“Find the right gestures, and the phrase will play itself.”
— Alfred Cortot
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 me a message here.
For the past six months, I have been working on a new resource to help piano teachers compose and improvise with their students. I am going to give you the full scoop on the new resource soon, but I wanted to introduce the resource with this article discussing how composition can be used in the private piano lesson. Update: the new “Composition & Improvisation Prompts for Piano” eBook is now available here in the Shop!
There are many challenges to having piano students compose. For example, teachers might feel that:
Despite these challenges (yes, I feel them too), I have enjoyed having my students compose their own pieces for many years now. Here is how I incorporate composition in my lessons: Continue reading “Composing in the Piano Lesson with Beginner & Elementary Students”
Classroom music educators are taught and encouraged to be music advocates, especially when music programs are in danger of being cut due to budget restraints. Regardless of your stance on the inclusion of music education in public schools, Independent Music Teachers are certainly advocates of music in general, and perhaps also for the rest of the arts.
On nearly a daily basis, I see articles coming through my facebook feed or Pinterest feed about how “music makes you smarter.” And I have often seen “Why Study Music?” lists on piano studio websites, listing research articles that suggest that music study can improve your cognitive and social skills.
Why do piano teachers tout these articles before parents, suggesting that these are the reasons children should take piano lessons?
Let’s get real. Is that why YOU took piano lessons as a child? Because you wanted to get smarter? Is this why YOU teach piano lessons? To make children smarter?
Even if it may be true that studying music makes you “smarter,” it is not a very good reason to take lessons or encourage others to take lessons. If we are really in search of the activity that will make us or our children the smarter, then someone should do a research study to discover which activities are the best for brain development. And guess what — music might not win. Who knows — maybe chess or tennis is better for your brain. Or yoga or karate or computer programming.
The problem here is that we are confusing the VALUE of music with the SIDE BENEFITS of music study.
Yes, music study can impart important life skills such as creativity, concentration, dedication, diligence, and perseverance. But this is not why I love music. And this is certainly not why I am a piano teacher. Continue reading “Music Advocacy and the Independent Music Teacher”
“I am an adventurer. I like invention, I like discovery.”
— Karlheinz Stockhausen
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 me a message here.
Good morning!
Yesterday, I blogged about a presentation I am giving at the 2014 MusicEdConnect.com Online Conference in February. (If you haven’t entered the giveaway yet for FREE conference registration, be sure to leave a comment on yesterday’s post!)
Well — this morning, I am speaking for the Toledo Piano Teachers Association — an active group just a half-hour away from where I live. My program is titled, “Building Awareness of Rhythm in Piano Students.” It is a presentation that grew out of the rhythm article I wrote last May and the “I Got Rhythm” summer camp I taught last summer.
I have been really getting into this whole presentation thing! I have other upcoming appearances in February and May, and I would love to schedule more. If your local association is looking for programs, please take a peek at my workshop topics. I live in Ohio, but am willing to travel to your association!
Hello, readers!
I just wanted to help spread the word about a new online conference for music educators scheduled for February 5-8, 2014. MusicEdConnect.com has recently announced the lineup of speakers for the sessions and it looks great! Conference registrants can watch the sessions live online or they can check out the videos later, on-demand.
You can check out the full list of sessions here. I excited to announce that I will be giving a session on February 6 called “Building Musicianship Through Games & Activities.” During this session, I will talk about the value of teaching through games and how teachers can go about choosing or creating games that will teach the concepts they wish to reinforce in their students. I will also be demonstrating some of the games that are available here on my blog.I just wanted to help spread the word about a new online conference for music educators scheduled for February 5-8, 2014. MusicEdConnect.com has recently announced the lineup of speakers for the sessions and it looks great! Conference registrants can watch the sessions live online or they can check out the videos later, on-demand.
Below is the official press release from the folks at MusicEdConnect.com. Read it over and then check out their website and facebook page for more info.
