Color In My Piano » teachers

Developing a Good Sense of Rhythm

joy (admin) — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 11:02:03 +0000

Developing a good sense of rhythm is one of the most challenging parts of being a piano teacher. It’s not something that arrives overnight, and it’s something that must be maintained as the student advances to music with more advanced rhythms and time signatures. It truly is something that must be developed.

I’d like to suggest that there are three components to having and developing what we so loosely refer to as a “good sense of rhythm”:

A sense of beat. This means the ability to maintain a steady beat/pulse. This is probably the most common and most basic problem that students encounter when it comes to rhythm issues in their piece. The inability to maintain a steady beat/pulse is crucial for developing #’s 2 and 3 below.
A sense of rhythm (i.e., note values). This involves being able to accurately identify and execute the various note values within a variety of tempi. Beginner students may struggle with placing eighth notes within a quarter note beat, while more advanced students may struggle with syncopated rhythms or playing 2 against 3. It is nearly impossible to develop a sense of rhythm without first developing a sense of beat (#1 above).
A sense of meter. This may very well be the most elusive component of the three. At the most basic level, issues with proper sense of meter will evidence themselves when, for example, a student fails to maintain 3/4 time by extending the third beat so that they are actually in 4/4 time (a common issue among beginners). At more advanced levels, issues with proper sense of meter will evidence themselves when, for example, a student feels cut time (2/2) as common time (4/4), or feels 4/4 or 3/4 time as more like 1/4 (not uncommon in Bach’s contrapuntal pieces). Losing sight of the meter is like failing to see (or feel) the big picture.

When student has a rhythmic issue in one of their pieces, it can be really beneficial to further identify which of the three components above may be lacking and causing the issue in this case. An issue in understanding what a half note means is quite different from an issue with keeping a steady beat, for example! The teacher would solve these issues quite differently.

On a bit of a tangent — all this talk about rhythm is one of the reasons why I’d love to be able to offer pre-piano / early childhood music group classes someday (once set up a studio in my own home rather than teaching on campus). Offering these kinds of classes allows the students a chance at musical development before they may be ready for private lessons with a teacher. And these classes are a perfect opportunity to begin developing good senses of rhythm! Developing a sense of beat (#1 above) can be done with activities involving tapping, clapping, or walking the beat while singing and moving. Soon after, students can begin echoing and creating various rhythms within the steady tempo to begin absorbing how note values (#2 above) work. And, of course, the teacher will present these rhythm activities within certain meters/time signatures (#3). Although the students may not yet be at the point where they can understand what a time signature means, they can at least begin absorbing and feeling what these meters sound and feel like. All these things are great foundations for taking lessons later on!

These kinds of activities are not only for early childhood, though. They would also work well for monthly group lessons with students ages 5-7 (but probably not any older, depending on the activity) who are already taking private lessons.

There are many ways to develop a good sense of rhythm in students! The most important thing? Showing students that rhythm can be fun! =)

Photo Credit: Denzil~ | CC 2.0

Just Added: Piano Lessons Flyer Template

joy (admin) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:54:07 +0000

New printable just added:

Piano Lessons Flyer Template (.doc)

Advertise for new piano students by filling in this free Piano Lessons Flyer Template! Just edit and print in Microsoft Word (.doc) and you’ll be ready to post your flyers all over town.

Directions

Download the Piano Lessons Flyer Template from the Printables > Studio Business page.
Open the file in Microsoft Word and edit the file so that your own information is entered.
Print the file. Using a pair of scissors, cut vertical lines from the bottom of the page (as marked) so that interested students/parents can rip off a tab with your name and contact information.
You are ready to post your flyers all over town!

View the flyer template large below:

Piano as a way to build community

joy (admin) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 13:56:14 +0000

Check out this fascinating news story:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6LeEKX1mLE

It’s great to see the great potential music (especially the piano) has to connect members of a community in a unique way! This story really got me thinking: what are some ways we as teachers of music can use our skills to connect and benefit the community? We tend to set our focus on just our studios, and admittedly we sometimes get overly competitive with other teachers in the area. Wouldn’t it be great to join forces as teachers/musicians in a particular community and find ways serve the greater community? (Ideas, anyone?) =)

For more:

Visit artist Luke Jerram’s “Play Me, I’m Yours” website to view video uploads of various pianists playing on the pianos in cities all over the world.

