Category: Conferences

Conferences

2011 National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy

Joy Morin

This summer, I plan to attend another conference: the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy!  It’s being held July 27-30.

Some fast facts:

  • NCKP is held every other year.
  • NCKP is sponsored by the Francis Clark Center and held in Chicago.
  • Speakers this year include Dennis Alexander, Randall Faber, Forrest and Akiko Kinney, George Litterst, Mario Ajero, and many more.
  • Recital performers include pianist Ann Schein.

For full-time college students, there are tuition scholarships available to cover conference tuition.  Since I am eligible for them (crossing my fingers that I’ll get one) and since Chicago is not far from me, it was pretty much a no-brainer to decide to attend!  This will be the last time I am eligible for student rates for conference tuition, so I am totally going to take advantage of this!  =)

Click here and browse the menu on the left to read more about the NCKP.  No membership to an association is required to attend this conference.  Be sure to register before this tomorrow (Friday), April 15 to receive the early bird rates!

Conferences, Technology

2011 MTNA Conference | iPods, Guitar Hero, And YouTube. Oh, My!

Joy Morin

I just love the title for this session!

TUESDAY @ 2:15pm: iPods, Guitar Hero, And YouTube. Oh, My!

This session was given by Samuel Holland and Kristin Yost.

Sam Holland began by talking about the world of the student and the world of the teacher (represented by two big circles on the powerpoint slide).  Our responsibility as teachers is to move our world towards theirs until they intersect, so learning can take place.

One important method of intersecting the student’s world is through technology.  The average teenager spends about 36 hours a week using technology.  Students are now beginning to spend more time online than they do watching TV.  The top activity they spend time doing is messaging – and second is downloading music (this is where we come in!).

Reasons teachers give for not utilizing technology with their students:

Conferences

2011 MTNA Conference | The Royal Conservatory/Achievement Program

Joy Morin

TUESDAY at 1pm: The Royal Conservatory: Celebrate Student Success: Recognizing Student Achievement Through Meaningful Assessment

This session celebrated the recent collaboration between Carnegie Hall and the Royal Conservatory to promote The Achievement Program (previously the National Music Certificate Program) as a national standard in the U.S.  A number of individuals who are actively involved with this program spoke about the features and advantages of this program.

Marvin Blickenstaff commented on the purpose of a national standard to establish a clear, consistent meaningful structure to piano education.  He also mentioned about the wonderful repertoire and supplemental materials available.  The Celebration Series, in fact, won the Francis Clark Keyboard Pedagogy Award in 2007 for its comprehensive scope, quality, handbook for teachers, and supplemental books (read more here).

Nest, Andrew Hisey talked about the technical/essential skills that The Achievement Program helps to develop in the student.  The Achivement Program tests ear and sight skills, rudiments (scales, arpeggios, chords, etc), sightreading, rhythms, and technique.  There are many excellent supplemental materials for teachers to use with their students to prepare for these areas of testing.

Janet Lopinski indentified The Achivement Program as a tangible tool box for the teacher because it supports and reinforces musicianship skills.  Having a third party assesment is also valuable for the teacher to assess his/her own effectiveness.  Janet also talked about the written theory tests that are part of The Achievement Program which are intended to ensure music literacy and understanding of how music is constructed.

Sheila Vail is a Cincinatti teacher who has had great success with the NMCP/Achievement Program in her studio.  She says to look at the results:  She enjoys having a more structured and leveled way to teach sightreading and ear training.  She loves the clear leveling, various styles of music, and comprehensiveness in general.  She found that parents loved it, especially the quality of the assessment and the beautiful language of the adjudicators’ comments.  She found that students in her studio seemed more likely to take lessons longer and strive to higher levels.  She also feels that she has become a better teacher as a result of using this program.

From the comments of these various individuals, there seem to be many benefits to using an assessment program such as The Achievement Program!  What are your thoughts?

Conferences

2011 MTNA Conference | Connecting With Your Piano Technician

Joy Morin

TUESDAY @ 11am: Connecting With Your Piano Technician

This session was given by Clarence Zeches, a RPT (Registered Piano Technician) from Kansas City.

Piano technicians must undergo rigorous testing before they can become RPTs.  Zeches discussed some advantages of connecting with a RPT in your area.  Here are a few:

  • Getting your piano tuned the recommended two times a year.  The more regularly you have your instrument tuned, the longer it is likely it stay in tune between tunings.
  • Recommend your trusted RPT to your students to have their pianos tuned and to ensure they have quality instruments.
  • When looking to upgrade your piano, you can pay to have a RPT look at a piano for you (if you are shopping on Craigslist, by newspaper ads, etc.). It generally costs $25-100 for this service, depending on the technician and the number of miles to travel.

Visit ptg.org to find a RPT near you and to download a flyer about caring for your piano.

