Guess what! Next week, Color In My Piano will be 4 years old. How fun!
In celebration, I would like to host a giveaway. FOUR lucky winners will have their choice of one of the composer lapbooks from the Color In My Piano shop. Here are the details:
- To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment below today’s post by Midnight (EST) on Wednesday, February 27, telling me which classical composer’s music is your favorite to teach your students.
P.S.: After the giveaway is over next week, I will be holding a sale in the Color In My Piano shop! (This will be a great time to purchase materials for summer camps, if you plan to hold any this year!)
I would so love to win this give away!! What a novel idea (pun intended)!
I’d love to win one of these!! I love teaching Chopin to advanced students – love teaching expression in romantic music.
I would so love this as well! I would have to say Mozart is my favorite classical composer to teach — his works are more accessible to most students than some of the more difficult composers (Chopin, etc). I used your black/white keys/hand positions worksheet with a student earlier this week — lots of fun! Thanks!
Great giveaway Joy!
I love teaching so many composers, I’m not sure if I can choose just one! If i HAVE to pick I would say Debussy, because his pieces are very beautiful and the melodies have a way of sticking with you. Although, I have this great book of Sonatas by Bertini which I love teaching to my younger students.
Favorite Composer to teach to students… Gillock!!
This composer kit seems like the best idea for introducing my students to various composers. I would like Mozart or Beethoven to start with. Thank you for your amazing work on blog, it is so helpful to me.
My favorite composers to teach are Beethoven and Schumann. I think my students find their music the most fun to play.
Hi Joy:
My favourite composer to teach is Mozart. The kids like the fact that he was a kid composer and the ipad app I use to introduce him to the kids is quite cute and the kids seem to get motivated to compose after learning about Mozart. They also recognize some of his music and are astounded that he could compose like that. One kid thought he could also compose like Mozart !
Thanks
Fiona
Just met with a fellow teacher today about doing a summer music camp! And I had suggested using the lapbooks to teach composers! I think my students enjoy learning Beethoven because most of the early books have Ode to Joy and they love being able to play a classical piece that they know. Would love to win one of the lapbooks!
I enjoy teaching Beethoven’s music because his personal story is so interesting for the children to hear. Also, Ode to Joy is very accessible at many different levels.
I would love to win one! So many great composers to choose from.
I love all the things you think for helping children like music!
I’d like to receive one of these composer lapbooks! What a great idea for music camp! Thanks for the blog!
Aleta
Beethoven for sure, my students love his works because they already recognize the tunes. They like saying his name too.
I would love to win any of these! I love your blog and all the great stuff you post! And I’m excited you are having sale!
The ‘Liszt-o-mania’ business has always been fun. Liszt is my favourite to teach. 🙂
Sweet giveaway! Beethoven is my favorite. Students seem to connect with his music.
I like Mozart.
I have a very old recording of a nice story of Mozart’s early life that even young children enjoy and keeps their attention.
Then we get into some very easy versions of his music for them to play, even at 4 years!
So glad I discovered this blog!!
I would love to use your materials, Joy! This would be fun to use for a camp, or a homeschool class. I’d probably choose Bach.
Happy Anniversary, Joy! I love your blog – such wonderful & creative ideas. My favorite composer to teach: Beethoven – kids love his music which is very recognizable & familiar and they love his role model of overcoming the disability of deafness.
I’d love to have a chance at winning this fabulous looking creation:-)
Oh and my favorite classical composer to teach would be Beethoven:-)
I would love to win your lapbooks to use for a music camp I am teaching this summer. I don’t have a favorite composer to teach yet since I am just getting started, but my favorite composer to play is Bach. Can’t wait for your sale!
I would love to have your lapbook to teach Debussey. I am learning so much from your website. Thanks!!!
I have always loved playing and teaching Bach.
I also think Beethoven, because kids recognize so much of his music, and enjoy learning about his life story. Of course, Ode to Joy is a great favorite!
I have a siamese kitten that we have named Mozart so I would have to say he has been the favourite composer this year.
That’s so cute!
Keeping my fingers crossed that I might be the lucky winner. This would be a great thing to do with my students over spring break.
I’ve always loved Debussy.
I love teaching the music of Kabalevsky and Gurlitt. Burguller is a close runner-up!
