Greetings, folks!
Just wanted to let you know that on Monday (March 21, 2016), I plan to create a live video using Facebook Live. You won’t want to miss it — I’m going to share about some of my favorite sheet music solos for piano students.
To watch, login to Facebook and visit the Color In My Piano blog’s Facebook page at noon Eastern time. You will see the notification there when the video stream goes live.
I will also be posting the video replay afterwards.
Hope to see you then!
Greetings!
Guess what: February 28 marked the seven-year anniversary of Color In My Piano!
At this time each year, I like to reflect upon the time that has passed since I started blogging and teaching and recognize how things have grown and changed. I hope, whether you are a longtime or a new follower of Color In My Piano, you will enjoy reading the brief history below.
If you are short on time, please feel free to skip down to the overview of the most recent year.
The First Year
On February 28, 2009, I wrote my first blog post: a welcome and brief statement of purpose. I found my inspiration largely from Natalie Wickham’s Music Matters Blog and Susan Paradis’s Piano Teacher Resources, whose resources I found tremendously helpful and inspiring for my piano teaching. At this point, I was running a successful piano studio of about 20 students out of my parents’ home, and finishing up my Bachelor’s degree in piano performance at Hope College. I graduated in May of 2009.
On July 9, 2009, I decided that I was enjoying blogging enough to go full swing: I came up with the title “Color In My Piano,” bought my own domain name and a year’s worth of web hosting, and gave the site a new look.
The name “Color In My Piano” was coined when, during my senior year at Hope College, I was required to write an essay which reflected upon my life so far and summed up my current worldview. Not surprisingly, much of paper focused on my beliefs about music and the role of the piano/teaching in my life. In my life, I strive to keep my music-making and teaching from feeling like merely a job or a requirement. I strive to keep “color in my piano” for both my students and myself. Continue reading “Celebrating 7 Years of Blogging!”
Guess what: next Sunday, February 28, 2016, is the 7-year blogiversary of the Color In My Piano blog. Wahoo! 😀
In celebration, I am running my annual 20% off sale on everything in my digital shop. The sale will run for a month, starting today, Monday, February 22 through Saturday, March 19, 2016. Please enter this promo code during checkout to receive the discount: 20OFF2016.
What will you find in my shop?
My favorite Ice Cream Interval Game…
A variety of rhythm cards…
My composer lapbook PDF series, Great Composers & Their Music…
The Eras of Music History PDF kit…
There are also a few camp curriculums (So, You Want To Be A Composer? and Music of the World), and more.
View the Shop here. Thanks for looking!
This came in the mail yesterday:
The Savvy Music Teacher a brand new book that has just been released by Oxford University Press from author David Cutler, author of The Savvy Musician. I was excited to see the mention of my story and my blog’s shop on page 158 after being interviewed by the author a year ago! This book is going to be a great resource to help musicians figure out how to make a livable and comfortable living doing what they love.
Find the book on Amazon here.
Greetings, friends!
I’m excited to announce today a brand new experiment — read on.
Periscope is a platform (for iOS or Android) that allows users to broadcast a live video feed. Many bloggers and personalities are taking advantage of this relatively new platform to reach out and interact with their followers in a unique way.
Blogger and piano teacher Jennifer Foxx has already used Periscope a couple of times to talk about new products and giveaways.
Elizabeth Gutierrez is using Periscope for her Piano Play-Along series on her blog, PianoTeacherCamp.com. In her Piano Play-Alongs, teachers can learn and study repertoire together and talk about how to teach it.
So, I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon and try out Periscope as a way to create short, interactive talks about piano pedagogy. If it works out, I would love for this to become a weekly thing. If you have questions or ideas for what we could address in Periscope discussions, please submit those ideas here!
Interested? Here’s how to participate:
Hope to see you Monday at noon (Eastern time)!
During my two-week break from teaching last month, I finished a project I’ve been wanting to do for awhile now. I initially saw the idea on Pinterest and was thrilled to finally find the materials I needed!
It’s wall art created using old 45 records! At a thrift store back home in Michigan, I found 45’s for sale priced at 6 for $1. I selected the ones with the most colorful labels.
You could also use standard-sized vinyl records for this project, but you would need a much larger wall space.
I hung the records using small Command hooks. Have you used them before for your walls? They are wonderful! No need to pound holes into your walls. I bought a package of the smallest sized clips, which are only appropriate for hanging light-weight things. They were perfect for this project.
The clips allow the records to easily slip into place, and I can even rearrange the order of the records if I want to. Using pencil and a tape measure, I marked out the places where I wanted to the hooks to go. I measured and re-measured and RE-measured to make sure that the clips were evenly spaced. 🙂
I love how it turned out! It adds color to my wall that I can enjoy every day from my teaching chair.
It was an inexpensive, fun project — and perfect for a music-themed room!
Last week, one of my adult students gave my husband and I an old Victor Victrola gramophone. Isn’t it lovely?!
I knew very little about gramophones prior to this. Internet research revealed that our Victrola was manufactured in 1929. It isn’t a particularly valuable one, but it is a great historical piece and it has a great sound!
I was able to find a scan of the manual for a similar model so that I could learn about how to properly operate our Victrola and maintain it. Learning about the history of the gramophone was fun, too!
Here is a video I made demonstrating my Victrola:
All of this research inspired me to create a lesson plan to teach my students about the history of audio formats. Stay tuned to hear more about it!
Today, I updated a blog post from 2009 about the ongoing incentive program I’ve been using in my student for over five years now. I’ve added new photos and details about the program and why I think it has worked so well for my students and I.
Click here to read the updated post!
February 28 marked the six-year anniversary of Color In My Piano! As previously announced, we are celebrating with a 20% off sale in my digital shop using the promo code 20OFF2015. The sale expires on Friday, March 20, 2015.
I know some of you have been following my blog since its inception, but many of you are new. It seems appropriate to share a brief history of my blog as part of our blogiversary celebration.
The First Year:
The annual Blogiversary Sale is going on now! Take 20% off all items in my digital shop.
Promo Code: 20OFF2015
You must enter the promo code in the shopping cart to receive the discount. Sale expires on Friday, March 20, 2015.
Hello, folks!
The good news first: On February 28 is the ColorInMyPiano blog’s birthday! I’ve been blogging for 6 years now. I wanted to let you know that in celebration, I will once again holding the annual 20% off sale on everything in my digital shop. This will begin on Monday, February 23 and last through Friday, March 20, 2015. Now is the time to plan ahead for group classes or summer camps and purchase any curriculum you might need!
I wanted to also let you know that my shop is now compliant with the new European VAT law that went into effect on January 1, 2015, affecting digital goods sales. Especially if you haven’t heard about this law and the issues surrounding it yet, I highly recommend giving this article a quick read. Selling digital items online is becoming more complicated as governments try to decide how such products should be taxed! :\
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
My students and I are counting down the days until our studio recital! I find that having this visual reminder each week in the studio is very helpful for students as they prepare for the big day. Learn how you can make your own Recital Countdown with a 4×6 photo frame here.
Valentine’s Day is this Saturday! I have two piano valentine printables that I created in previous years that you might be interested in using. Or, perhaps this year you might like to use Susan Paradis’ or Wendy Stevens’ designs? Below you’ll find some photographic inspiration. Continue reading “February Happenings”
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