SUMMARY | The June Forum: Making Your Vocation A Vacation

joy (admin) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:47:05 +0000

June is over (summer is going by so quickly!!), and so is the June Forum: Making Your Vocation A Vacation topic. Thanks for all the thought-provoking comments, all! Here’s a summary of your comments, along with some thoughts of my own mixed in:

Teach only when you want to. Don’t overdo it. Only schedule yourself what you can easily handle each day/week. If needed, schedule yourself an occasional 15-minute break so you can chill out for a bit and perhaps get a bite to eat.
Teach only who you want to. Whenever possible, accept only the students who are motivated and hardworking. I’d like to also add: only teach the levels/ages you are comfortable with. For example, if teaching adult students isn’t your forte, don’t feel as if you have to accept them into your studio. Recognize the areas where you shine and make those your focus! Same goes with styles of music: if you aren’t comfortable teaching jazz, recommend those students to another teacher who is comfortable doing so.
Be firm on your business procedures. As teachers and musicians, we often don’t like to think about the financial side of things. We like to focus on passing our passion for music on to our students. The reality is, there will always be parents/students who show up late, don’t show up at all, don’t pay on time, etc.. Everyone handles these situations differently, but I would recommend never allowing yourself to be stepped over. It will stress you out. (I know from experience!) Write up some Studio Policies and stick to them. (This is an area I personally need to work on — so I’ve been brainstorming some ways to make ”the business end of things” run more smoothly and efficiently.)
Keep it fun and fresh by varying up each lesson, and tailoring lessons to each individual student. Be on the lookout for new music books or games to try with students. Try to discover each student’s interests, strengths, and weaknesses so you can personalize their lessons to their individual needs. Attend local/state/national music teaching conferences so you can continue your own education as well as network and exchange ideas with other teachers.
Find ways to make sure your students are making progress. When students are making progress, students are having fun, and when students are having fun, the teacher is having fun! Decorate your studio, create an incentive program, keep communication open with parents to keep them involved, have a practice requirement — in short, find ways to keep students engaged and motivated to develop their skills at the piano and excited about lessons!

All these ideas above are part of being an effective, successful teacher — and that’s when teaching becomes a vacation rather than a vocation. Great thoughts, everyone!

Stay tuned for the introduction of the July Forum topic, coming later this week!

Photo credit: nattu | CC 2.0

Just Added: Lesson & Payment Record Chart

joy (admin) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:32:39 +0000

Just added to the page of free Printables:

Lesson & Payment Record Chart 2010-2011 (3 page pdf; click to view)

Summertime is a great time to do some planning for the next academic year of teaching! As you can see, I’ve been keeping busy….. This chart is designed for the 2010-2011 year in mind, starting in September.

What this chart records:

This chart provides a simple way to track student attendance/absences for lessons and tuition payments.

How to use this chart:

In the first column, enter your students’ names. At each lesson, enter the lesson date (e.g., 9/14) corresponding with that week of lessons. If the student misses a lesson for some reason, that box may be marked with a slash, or left blank so that the make-up lesson date may be later written in. Any lessons that are paid for should be marked with a checkmark in each little circle. Please see the up-close picture below for an example.

The 3 pages of this chart can be easily 3-hole punched and placed in a 3 ring binder, for maximum convenience when teaching.

I hope some of you find my chart useful!

Teaching Music Theory: Our Responsibility

joy (admin) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 15:29:15 +0000

I was talking to a parent after teaching a lesson yesterday, and she told me that her older daughter (who plays a few different band instruments, but is not currently taking piano lessons) is attending a band camp for high schoolers this week. Upon arrival, the camp gave her daughter a theory placement test, and she scored a 2B (I’m not sure what leveling system they were using, but her mother had expected her to score higher). Her mother was a little perturbed because she has paid for many years of lessons for her daughter, but only a few of her daughter’s past teachers taught theory as component of taking private lessons. She wondered, shouldn’t my daughter have gotten more theory training than this? What have I been paying all this money and time for?

