Author: Joy Morin

Joy Morin, MM, is a teacher, pianist, composer, speaker, and writer of a blog at ColorInMyPiano.com. A devoted teacher and lifelong learner, she teaches students of all ages at her independent piano studio near Ann Arbor, Michigan. Joy is a frequent attendee and presenter at conferences and workshops, and enjoys connecting with fellow piano teachers through her blog and beyond.
Games

New Facebook Group: Piano Teacher FunMakers

Joy Morin

Susan Paradis recently created a brand new group on Facebook called, “Piano Teacher FunMakers.”  It is a discussion group for piano teachers who like to get students off the bench and teach music with hands-on activities.  The goal of the group is to share games that work, places to get games and activities, ways to store them, how play them in a lesson, etc.

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Susan has asked me to be a co-moderator for this awesome new group.  I hope you will consider joining us other there!

To join, click here and look for the “Join Group” button on the right.

Technology

My CD Project: Favorite Piano Classics for Students

Joy Morin

Here is a peek at the project that has been occupying my spare time for the last two months:

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In November, I got the idea to record myself playing some classical pieces that I were my favorite to learn as I was growing up.  I thought it would make a nice Christmas gift for my family, friends, and piano students.  The project turned out to take MUCH more time than I had originally anticipated, but I am very pleased with the outcome!  Continue reading “My CD Project: Favorite Piano Classics for Students” →

Giveaways

Clavier Companion Subscription Giveaway Results

Joy Morin

clavier comp 1Here are the results from last week’s Clavier Companion giveaway.   The winners are:

  • Annie
  • Orlia
  • Karen T.
  • Karen
  • Hannah

Winners, please watch your email inbox for an email from Clavier Companion with information about your new digital subscription.

I hope the rest of you will consider subscribing to this great magazine!  Remember, Clavier Companion offers to subscription options: (1) print subscriptions (which includes free digital subscriptions) or (2) digital-only subscriptions.  Check out their website here.

Motivation

Christmas Paper Chain Fun

Joy Morin

I saw this wonderful idea in one of the wonderful facebook groups for piano teachers (this one).   I am not sure who to credit with the original idea — I suppose it has been done many times by teachers in the past.

The idea is that when a student learns a Christmas piece, they get to add a paper strip to the chain.

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I just started the chain this week with my students.  I love how this is a collaborative (instead of competitive) project that allows the entire studio to participate.  Our chain already reaches across the entryway of my studio!

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It will be fun to see how long the chain gets by the time Christmas is over!

Giveaways

Clavier Companion Magazine’s Recent Redesign (Giveaway)

Joy Morin

Clavier Companion is my favorite magazine ever, hands down.  Each magazine features a great variety of articles about pianists, piano teaching, new resources, the latest trends, and much more.  I have been a subscriber for a couple of years and I love receiving the issues in the mail!

The November/December issue of Clavier Companion introduced a fresh new look and design.

clavier comp 1 Continue reading “Clavier Companion Magazine’s Recent Redesign (Giveaway)” →

Composition

Student Composition: “The Wind”

Joy Morin

My blogging has been sporadic at best for the past few weeks — I apologize!  I have been spending every moment of my free time working on a project with a Christmas-related deadline.  🙂  I will be sharing more details about it later this month.

In the meantime, enjoy this video of my student playing a piece she recently composed.  Rania is a very proficient composer.  🙂  Rania has composed pieces based on my “Prompts for Piano” eBook, although this particular piece was inspired by one of the composition assignments in the theory book of the Succeeding at the Piano method books.  Rania LOVES using the pedal, as you’ll hear in her piece:

Rania first wrote out her piece using her own kind of made-up notation.  After I heard her play the piece, I encouraged her to write it out on staff paper.  After that, I notated the piece for her in Finale.  She drew an illustration for the piece, which I scanned and inserted into the Finale file.  I also like to save the completed score as a PDF and send it to the parents.

Rania - The Wind wood with illustrated score

Rania enjoyed making the video, too, so that her family members that live outside of the state can see/hear her play!

Giveaways, repertoire / methods

Giveaway: Christmas Music by Jennifer Eklund

Joy Morin

Jennifer Eklund of PianoPronto.com has kindly offered to sponsor a giveaway for us today!  Let me tell you a little bit about Jennifer’s work.

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Jennifer is a piano teacher and self-publishing composer with a huge output of materials for piano students.  She publishes her own piano method called Piano Pronto as well as a variety of supplemental books/sheet music.  Jennifer sells both print copies and digital copies (for immediate download) of her materials.    Continue reading “Giveaway: Christmas Music by Jennifer Eklund” →

Music Theory, Worksheets

Freebie: Identifying Intervals worksheets

Joy Morin

Identifying Intervals - iPadBefore I talk about the interval worksheets, I’d like to announce the five winners of the NoteWorks app for iPhone giveaway:

  1. Jane
  2. Lisa
  3. MaryBeth
  4. Laura
  5. Kristina Bowman

Congrats!  Winners, please check your inbox for an email from me.

I have a couple of freebies to share today.

Remember my article about intervalic reading?  As mentioned in that article, my DIY music whiteboard is an oft-used tool when I am working with students to learn to recognize intervals.   Continue reading “Freebie: Identifying Intervals worksheets” →