Good news: MusicEdConnect.com is giving away one free conference registration to one lucky blog reader from Color In My Piano! To enter, please leave a comment below this post describing one of your students’ favorite games (it can be a group game or an individual game). The deadline to enter is Midnight EST on October 16, 2013. The winner will be randomly selected the next day. I can’t wait to read your comments! Continue reading “Don’t Miss the 2014 MusicEdConnect.com Online Conference”
As you know, this week I have been blogging some of my notes highlighting a few sessions from the 2013 OhioMTA Conference. In addition to lectures, there were also some fantastic masterclasses and recitals. For example:
It was great to get re-fueled and bring back some fresh ideas for my teaching!
The next conference I hope to attend will be the 2014 MTNA recital taking place in Chicago. Start saving now! 🙂
Technology on a Budget, by Andy Villemez and Dr. Michelle Conda
Andy Villemez gave a great session about some of the best free (or near-free) resources available on the internet.
1. Office Suites
Alternatives to the expensive Microsoft Office Suite:
2. Music Notation Software
Alternatives to Finale or Sibelius:
3. Library Cataloguing Software
Caveat: these services are free only to a limit.
4. Sheet music
5. Online Pedagogical Resources
“I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones.”
— John Cage
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 me a message here.
Practical Tips to Solve Common Issues in Teaching Advanced Transfer Students, by Siok Lian Tan
Dr. Siok Lian Tan serves as a professor of piano at Miami University in Oxford, OH. During this session, Dr. Tan discussed how to help solve common issues in advanced transfer students. The areas she discussed were reading, efficient practice, critical listening, memorization, and playing posture. Below are some highlights from her session.
I. Reading Skills
Sometimes, we get students we could call “seasonal readers.” They can play advanced music but cannot sight read simple pieces.
Strategies for sightreading: Just do it, and regularly. Do it at home and at the beginning of the lesson.
Guide the student as they scan it over. Give them reading steps they can do at home (e.g.: Set a pulse, count off, finger the piece silently, etc.). Ask them for the meter and key signature. Look for patterns and sections, modulations, etc. Make a game out of it: What can they notice about the piece in 10 seconds time?
Another strategy: Create situations where students must read a lot and learn quickly. Continue reading “2013 OhioMTA Conference (2) — Solving Common Issues in Advanced Transfer Students, by Siok Lian Tan”
Improvising Is For Everyone, by Bradley Sowash
Last weekend, I attended the 2013 conference of the Ohio Music Teachers Association. This year, it was held in Cincinnati at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. I carpooled with three other teachers from my area. We had a lot of fun!
The first session was held by Bradley Sowash, a jazz musician and piano teacher located in Columbus, OH.
For a number of years now, Mr. Sowash has been encouraging teachers to include creative skills (improvisation and composition) in their lessons. For many years, teachers would respond to Mr. Sowash’s message saying they were certainly not interested in doing so. However, things are changing: in recent years, teachers have begun agreeing with the premise that teaching off the page is just as important as teaching on the page. Now, teachers are asking for information about HOW to do so. Today’s presentation addresses this question about HOW to teach the skills for improvisation.
To begin, Mr. Sowash discussed 5 myths about improvising/playing by ear. Many people believe that you must be born with a good ear in order to improvise or play by ear, but it simply isn’t true: it comes through practice and study just like traditional musical skills.
Next, Mr. Sowash described the process of teaching scales and chords to students in preparation for being able to improvise using them. He called this section, “Scaling the Chords.” The goal here is to teach scales more creatively, teach chord fluency, and understand pop/jazz chord symbols properly. Continue reading “2013 OhioMTA Conference (1) – Improvising Is For Everyone, by Bradley Sowash”
Hello readers,
This weekend is the OhioMTA (affiliated with MTNA) State Conference, taking place in Cincinnati this year. I am looking forward to connecting and re-connecting with other piano teachers in Ohio and, of course, learning a lot from the sessions on the schedule. If you will be at the conference and I haven’t met you before, I hope we will have the chance to meet in person!
I am bringing my iPad Mini along and plan to take and blog conference notes. 🙂 Stay tuned!
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