This conversation got me thinking about our responsibility as teachers. A basic definition of music theory is the study of how music works. A student having little understanding of theory is missing a huge piece of the pie.

Teaching Music Theory: A Responsibility

Teachers of any subject area have a responsibility to give their students a well-rounded education in the area in which they are qualified. The students and parents do not always know what constitutes a good music education because they are often not trained in the area of music. The teacher decides what should be taught, because they are qualified in that subject area.

Music theory is an integral part of music education, even if it is “just” private lessons. It is our responsibility to teach how music works just as much as it is our responsibility to teach how to read and make music on an instrument. To claim music theory is not necessary for learning a musical instrument is nearly as ludicrous as for a math teacher to claim that you don’t need to know how algebra works, you just have to learn to do it. C’est bizarre. Theory and performance go hand-in-hand, inseparable. For example, knowing how to identify and name chords is important for being able to quickly recognize them when you are playing music. It’s about understanding the music that you are playing.

The good musicians are those who understand how music works. The good music teachers are those who teach how music works.

Incorporating Music Theory: What Does it Look Like?

Music theory includes studying the basic elements of music: rhythm, melody, harmony, structure, form, texture, etc. At the most basic level, teaching theory might be simply teaching the names of the various rhythmic values (quarter note, half note, etc.) and learning how to draw them. As the student becomes more advanced, they are taught about scales, key signatures, chords, modes (major, minor, and others). Other concepts include identifying patterns and thematic motives, understanding differences in style and genre (Baroque vs. Romantic; jazz vs. classical), and understanding formal structures (binary form, ternary form, sonata-allegro form, fugue, etc.).

There are various ways to incorporate theory into the private lesson:

Assign worksheets from a theory book. Give the students a theory book, and assign them to complete 1 to 3 pages each week. Be sure to take the time to go over the worksheets together and correct any mistakes. I would not recommend taking more than 5 minutes of the lesson time correcting theory sheets. If it begins to take more than 5 minutes, assign less. Or, don’t correct every problem on the page: just scan to see whether the student seems to understand the overall concept or not.
Teach theory through the student’s assigned pieces. This method requires great diligence on the part of the teacher. You must always keep theory in the front of your mind, and consciously make an effort to make time for discussing theory. For example, if you notice that the student’s piece this week introduces the V7 chord for the first time, do not neglect to take the time to make sure the student understands the difference between the I chord and the V7, and the harmonic function of the chords, and how to build them in various keys.
Incorporate games and other activities into the lesson. Learning theory can be lots of fun! Create your own, or get ideas from books or other teachers. To get started, check out my printable board game here, and also check out the Links page to find more websites where music teachers share their resources and ideas.
Focus on theory during group lessons. Having group lessons is the perfect opportunity to focus on theory, and teaching in groups can be very effective. Complete worksheets together as a group, and then play some theory games to test their understanding.

Using a combination of the above methods will yield the best results.

Final Thoughts

Students are never too young for theory. Even beginners who are learning to play short tunes on the black keys can practice writing quarter notes. It’s a great way to reinforce basic concepts. The importance of learning how to write notes, clefs, and chords should not be undermined.
Make time for theory. The number one difficulty in incorporating theory is — you guessed it — not having enough time in the private lesson. Music theory is important, however, so one must make time for it. Besides, in the long run, teaching theory pays off because it helps students so much with their playing as they progress. =)

Photo credit: S. Parker | CC 2.0

Just Added: Scales & Primary Chords Worksheet 1 (CGDF)

joy (admin) — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:16:37 +0000

Just added: a new free, printable worksheet called:

> Scales & Primary Chords Worksheet 1 (CGDF)

Ideally, this worksheet is designed for the intermediate+ student who is already familiar with the scales and primary chords for the keys of C, G, D, and F major, and perhaps could use some review in writing them out on the staff. However, this worksheet could also be used during a group lesson while introducing these ideas for the first time.

Terms/concepts covered in the worksheet:

An understanding of key signatures for C, G, D, and F major.
Practice writing out scales.
Practice writing out primary chords.

