once said, music is one of the few professions where perfection is not only expected, but it is considered the norm. We have to admit, our goal is perfection in a way.

And so, I think a balance is necessary.

What are your thoughts? What can we do about students who become too hard on themselves? How do you help the perfectionist student become “okay” with making mistakes? How do we help students achieve a balance when it comes to reaching perfection?

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Humidity and My Piano

joy (admin) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:22:42 +0000

Here in Ohio, the winter snow is finally upon us! We were spoiled with an extraordinarily mild December, and only recently have have had a few inches of snow actually staying on the ground for more than a few days without melting.

The snowy weather outside means, of course, that the air gets very dry indoors. The old radiators in our home are running almost constantly! As a recent first-time piano owner, last week I decided I should buy a hygrometer to see just how low the humidity is getting in our home, for the sake of my piano. I ordered this hygrometer from Amazon and it arrived just a couple of days later (love that). I was shocked, however, to find that the humidity in my studio was under 20%! Not good.

My parents’ piano had a Dampp-Chaser “Piano Life Saver” system installed on it to help with the extreme humidity changes that Michiganders typically experience as part of the Midwest’s highly distinctive four seasons. Having one of these systems installed on my Kawai isn’t an option financially at this point, so I’m doing my best to figure out how I can keep the humidity more stable by other means even if they aren’t as convenient.

So, I started doing more research about humidity levels and pianos. I found a multitude of information available online. Here’s just a few articles:

Basically, I learned that I need to keep the humidity between 30-45% if possible. So I got out my humidifier from the attic. The last few days, I’ve been successful in keeping the humidity level right around 30%. I do think that my piano’s tuning is a little bit better now that the humidity is closer to where it should be.

This is all new territory for me. If you have tips or suggestions for maintaining a constant humidity level, leave a message in the comments below!

(By the way, I would highly recommend the hygrometer mentioned above to anyone looking for one. It not only shows the current humidity level and temperature in the room, but it also records the highest and lowest humidity and temperature levels taken throughout the day. There’s a magnet on the back, or it can also sit quite nicely on any flat surface.)

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How I Lesson Plan for Group Classes

joy (admin) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:23:17 +0000

I’ve had a few requests lately from readers regarding more info about what kind of activities I do with my Homeschool Music Classes and Piano Readiness classes, so I thought it might first be a good idea to first give you a peek into how I lesson plan for group classes. Although I don’t lesson plan for teaching private lessons, I do always make a plan for group classes.

At each class, we begin and end with a “Hello Song” and “Goodbye Song.” Students like having this routine, and they are very good at reminding me about the songs if I forget about them! I have the students tap the beat on their knees (as we sit cross-legged on our carpet squares) while we sing. That way, I can tell if they are engaged even if they aren’t singing all the lyrics for one reason or another.

When I lesson plan the evening before the next day’s class, I try to include the following things:

Some kind of worksheet or written activity that they can take home and show their parents or hang on the fridge.
At least one kind of movement activity. I believe that the best way to develop a good sense of rhythm in students is through movement-related activities. Including movement activities in classes is strategic also because young children can’t sit still for very long. I find it’s best to do a movement activity right before the worksheet time so they can get their wiggles out!
At least one activity using the piano. I use silent keyboards and other props/games to learn various pre-piano concepts away from the piano, but I also make it a priority to let them use the actual piano because 1) that’s the whole point: nurturing a desire to make beautiful sounds at the piano; and 2) they love it so much!

On my lesson plan, I organize each activity chronologically, with a note next to each activity of the approximate time that each activity will begin. I usually watch the clock pretty closely as I teach and try to stay on schedule. If an activity takes longer or shorter than I anticipated, I adjust the next activity accordingly. I also plan an “if time” activity in case it’s needed. It’s important to be flexible!

At the end of the lesson plan, I compile a list of needed materials, so that I can easily gather them the next day before class and put everything in a basket.

Since the Homeschool Music class is intended to be a more academic class (versus the focus on music-making and pre-piano skills of the Piano Readiness Class), we are studying a composer each week. I let them color a coloring page of the composer while I read a simple biography. Then we listen to a famous composition and complete a worksheet that I create about the composition.

Here’s a screenshot of a lesson plan from last October, complete with all the elements mentioned above (click the image to enlarge, and then hit esc. to exit from viewing the image):

Printables mentioned in this lesson plan: the Rainy Rhythm game, the Musical Instruments Workbook, and the Musical Alphabet cards.

That pretty much sums up my method of lesson planning. If you have questions or your own tips about lesson planning, share them in the comments!

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Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom

joy (admin) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:44:56 +0000

“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the holes and curl my back to loneliness.”

– Maya Angelou, poet

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Color In My Piano

A Piano Valentine Variation…

Related Posts:

New “Start Here” Page

Related Posts:

Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom

Related Posts:

Musical Instruments Quizzing/Sorting game

Related Posts:

Piano Valentine Craft (Printable & Tutorial)

Related Posts:

Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom

Related Posts:

Forum Q&A | Perfectionist Piano Students

Related Posts:

Humidity and My Piano

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How I Lesson Plan for Group Classes

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Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom

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