(P.S.: You don’t have to choose only from the composers who I’ve made lapbooks about — I’m curious about ANY composer’s music you like using with your students!) 🙂
My young students and I love to learn about Beethoven. They cannot get enough “Ode to Joy!”
My students enjoy the children’s pieces by Bartok and Kabalevsky because they are fun and different, but I agree with everyone else that Beethoven is fun to teach because his pieces are more well-known. 🙂
Happy Birthday Color In My Piano! How time flies! My favorite composer to teach has got to be a tie between Mozart and Beethoven. Mostly because students recognize their music more and get excited about playing them. 🙂
I don’t have many students who are at the level to play more advanced classical pieces as most of my students have only been taking lessons for a couple years. I did, however, have one student who loved anything by Beethoven and another student who insisted that she wanted to learn Canon in D by Pachelbel. I finally taught it to her and she did wonderfully despite the fact that the song was 4 levels of lesson books higher than what she had been playing!
Love teaching Beethoven to my students. He had a agonizing/fascinating life!
Congratulations on your anniversary, Joy! I love reading your posts – you have heaps of great ideas. I would love to do any one of the composers in your shop for our camp this Christmas. Last year was my first camp and we did periods of music history with one group. Our composer of this term is Tchaikovsky but we’ve also done Beethoven and Haydn. I love playing the music of Chopin and Mozart so they would be my preference.
I love teaching about Bach. There are so many fun stories about him that my students love hearing! But, I’m about to teach on Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven at a homeschool class and it would be great to use one of the lapbooks!
What a great giveaway! I think Beethoven would be the most popular with my students but I have always loved to teach Debussy. I love his music!
My students enjoy playing works by Burgmuller, Schumann, and Bartok, when they are starting into the classical music.
I would LOVE to start with Beethoven… I am planning some Summer activities with several LapBooks– so am looking forward to the Sale!!
J.S. Bach! As soon as they are ready, I introduce them to Bach’s music. There is just so much to learn from his music!
Thanks for doing a giveaway! I love teaching about Mozart to my younger students, but Beethoven is probably my favorite. I just had a lot of fun teaching my students about the Schumanns at our group lesson last week too! I love music history and I’ve been thinking about purchasing your lapbooks for a while so I hope I win. 😀
I love teaching Christopher Norton to my students!
I would be very interested in winning one of your lapbooks! I really enjoy teaching Clementi’s sonatinas to my students as well as Christopher Norton’s works. 🙂 However, Chopin would be my favorite composer by far.
I was planning on putting together a class about the life and music of Beethoven, so your free lapbook would just be wonderful!
Your composer lapbooks look fantastic. I would love to win one of the kits to use with my students. We enjoy Mozart and Bach.
Thanks!
I’m going to go with Chopin being my favorite to teach, but that changes all the time! This week it’s Chopin because I have a student who finally caught the vision of achieving a beautiful Chopin-esque meldoy, and I am so thrilled!!
Happy birthday! Your website has been such a blessing to me as I have just begun teaching piano. I love to teach Bach because I love his music and love sharing it with the students. We also sing many hymns that he helped contribute to our church hymnal so it is a great starting point.
Vivaldi! Primarily, I teach violin, and Vivaldi has many works of all levels to use with my students. His works are accessible (Basic rhythms) but provide foundation to work on technique and speed. My students and I also have very interesting conversations when we are learning his music, and I as a teacher often learn new perspectives through listening to my students.
I would say Mozart.
Just found your blog and I LOVE it!!!
Thank you for your blog and for the giveaway!
I think I like Mozart best. The early beginner books I’m using are starting to use very simple arrangements of several classical composers. It’s such a great way to get the littler kids interested!
Thanks Joy, I would love to win a composer lap book!
I find that Intermediate level Bach pieces are usually winners (like Minuet in G’s)…although you said “Classical” (and he’s Baroque–not sure if you meant it in a general sense). Mozart is another composer that is enjoyed here as well, though unfortunately I only have a couple of students that are just now in the level to start playing these, so I don’t have anything more unique to share, composer-wise. 🙂
My favorite is the Debussy, Claude
Chopin’s music would probably be one of my top favorites for teaching to students. It seems like it is often through his music that I have seen students finally develop enough courage to put emotion in their playing and produce a beautiful singing melody.
I love teaching about Bethoven.