Watch for the next worksheet coming soon, covering D, A, E, and Bb major!

Dealing with Performance Anxiety

joy (admin) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:35:53 +0000

Your hands are cold and shaky, your heart is racing, and you find it hard to breath. Are you sick? Are you having a nightmare? No, you’re about to play your instrument in a recital, and the symptoms you are experiencing are due to performance anxiety — better known as stage fright.

Performance anxiety affects us all, to some degree or another. Here are some things you can try out to help deal with your performance anxiety:

Practice performing. Play your pieces for other people whenever you can. It’s one thing to practice your pieces, but it’s another thing to practice performing. Ask other people to come in the room to make you nervous, and see how well you can handle running through you pieces.
Envision yourself succeeding. Envisioning yourself performing your piece well is extremely helpful. Do it as your practicing, as you’re not practicing, and as you are performing. Doing so keeps your outlook positive and sets you up for success.
Keep your focus on what’s important. As you perform, keep your focus on making the piece as musical and emotional as possible. Focusing only on getting the right notes will make it difficult for you to “get beyond the notes” and play musically, and will probably make you more nervous anyway. Besides, in the long run, most audience members would much rather hear a touching, musical performance than a note-perfect performance — so focus on what’s important!
Breathe. This may seem obvious, but it’s very crucial! Take plenty of deep breaths before and during your pieces. When you are nervous, everything tightens up and it’s difficult to breathe. However, taking deep breaths of air will help calm yourself down and slow down that heart rate — plus, give your brain some extra oxygen to you can think clearly. Try paying attention to your breathing sometime when you play, and I’ll bet you’ll find that you aren’t breathing as much as you think you are. To help avoid this from happening during the performance, choose some specific places where you are going to taking breaths during your piece and mark them in your score.
Try some pre-performance stretches. Just before performances, I like to do some stretches just to get my blood flowing and to work off some of the nervousness. It has made a huge difference for me. I also wear mittens on my hands to keep them warm. =)
Mentally prepare yourself before you begin your piece. When you sit down to play, take some time before you begin your pieces. Make sure the bench is at the proper height and distance away from the piano, try out the pedals, take some deep breaths, and mentally imagine the first few bars of your piece so that you can get a proper tempo in mind. And when you’re ready, the magic begins.

Although it is difficult to completely eliminate all the symptoms of performance anxiety, you can lessen its effects! What works for you?

Photo credit: SpecialKolin | CC 2.0

My Thoughts on Practice Requirements

joy (admin) — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:04:17 +0000

Many of you may remember being required by your piano teachers growing up to practice a certain amount of minutes each day/week. Perhaps your requirement looked something like this:

15 minutes a day,
140 minutes each week, or
45 minutes, 5 days a week.

One of my previous teachers built her incentive program around how much practice time each student completed each week. She would set an amount for each student (15 minutes/day for the young ones, and then gradually increasing up to 60 minutes/day for the advanced ones). If you completed all your practice time each week, you’d receive a sticker on your chart for that week. When you received 7 consecutive weeks of completed practice, you were allowed to chose a prize from the prize box. She used a system similar to the following:

Beginners: 10-20 minutes, 5 days a week (depending on their age).
Intermediate students: 20-45 minutes, 5 days a week.
Advanced students: 60 minutes or more a day, 5 days a week.

Personally, I use a simpler, more flexible practice requirement for my students. I simply tell my students and parents that they are expected to practice daily. And that’s it. Here are my reasons why I like to leave it at that:

