Year: 2011

improving as a teacher, Resources, Reviews

Announcing the Launch of the “Reading List” Page

Joy Morin

Hello readers!

Today marks the official launch of the new “Reading List” page!  I’m very excited about this new part of Color In My Piano.

The Book List contains links to TONS of great books and resources on a variety of topics.  When you’ve got a great book to recommend, visit the Reading List page and leave a comment to share your thoughts with the world!

Here’s the book categories I’ve created:

  • Piano Pedagogy
  • Teaching Resources
  • Early Childhood Music
  • Piano Technique
  • For Parents/Students
  • Music History/Theory
  • Biographies
  • Practice and Performance
  • Keyboard Literature
  • The Piano
  • The Orchestra
  • Just For Kids
  • Inspiration, Fiction, and More

I’m also tossing around the idea of allowing readers to write and submit reviews of books for publication on Color In My Piano.  If interested, please contact me at admin[at]colorinmypiano.com.  There’s no way I’d be able to review all of these books anytime soon, so I’d love to have some help!

CLICK HERE to view the new Book List page now!

Announcements, Group Classes

The Melodica: Piano + Recorder?

Joy Morin

Check out the new instrument we have at my home!

I ordered this melodica on Amazon as a surprise for my husband for Valentine’s day, although I plan to make use of it too in the future. =)

To play the melodica, you must blow very gently into the mouthpiece and starting pressing the keys.  The sound very much resembles the sound of an accordion.  Be careful – don’t blow too hard else you may blow the reeds out of place.

It can be played two ways: with the short mouthpiece held in your hands… Continue reading “The Melodica: Piano + Recorder?” →

Games, Rhythm

Hands-On Beats the Visual….Hands Down!

Joy Morin

My colleague Loretta and I have been teaching a pair of beginner students in a group setting each week.  Last week, we were learning about 3/4 and 4/4 time, and quarter notes and half notes.  Loretta and I wrote rhythms on the whiteboard, asked the students to help us write in bar lines, and then clapped and counted the rhythms together. While this activity worked and was beneficial, what we did this week was much more successful.

On Anne Crosby Gaudet’s website, we discovered her wonderful Music Discoveries Rhythm Blocks pdf.  The pieces are easy to print and cut out.  In class today, our two beginners were so excited to make their own rhythms and try clapping them.  With Ann’s rhythm blocks, it’s easy to tell how many beats each note gets!  Click here and scroll down to view Ann’s printable on her website.

Go figure – give students something hands-on and creative, and they will get more out of it!  (Especially when the students are young beginners!)

What kinds of hands-on activities have you discovered for your students lately?

Performances, Questions, repertoire / methods

Forum Q&A | Recital Music: Assign Easy, Hard, or Just Right?

Joy Morin

Ready for another installment of a Forum Q&A?  Okay!

A couple of weeks ago we discussed what to do when a student performance “bombs.”  This week, we’ll return to the topic of recitals and talk about assigning repertoire:

When assignment recital repertoire to students, do you generally assign something challenging since they have a lot of time to work on it?  Or do you assign something that is a little bit easy for them, so they can easily succeed at polishing and memorizing the piece?  Or do you simply assign a piece that is right at their current level?

Share your thoughts below!

Photo Credit: meddygarnet | CC 2.0

Words of Wisdom

Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom

Joy Morin

Thank you to Sandra B. for submitting the following quote!

“During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared.  I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling.  He was the only one doing that.  I wasn’t scared anymore.”

— Cindy, Age 8 (quoted from the book What Love Is To a Child)

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.

Questions, Teaching Piano

Forum Q&A | Teaching Adults Versus Children/Teens

Joy Morin

These week’s Forum Q&A was prompted by a comment by Kaylee on the facebook page.  Kaylee asked for advice about teaching an adult student who is older than she is.  If you have advice to offer, please visit the facebook page and leave a comment!

But for this Forum Q&A, we will focus on the general question about the differences between teaching adults versus children/teens:

What differences are there between teaching adult students and children/teens? What adjustments to your approach must be made when teaching adults?  What method books or repertoire do you like to use with adults students?

Contribute your thoughts in the comments below!

