Tag Archives: piano teaching

Semester Planning & Organization

I’ve been doing a bit of cleaning and reorganizing in my studio, like putting all those music books that always seem to migrate to the piano top back in their proper place on their shelves.  :) I also visited the music store today to pick up new books for some of my students.  I’m so [...]

Posted in my students, professional development, studio business, what I'm up to | Also tagged | 1 Comment

Thoughts for the New Year

The new year always brings about a time of reflection for me.  I find myself thinking back over the past year and looking forward to the future, wondering what the new year might bring. This year was a time of great change for my husband and me.  In May, I graduated with my Master of [...]

Posted in improving as a teacher, musings, what I'm up to | Also tagged , , | 9 Comments

My Christmas Recital – Slideshow of Photo Highlights

As promised, here is a slideshow of photos from my student’s recent Christmas recital/party.  Enjoy! Click here to read about the three games we played after the recital.

Posted in my students, recitals / performances, what I'm up to | Also tagged , | 4 Comments

Christmas Gift for Piano Students

Here’s what I gave my students for Christmas this year: A Symphony chocolate bar, and a personalized glass ornament.   I found the glass ornaments at a craft store (Hobby Lobby).  On each ornament, I wrote the student’s name and “2011″ on the ornament using a paint pen.  I put colorful confetti and pieces of [...]

Posted in my students, seasonal/holiday | Also tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Christmas Recital/Party Success! – Games

Well, my students’ Christmas party/recital was a success!   What a great way to finish off the year. The recital took place in my home.  Whenever my college music history textbooks mentioned Schubertiads, I used to dream about the idea of having informal music performance parties in my home.  Since my studio is still small, [...]

Posted in games, my students, recitals / performances, seasonal/holiday | Also tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Just Added: Musical Flashcard Sorting game

This is a simple game to play with groups of students that makes note-naming flashcards a bit more interesting.   It involves sorting the flashcards onto alphabet letter signs on the floor, as pictured on the right (the “A” flashcards would go in the blank space on the right side of the page). The game [...]

Posted in beginners / elementary Level, games, music theory, other resources, piano camps, studio class / group lessons | Also tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Studio Christmas Party Update – Food!

My apologies for being MIA from the blog the last few weeks!  At the beginning of the semester, I put up posters around the music building of the university in my town for freelancing as a collaborative pianist.  A few music majors contacted me rather last minute to ask if I’d accompany them for their [...]

Posted in recitals / performances, seasonal/holiday, what I'm up to | Also tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Christmas Rhythm Learning Moments

As I’m sure is currently the case with many of you, my students are working on Christmas pieces along with their usual assignments.  As usual, a few of them have encountered rhythmic “simplifications” in their arrangements (Away in a Manger and Go Tell it on the Mountain come to mind).  After pointing it out the [...]

Posted in beginners / elementary Level, intermediate level, private lessons, rhythm, seasonal/holiday | Also tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Make Me A Rhythm! game

I was recently browsing some forums online and found a description of this game by a music educator.  It sounds like a great game to use with large groups of students — perhaps for group lessons or summer camps.  I asked the music educator if I could post about the game on my blog, and [...]

Posted in advanced level, beginners / elementary Level, composition, games, intermediate level, other resources, piano camps, printables, rhythm, studio class / group lessons | Also tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

“Musical Hopscotch” game

About year ago, Sheryl Welles posted on her blog about a “Twister Hopscotch” game that she modified into a wonderful music game.  Basically, all you have to do is use Avery circle stickers of some kind to make the spinner into a music spinner with rhythmic note values. Here’s how the game works: In advance, [...]

Posted in beginners / elementary Level, early childhood music, games, intermediate level, movement, piano camps, rhythm, studio class / group lessons | Also tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
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