I’ve had the privilege of teaching 12 year old twin boys for several years, and I challenged them with a book of Schumann pieces. We all enjoyed the outcome! Bach and Beethoven are two other favorites with my students…it’s impossible to pick just one! I would love to use your lapbooks for summer camps this year. Thank you for this website and all your wonderful teaching ideas! My students are benefitting!
I love Mozart’s music, but I think Bach is my favorite to teach. The more I teach his songs the more I see the beauty and genius in them!
Enter me, please!
I have been teaching for many years and my most favorite composer is Beethoven ! The style of music and the differences of his pieces dramatically tell his story and I love sharing his music with the children. Thank you for this website and ” Happy Birthday ! Love this sight
Bach is my favorite to teach because I’m a Lutheran piano teacher! Visited the Bachhaus in Germany awhile back and really became interested in all things Bach. I’d love to win so I could incorporate composer study into my summer piano curriculum. Thank you!
I’ve been teaching piano to young children for many years. I think they would enjoy using this in our lessons very much. Your website is a wonderful source of information! Thank you.
I love your blog!!! I’m going to purchase some gem stones this weekend. I love to teach Beethoven. He is such a colorful character.
Thanks for all your great posts!
I enjoy Debussy– so much variety and color for the student to experience. He was such a master at creating musical pictures and taking the piano to new levels of sounds.
I like to teach Mozart because he was known for composing and playing as a young child.
Love teaching Chopin, and love playing Chopin!
Among the classical ones of course my favorites would be Mozart and Beethoven. But I also like to teach Clementi’s sonatas, my students especially like them
I speak about Tchaikovsky and bring out my Schaum Book of great ballets. I have them play the Nutcracker and Swan Lake and teach the circle of 5ths because Tchaikovsky used the circle of 5ths so much in his music.
I love to teach Chopin!
Way too many interesting stories to choose from… Bach & his 20 kids, Haydn & his wife who used his manuscripts as hair-curling papers and for lining her bread pans, Mozart & Clementi & their piano “duel” (yes, duel, not duet), Beethoven & his moving 70 times in 35 years in Vienna, Clara Wieck Schumann & her overcoming life’s lemons, Anne Crosby Gaudet because her songs are so cool! Even Wagner & founding his own personal fan club, the “Wagner Society” (not cool)!
Happiest of birthdays to a most valuable blog! I would say Beethoven, he had so many moods in his music that can really resonate with students.
I love teaching Gurlitt recently. Thanks for this offer!
Next year we are studying American Composers, so Scott Joplin would be a great lapbook. And, of course, Beethoven is always a favorite. Hop to hear from you!!!
I enjoy teaching Mozart and Bach. I mean who doesn’t love Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star? 🙂
Most of the students like music they have heard others play so, Johann S. Bach seem to be a hit with my 5 year old and up students when they start the program
I am preparing to do your Mozart lap book next month with my students and I would love to do the Beethoven next as he is one of my favorite composers.
I loved teaching Franz Liszt with your lap book. He’s one of my favorites! I would like to win Scott Joplin. I teach a jazz unit every year, and really want this to teach with!
Thanks!
Kabalevsky and Gurlitt are two favourites for children.
Thanks for all your ideas — I usually come to “Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom” to steal quotes to end my studio newsletters!
Beethoven is my students’ favorite…I’ll have to say I enjoy telling his story. I have tried to stretch my advance students’ repertoire and have one that was a Beethoven fanatic. She is now playing Bach and Chopin…and she chose them! So progress is being made! I love to win a lapbook!!!!
I love teaching Beethoven, Gurlitt, Kabalevsky, Chopin, just to name a few.
Happy 4 years, Joy! My kids really love learning Beethoven because they recognize the music, but I really enjoy teaching Bartok. I just love his music so much and love what he was all about. I also love teaching blues, jazz and ragtime, because the kids LOVE practicing and then we have fun, exciting lessons and they actually love hearing suggestions for improving when they really love the music!
Joy I love your website – thank you for sharing all of the creative ideas you have! I would love to win one of the composer lap books and I think that Beethoven is my favorite. Every child wants to listen to and play Moonlight Sonata and Fur Elise.
Would love to have something like this! I enjoy teaching many different composers but my students are especially fond of Beethoven.