Photo Credit: klipsch_soundman | CC 2.0

Games, Group Classes, Music Camps, Printables, Teaching Piano

Printable Musical Dice

Joy Morin

Just added to the Printables > Other Resources page: Musical Dice!

This is one of the projects I was working on over Christmas break!  I’m happy to now have it finished and posted.  =)

Here’s what the PDF contains:

  1. Basic Accidentals (6-sided dice) | This die allows for three possible rolls: sharp, flat, and natural.
  2. Basic Intervals Unison-3rd (6-sided dice) | This die allows for three possible rolls: unison, second, and third.
  3. Intervals Unison-8va (8-sided dice) | This die allows for eight possible rolls: unison, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8va. Continue reading “Printable Musical Dice” →
Reading Notation, Teaching Piano

Teaching Phrase: Look & Think Ahead

Joy Morin

A few months ago, I read an research article about sight-reading that stated that professional pianists read something like eight notes ahead at any given time while sight-reading (I wish I could cite the article, but I don’t remember where I found it – if anyone knows of it please tell me!).  The article, however, wasn’t very clear about what the “eight notes” referred to (harmonically? melodically?), especially since it seems that this would change depending on the texture, meter, and tempo.  Regardless, I found it interesting to consider how far ahead one can be looking and thinking ahead while reading in order to be better prepared for what is coming up.  (How many notes can YOU think ahead?)

Personally, I think reading is mostly about “chunking” – recognizing groups of notes as chords, patterns, and other groupings.  I do find, however, that students benefit greatly from being taught to “look ahead” or “think ahead.”

A young student of mine this week was playing a two-lined piece where the RH and LH move up an octave to echo what was stated in the previous two measures.  The first time she played the piece, she had to briefly pause to think and move her hands to the right place before going on.  She had been practicing this piece all week and I could tell she knew where her hands needed to go.  Nevertheless, the spot was catching her unaware.  Mentally, she wasn’t prepared for the octave move and therefore her hands weren’t ready on time either.  We talked about this, and we reasoned together that she needed to be thinking ahead in order to be ready on time.  After this, of course, she was able to play the piece fluidly.

Now the question may be, is it more effective to instruct students to “look ahead” or “think ahead?”  Any opinions?

Photo Credit: pfly | CC 2.0

Words of Wisdom

Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom

Joy Morin

“The discovery of song and the creation of musical instruments both owed their origin to a human impulse which lies much deeper than conscious intention: the need for rhythm in life… the need is a deep one, transcending thought, and disregarded at our peril.”

— Richard Baker

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.

Performances, Questions

Forum Q&A: What To Do When a Student’s Performance “Bombs”

Joy Morin

In the entries for last week’s giveaway I received a lot a wonderful feedback regarding Color In My Piano.  Upon request, I’d like to start increasing the number of forum questions.  Hooray!  Rather than having a monthly question, I will try to pose a new question at least every other week (and maybe every week, if I can come up with enough questions!).

If you have suggestions for questions you’d love to see featured, please let me know by sending me an email via the Contact page.  Forum questions should be fairly short in length and should be a general question rather than a request for specific advice about a situation you are current dealing with.  (While I don’t mind being asked for advice and often do feature these questions on my blog, they are not considered “Forum Q&A” questions unless they are stated in a general sort of way.)

So without further ado, here’s our next Forum Q&A:

What do you do when a student’s performance “bombs?” I’m sure we’ve all experienced it: a student has a major memory slip and ends up in tears after the recital.  What words of counsel and advice can you give a student afterwards to console and encourage them?  What specifically would you say to a younger student as opposed to an older student?  What kind of things can you do with the student to help avoid this from happening again?

Please leave your responses in the comments below.  I look forward to hearing all of your thoughts!

Photo Credit: Juanedc | CC 2.0

Games, Music Theory

Musical Jenga!

Joy Morin

I did it!  I created my own Musical Jenga game.

I got the inspiration from the Sing A New Song blog, who in turn got the idea from someone on the Faber Piano Adventures forums. (To view a list of other favorite games with musical spins, click here.)

I found an off-brand version of the Jenga game at Target for about $5.  Then using two different colored Sharpie permanant markers, I put various musical terms on the blocks: Continue reading “Musical Jenga!” →