Consistent practice is far better than intermittent practice. I realize that life gets crazy busy sometimes, and some days it may be more difficult than other days to get practice in. I don’t care if my students only can fit 5 minutes of practice in on the busy days — but practice must be consistent in order for progress to be made and piano lessons to be enjoyable. I believe that 5 minutes a day, every day for a week is far better than an hour on only one day out of the week.
Students are more likely to use their practice time wisely. I don’t know about you, but I find that when I set myself a timed amount for practicing, I can’t wait until my 60 minutes is over. When students sit down with a practice requirement in mind, that’s their focus: sitting at the piano until 20 minutes is over. But when students sit down at the piano simply knowing it’s time to get some practice done to prepare for their next lesson, that’s exactly what their focus is on: preparing for the next lesson. I would much rather have my students practice 10 minutes of quality practice time at the piano than 20 minutes of dilly-dallying. This is why my incentive program is not based upon the amount of time that my students practice, but rather upon the progress they are making through their books.
Students practice more. The daily practice requirement is actually quite freeing for most students. It helps allow them to feel in control of their learning, rather than feeling like they are simply fulfilling a bunch of requirements set by their teacher. When they sit down to practice, they are more likely to practice longer because they are more self-motivated. The best kind of motivation is self-motivation. Incentive programs are wonderful things for rewarding student progress, but earning trinkets, toys, or candy will not keep students taking lessons for long if that’s their only motivation.
Students are more likely to continue taking lessons. Students are most likely to continue lessons when they are successfully making progress, no matter the rate. As we all know, when a student doesn’t practice regularly, progress is nearly impossible. Daily practice is the best way to ensure progress. And when students are making progress the whole process is so much more enjoyable: students are motivated to learn, they are making progress, and the teacher is happy!

Now, of course, there are many successful teachers who have timed practice requirements, and I do not mean to minimize their teaching methods in any way. We all have different teaching styles, and one particular method might not work for everyone. I only mean to share this information in the hopes that it may be as helpful to some of you as it has been for me. =)

That said, I have been using the daily practice requirement for a few years now, and have found it to be very successful for most of my students. As with any practice requirement, of course, teachers must closely moniter student progress to see if the practice requirement is working well for them. On occasion, I will encounter a student who is not making sufficient progress in his/her lessons, in which case I will inquire about the student’s practice habits with both the parent and student. In some cases, if deemed necessary and helpful, I will then set a recommended weekly practice amount for the student.

But in general, having the daily practice requirement has been very freeing not only for my students, but also for me. For one thing, I no longer have to nag my students about getting X amount of minutes of practice each week! ;) Who cares how many minutes they are practicing, as long as they are making progress that you deem satisfactory for their age/level/talent? For another thing, I am noticing that they are much more motivated to play and learn then ever before and we are having a lot of fun in our lessons learning how to create music. =)

To read more thoughts about practice requirements, read Laura Lowe’s great article on her blog here.

Photo credit: tibchris | CC 2.0

Free Studio Website Builder: Weebly.com

joy (admin) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:02:24 +0000

Have you thought about starting a website for your studio, but felt that you didn’t have the resources or expertise to build one? Check out Weebly.com — an attractive and easy-to-use online resource where you can create a website for free.

Personally, I currently use iWeb software (comes free on all Mac computers) to create and maintain my studio site. However, Weebly sites are so attractive, I might make the switch someday!

Some great features:

Extremely user-friendly. The drag-and-drop site builder is extremely easy to use, even for those who might not consider themselves to be very technologically savvy.
No software is needed. That means, no buying or installing software onto your computer. Creating and maintaining your website is done completely online.
You can use a free ___.weebly.com domain name, or use your own domain name. Weebly is one of the few free website building sites that allow you use your own url (e.g., colorinmypiano.com) if you desire. Just purchase one from a site such as Name.com (a year usually costs around $10). If you don’t want to use your own domain name, for free you can just use yourname.weebly.com.
Attractive themes. Of all the free website building sites I’ve seen, Weebly by far creates the most attractive-looking sites. They have tons of great customizable themes to choose from.

Here are some links to some studio websites that were created using Weebly, to get you inspired:

Good luck! If you are successful in creating your own studio site using Weebly, be sure to share the link with us in the comments!

Color In My Piano » teachers

Developing a Good Sense of Rhythm

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Just Added: Piano Lessons Flyer Template

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Piano as a way to build community

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SUMMARY | The June Forum: Making Your Vocation A Vacation

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Just Added: Lesson & Payment Record Chart

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Teaching Music Theory: Our Responsibility

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Just Added: Scales & Primary Chords Worksheet 1 (CGDF)

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Dealing with Performance Anxiety

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My Thoughts on Practice Requirements

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Free Studio Website Builder: Weebly.com

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