Category: Announcements

Announcements

Best of 2009 @ colorinmypiano.com

Joy Morin

The new year is here!  Here’s some highlights from 2009:

Announcements, improving as a teacher, Practicing

Practicing Efficiently

Joy Morin

Hello all!  After a enjoyable and much-needed Christmas break, I’m officially back to blogging.  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying the new year.

Over break, I had limited access to a piano (I don’t currently own one – I both teach and practice using the pianos on campus).  It felt good to be back at it over the last few days.  Today while I was practicing (Liszt’s Waldesrauschen, among other things), I was thinking about concentration and its role in learning new music.  Why is it that on some days, I accomplish a great deal during practice sessions, and on other days, I feel as if I just wasted the last hour as I practiced?   Continue reading “Practicing Efficiently” →

Announcements

Best Wishes for Christmas and the New Year

Joy Morin

I hope you all have been enjoying the Christmas season!  My husband and I have been happy to be staying with and spending time with family and friends for the past few weeks.  We are finally back home, which feels great.  We plan to do plenty of relaxing in order to get rejuvenated before the next busy semester begins January 11.  I plan to take at least another week off from blogging.

I hope you all have had a blessed Christmas season, full of music and happiness. See you in 2010!

Announcements, improving as a teacher, repertoire / methods

Organizing your Music Books

Joy Morin

DSC_20090831_6801How do your organize your library of music books?  About a month ago, I purchased a new bookshelf (see photo) for my music, because most of my books were still in boxes with no place to go since our move to our new apartment.  In just a few hours, I managed to re-organize all my music books, and I’m proud to say I can actually find stuff I’m looking for when I need it!

Here’s how I organize my books:

I divide my music into two major categories:

  1. Student-level repertoire
  2. Advanced repertoire

Within the above categories, I divide my books further into the following categories:

  • Sheet music — organized by level (e.g., early elementary, late intermediate, etc.).
  • Classical music — alphabetized by composer last name.
  • Classical Anthologies — books that contain pieces by a number of different composers.  When possible, I organize these books chronologically (i.e., by music period).
  • Sacred music — books of hymn arrangements.

I also have a few other categories:

  • Method Books — such as Alfred, Faber, etc., organized by method series and then by level.
  • Technique — such as Finger Power, Dozen A Day, Hanon exercises, etc.
  • Theory — such as Notespellers, books of theory worksheets, etc.

How do you organize your music library?

Announcements, improving as a teacher

Top 3 Obstacles when Teaching Improvisation | Part 2 of the series

Joy Morin

Okay, so I’ve been promising to talk about the findings from my research paper about improvisation.  While I don’t plan to post the entire 20+ pages as is, I do plan to post the information over a few posts, bit by bit, so it’s easier to read.  The first bit here (below) establishes the problem (i.e., the reason for writing a paper about improvisation).

Teaching improvisation is challenging for many teachers.  As I was reading books and journal articles about improvisation for my research paper, 3 common obstacles surfaced.  These are obstacles that music educators (not just piano teachers) encounter when trying to incorporate improvisation into their curriculum: Continue reading “Top 3 Obstacles when Teaching Improvisation | Part 2 of the series” →

Announcements

My Current Repertoire Choices…

Joy Morin

Since the end of the semester is near, my piano professor and I are thinking ahead to repertoire for next semester.  I really enjoyed learning a few movements from Prokofiev’s Visions Fugitives this semester, and was thinking it would be great to learn some more 20th century music!

I found this lovely gem by Poulenc (Novellette No. 1 in CM):  

I also love this pairing of Kabalevsky Preludes (Op. 38, No. 8 and 16):

I also would love to learn a couple of the Barber Excursions Op. 20:

I can’t decide!  They are all such beautiful pieces.  Any votes?

Announcements, Motivation, Resources, Teaching Piano

Using Adjectives to Capture the Imagination

Joy Morin

One of the ideas I’ve been exploring extensively throughout the research I’m doing for my paper for college (the one about improvisation) is making music musical.  This seems so obvious, but really, what would music be without musicality?  Check out this video, of a robot playing the violin.

Speaking of which, have you ever had students who played like robots?  ***raises hand timidly***  Yep, I have too.  This is what music would be like without musicality.

What started me thinking of robots, and music, and robotic students, you may ask?  Well, I came across a lovely resource over at The Piano Pedagogy Page — a handy list of adjectives.

It may seem that a list of adjectives may be more fitting for use in an English class.  Maybe.  But it may also be helpful in the piano lesson, in helping those certain robotic-like students get “beyond the notes.”  Shoot, it might even be good reminder for me from time to time!  It’s easy to fall into the trap of being overly concerning with the technique, and fail to think about what I consider to be the ultimate goal of music: to communicate expression.  Music is meant to  reach out and speak to people, at one level or another.

It’s so important to be teaching students musicality at an early age.  It makes lessons so much more exciting, anyway.  We are not trying to create little robots who can push the right buttons (i.e., the keys on the piano) at the right time, but creating little music makers.

Announcements

Best of Summer 2009

Joy Morin

Wow, it’s November already.  Here in Michigan, the signs of autumn’s arrival are unmistakable:

  1. I can see my breath in the morning when my husband and I ride our bikes to campus.
  2. I hauled out my warm, knee-high leather boots out from the midst of the “under-bed.”
  3. The trees are changing colors.  I just love the brilliant displays of red, orange, and yellow.
  4. Leaves are EVERYWHERE.  The front yard is covered with a layer of leaves a few inches thick.  Our cars are almost buried (only a slight exaggeration).  They are threatening to come in through the front door.

I’m happy that fall is here.  I only hope is that it sticks around for awhile before winter comes.  I’m not sure I’m ready for snow quite yet.

Anyhow!  Since the birth of colorinmypiano.com in July of this year, I am happy to say that the number of visitors to this site has been slowly but steadily increasing.  To date, colorinmypiano.com receives an average of 136 visitors a day.  Wow, and thank you!

Here’s a look-back at a few favorite blogs posts from Summer 2009:

Announcements, Composition, Group Classes, Music History, Music Theory, Printables, Worksheets

Just Added! Lesson Plans: Analyzing & Composing Music in the Romantic Style

Joy Morin

Picture 2Just added to the Printables > Lesson Plans page:

Lesson Plans & Worksheets: Analyzing & Composing Music in the Romantic Style 

A few months ago, I used these lesson plans during a piano camp where I taught Theory & Composition classes.  This camp is unusual in that it gives the students a chance to work on ensemble music with their fellow campers.  In addition, all the ensemble music are original compositions — composed just for our campers.

In the lesson plans I made, I tried to incorporate both the emphasis on composition and the topic of the Music History classes (taught by another instructor; this year, focusing on the Romantic Period).  So, this year’s lesson plans are all about learning how to compose music in the Romantic style.  By the end of the week, the class had created a Class Composition for piano which was performed for all to hear at the camp recital!  The pieces were humorous, yet surprisingly sophisticated.  Perhaps later on, I’ll post an example of a composition they created, if that would be helpful to anyone.

The lesson plans are designed for classes of 4 – 6 students ranging in ages about 9 to 15, but I’m sure they could be adapted to suit other ages and groups of students.  Enjoy!  Let me know how they work for you.

  Analyzing & Composing in the Romantic Style - Lesson Plans & Worksheets (1.0 MiB, 36,054 hits)