I am excited to announce the first ever free giveaway on the Color In My Piano blog! *drumroll…*
THREE lucky winners will each be mailed a pair of laminated boards for learning and drawing music symbols. (You may recall when I blogged about these boards here. I am keeping my set, of course, but I went back to buy more to share with you!) These boards have a lot of potential for team games at group lessons or summer piano camps, or can simply be used during the private lesson. They are two-sided — one side shows the symbols and their names, and the other side lists the names but leaves a blank staff for the student to draw the symbol. Both sides are laminated to allow use with a dry-erase marker.
Unfortunately, because the prize is such a odd-shaped object and is expensive to ship, this giveaway is limited to readers from the continental U.S. only.
To enter:
- Leave a comment in the comments section of this post between May 20 and 27, sharing a favorite memory from your piano teaching this spring, a teaching tip, or a favorite quote. It doesn’t have to be long; just a few sentences sharing something humorous or thought-provoking perhaps. One comment per person, please.
- The giveaway ends May 27 at midnight. The winning comments will be chosen via a random number generator. The winners will be notified via email and their names will be announced on the blog.
So what are you waiting for? Comment below for a chance to be a winner!
It’s recital season so I thought I would post about my recent recital experience…
It was a nice sunny morning on Saturday, May 15th. Everything was loaded up and ready to go. Then we arrived at the recital location. It started out with dropping the tulip plants I was giving my adult students who were performing. Thankfully my in-laws live close and were able to stop by the store and pick up replacements.
Then we went inside to set u p. The grand piano was still in the lobby, I was told it would be on stage ready to go. The digital was on ssage but still on it’s dolly. I asked the house manager who was the only one there that morning and she said it should have been all taken care of last night. Luckily my husband was with me and helped her get it on stage while I set up. Not only was it extremely dusty but it was out of tune, not terrible, but not what I would have liked.
Then my PA system wouldn’t work, my husband figured out it was a mic cable and thank goodness the theater had a cable I could use.
Then we didn’t have a bench for the grand piano. Finally at the last minute and searching everywhere the house manager found it.
THEN THE ICING ON THE CAKE! I was the first one to play and when I went to push the pedal down before playing, the pedal fell of the piano!!!! I couldn’t believe it. I looked over to my husband and said “I need you!” with a desperate look of HELP! So he came on stage got under the piano and I had to join him on my hands in knees in my dress to help. Can you imagine? He was able to fix it thank heaven’s and even received a rousing applause. My hero!
In the end, performances were played, awards and recognitions were given. All in all it was an epic challenge but at least every problem we had was solved in the end.
A few weeks ago one my students came well prepared to play a waltz piece I had assigned her. She was almost giddy when she told me that she loved to play the song imagining she was dancing in a fancy ball gown like they did back in the Classical era when it was composed. That little comment just made my day and made up for the lame excuses I’ve heard from students for not practicing. I love it when a student lights up when they can “feel” the music.
.-= Heidi N´s last blog ..Piano Preschool Snackmats =-.
Six-year-old Tyler showed up to piano lessons, excited and ready to learn. As we worked our way through the music he had practiced that week, I quizzed him on a few of the notes and vocabulary he had previously learned. I pointed to a tie and asked, “What is this?” He answered, a little hesitanty . . . “A zipper?”
“Your habits in the practice room make you the musician that you are.” Gerald Klickstein, in his book, The Musician’s Way
One of my students is learning Chopin’s nocturne. Instead of explaining the piece from a technical point of view, I asked her to make a story from the song which includes introduction, body, and conclusion. We made up a story together through analyzing the form and chords of the piece. She was able to memorize the piece better and play with more musicality after this activity!
I had a super fun recital this year, thanks to the inspiration of my sister (a 4th grade teacher). Each student picked a movie-themed song and then we had a movie-themed recital with red carpet for the “piano movie stars” and for treats each family brought a flavored popcorn and bag of candy to share. As an award for our motivational system each student received a movie ticket!