It is hard to choose a favorite! Right now I’m teaching Vialdi and I’m really enjoying it, so he is my current favorite.
Debussy is a favorite of my students right now with all the new textures of sound. The younger ones also love hearing about Beethoven and Mozart and the famous love story between Robert and Clara Schumann. I am planning a summer music camp and would love to have one of your lapbooks. Thanks for all the wonderful info you share!:)
My students enjoy Beethoven and Mozart.
Hey Joy! LOVE so many of your ideas! I have been teaching for over 30 years (WOW – I must have started teaching at age 5!!) and you and Susan P have really helped me rediscover my love of teaching again. You have been a shot in the arm – thanks! I love the music of Mozart and Debussy myself, but my kids would probably choose Beethoven. Thanks again for sharing so much of your talents!
It would have to be Beethoven
This is a hard choice, because I do love teaching about them all! But, my students always love learning about Beethoven. This in itself makes it extra fun for me to teach. Thank for your great website, I always get inspired when I read your posts!
I love teaching Debussy!
Bach is always a favorite
I love to play Grieg but my students would probably choose Beethoven since they recognize several of his pieces. Thanks for all your great ideas!
I love your website and ideas! thanks so much for sharing. In the past few months my favorite composer to teach has been Burgmuller.
I’ve really enjoyed your site the last few years! My favorite composer to teach…that’s a hard one but I’d have to say Mozart. Keep the great ideas coming!
Beethoven is one of my favorite composers. His compositions are so unique in every respect. Beethoven being deaf made it that much harder for him. For him to overcome this disability shows my students that you can do anything your heart desires. I teach special need children with a lot of different disabilities. Music is something that EVERYONE can relate too. Beethoven’s music comes to life for my students. We pretend that we are deaf by placing earplugs in our ears to see how our other senses take charge. The touch & feel of the keyboard, moving our fingers up closer to the back board to feel the tones which are made clearer. Feeling the grouping of the black keys, knowing where each key is located. We also do the same with a blindfold covering our eyes as if we were blind. This is were the ear training comes into play. Beethoven’s music relates to the senses.
Thanks Joy for your wonderful website. I have started the Piano Party & I am working on a music camp for the summer. Your games are so much fun, my students are having a lot of fun with it.
I love teaching Beethoven and Bach! I love this website, thanks for all of your hard work.
I enjoy introducing Mozart to my young students since he was a child prodigy (in the hope that they will practice hard in order to be like him =D)
I work with many children who have autism, so I enjoy teaching pieces that have a lot of room for expression. It’s interesting that children with ASD can relate to emotion in music despite their inability to do so through social interactions. In early levels I enjoy teaching Streabbog, Grove and Burgmuller. In more advanced levels Chopin is definitely a favorite:) I plan on incorporating some of your composer lapbooks in my studio. Thanks Joy, I really enjoy reading your blogs and exchanging ideas!
This would be just a wonderful addition to my teaching materials! Beethoven is a real favorite with my students. Thank-you for your wonderful website!
I enjoy teaching Beethoven & Mozart. My students are really enjoying the Saint-Saens lap book.
Beethoven & Mozart are my favorite to teach. I love telling their to my students. Students already seem to know a couple of their songs – Fur Elise, Ode To Joy, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
Since I have been teaching many beginner students Beethoven is a composer whose music they all usually recognize and love to learn.
Beethoven is a fun one to teach for young students. They recognize some of his music and are motivated to practice!
Congratulations on your 4 years of inspiring, creative, generous teaching ideas! I love the idea of your lap books;Bach for emotion through order and symmetry, Beethoven for creativity and energy, Bartok for rhythmic and tonal variety…gosh I can’t stop choosing! Thank you for the chance!
These lapbooks look so great, Joy! I love the music of J.S. Bach, so would probably pick him as my favorite. Thanks for the giveaway!
Thanks for this awesome giveaway! I love teaching Schumann, Mozart, and Debussy.
Even if I don’t win, I hope to purchase at least one kit.
I love teaching Grieg. The music is fun to play in both original, simplified and transcribed from orchestral pieces. Many are familiar to them already but they love the excitement, big chords and great sounding music.
Definitely Beethoven. My students marvel at his ability to create music after he became deaf. This gives them inpiration to keep on trying despite obstacles they may have. I enjoy your blog!