It was a blast and I will definitely be doing a themed recital again!
What a great giveaway! Oh, how to choose a favorite comment or memory?! Today I got back a Year-End Questionnaire from a student, and in answer to the question, “What was your favorite thing about piano lessons this year?” one girl answered, “Getting to spend time with Miss Natalie each week.” Awww, how sweet!
It’s a joy to see students success, especially after months of preparation on a single piece. One of my students recently attended a convention and participated in the piano solo event taking second place out of 50 students. We have been working on the solo for months and it was a blessing to see her hard work pay off but the smile on her face spoke more than words could ever say.
I have to share this incredible story about my student Taylor. (10 years old.)
But first I have to ask … have you ever heard of a “good” prank phone call??
A few months back, Taylor decided he was going to make someone’s day by playing one of his newly composed pieces. So he opened up the phone book and started making random calls. He introduced himself and asked the person if he could make their day by playing some music for them over the phone, needless to say everyone hung up on him and some people said some very rude things to him.
His mother said he spent about 30 minutes doing this until one gentlemen said yes, he would love to hear the song you composed. Taylor was so excited that someone actually wanted to hear him play. When he finished, this gentleman asked him about his piece and how long he had taken lessons. He paid Taylor a huge compliment by telling him he was going to be the next Jon Schmidt and said that he truly did make his day. He also told Taylor he had a terminal disease and was so grateful that he had shared his talent with him.
Apparently this happened about 4 months ago and his mother just told me about it. I seriously had tears in my eyes as she was telling me this.
What an awesome story Marie!
Last summer, I decided to try giving my beginning students two lessons for the first three weeks. They not only got off to a great start by having lots of songs to play in the first three weeks, but established excellent practice habits, since they have new music every three days. Since it went so well, I started two new students during the year using the same pattern. Again, the same results of great practice habits and ongoing enthusiasm for piano. My new policy will continue to have beginning students take 2 lessons a week. And maybe even transfer students!!!
“The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.” J.S. Bach
This spring, I had a student finally admit he loves to play the piano. He is 14 and his parents have forced him to take lessons from me for the past 3 years. He is really good, but has never enjoyed playing, until now. I was so excited!
My 5-year old student Grace is currently in the PA Primer, and EVERY week without fail, she comes into her lesson and has at least one assigned song that she can play from memory. I don’t even ask her to do it!! She is an excellent note reader as well, but is always very excited to show me what she can play “without the book.” She always says, “this is my favorite song!”. It is so encouraging to see the true joy that she has while at the piano.
At a recent lesson I was showing one of my adult piano students the piece that I am starting to work on for my own practicing. I was explaining to her about the held notes in the piece. She said that it looked so difficult and remarked that they should call them “hell” notes instead of “held.” We had a good laugh.
This was my first year of teaching and I ended the school year with 17 students and Sunday was our Spring Recital. I cannot tell you the joy I experienced as my students came to the piano and each played their piece almost note perfect but the excitement that they shared with their parents and each other was priceless!! My husband said the smile on my face showed my love for my students and the pride that I have for their accomplishments! This truly is a true blessing in my life!
I like these large learning tools. Your site is unique and a great resource.
Almost all of my students came to lesson this week with their recital pieces memorized and ready to go… recital is June 8 — now, that’s exciting!
Thanks for the giveaway, Joy!
.-= Anya – Notes of Joy´s last blog ..Keeping Teenagers Engaged in Lessons Through High School – A guest post by Narciso Solero =-.
Teaching Tip: 3 weeks before your student’s recital, do an audio only recording of he/she playing their piece and then have them listen to it and critique it. Ask them what they liked about it and what they didn’t like about it. Usually, they are surprised at how long some of their pauses really are, how choppy the rhythm is and how the dynamics didn’t come through! They’ll work hard during the week to make corrections.
Great comments, everyone! Thanks for posting!