Conferences

2011 MTNA Conference Session Notes Index

Joy Morin

Today and tomorrow, my notes from the MTNA Conference a few weeks ago will be posted here for you to enjoy!  Here are the sessions I attended during my short 24 hours at the conference:

If you’d like to read about what some of the other sessions were about, visit Natalie’s Music Matters blog to see her session notes!  I see that Marcia Vahl also has blogged about the sessions she attended.  If you have a link to share too, please leave a comment below!

I can’t forget to mention that the highlight of the whole conference for me was meeting some of my virtual friends for the first time ever!  It was wonderful to meet some of my readers too — you know who you are!  Natalie blogged and took a few pictures of our get-together which you can view here.

To those of you who also attended the conference — what was your favorite session?

Conferences, Studio Business

2011 MTNA Conference | Business Strategies for Young Professionals

Joy Morin

MONDAY @ 2:15pm: Smart, Single, Successful! Effective Business Strategies For Young Professionals

This session featured a panel of three young professionals moderated by Karen Thickstun.  Each panelist shared their story to begin:

  1. Rebecca V. Baker – After graduating with her DMA in Piano Pedagogy, Becky taught at the college level for a few years before moving to the midwest to teach private lessons and group classes at Meridian Music, a Steinway distributer in Indiana.  She believes in creative business management, which she explained as having a beneficial alliance and strong administration.  She advises having a clear vision and taking advantage of (and not underestimating the power of) free marketing.
  2. David Husser – After graduating with his MM in Music Education with a Piano Pedagogy focus, David moved to Traverse City, Michigan to fill in teaching another teacher’s studio for a year.  He eventually took over the studio completely and now does a variety of things including teaching adjuct at a community college, accompanying a high school choir, and working a church job.  He enjoys the variety.  David advises utilizing a mentor to learn the ropes and find guidance for the future. Continue reading “2011 MTNA Conference | Business Strategies for Young Professionals” →
Conferences

2011 MTNA Conference | Henle Urtext Edition Session

Joy Morin

Well, I’m FINALLY getting around to posting my notes from the 2011 MTNA National Conference!  Here’s my notes from Monday, March 28:

MONDAY @ 1pm: G Hele Verlag: Henle Urtext Editions–Music Is Our Passion

Many people are familiar with the famous blue covers of Henle editions!  This session was given by Henle editor Norbert Gertsch.  Gertsch gave us a look into the history of the Henle publishing company and a peek into what the urtext editing process is like.

Henle strives to create editions that are both urtext and practical.

What is URTEXT and why is it important?  Urtext editions consult a number of sources to try to create the most accurate edition according to the composer’s wishes.  Urtext solves the problem of wanting to know what the Beethoven wrote, versus how Artur Schnabel says Beethoven’s sonatas should be played (for example).

Some ask, why can’t you just copy the composer’s original manuscript?  Answer: It’s simply not that simple.  Continue reading “2011 MTNA Conference | Henle Urtext Edition Session” →

Conferences

Giveaway Reminder and More

Joy Morin

Hello all,

I am currently in Milwaukee at the MTNA National Conference and I have to say I am THRILLED to be here! I am learning so much, meeting new people, and getting so tons of free teaching materials (which is already adding up to almost entirely cover my expenses of attending the conference)!

I am so excited to share more about the conference soon – but for now, I just wanted to send a reminder to enter the giveaway for Keri & Carolyn’s Blank Board Game before time runs out! Don’t forget to leave your comment(s) before midnight of March 31!

More later!

Joy

Conferences, Resources

2011 MTNA Conference, Here I Come!

Joy Morin

I am so excited to be attending the MTNA National Conference for the first time ever!  Because I have to accompany for a recital this weekend, I will only be there for about 24 hours but I am just thrilled to be able to go at all.

In preparation, I’ve been reading up on what other more experienced conference-goers advise to bring along.  Check it out!

What tips can you offer a first-time national conference goer?  =D

Conferences, improving as a teacher

2011 MTNA Nat’l Conference: March 26-30

Joy Morin

Fellow U.S. piano teachers – in case you haven’t seen it yet, registration is now open for the 2011 Music Teachers National Association’s National Conference which is taking place March 26-30 in Milwaukee!  Sign up before February 16 to receive the early bird rates.  Check out the conference website to view the schedule of sessions and to get more information.

If you aren’t already an MTNA member, you will need to become a member before registering for the conference.  There are many benefits to becoming an MTNA member — click here to learn more about MTNA on their website, and check out the video below.  This video was made by Robyn Pfeifer of the musicteachingsuccess.com blog.  It is an interview with the current president of MTNA, Gary Ingle, discussing the benefits of being a member of MTNA.  Check it out!

Here’s another interview, again by Robyn, talking to a couple presenters from last year’s national conference.  If you want an idea about what the sessions at the conference are like, take a look!

I’ve never had the opportunity to attend a national conference before – only state ones, so I am really looking forward to this! I hope some of you can make it too!

Conferences, Technology

2010 MMTA Conference (5): Technology Tips by Martha Hilley

Joy Morin

What follows are the notes I took from a session with Martha Hilley at the 2010 Michigan Music Teachers Association conference.  This post concludes the posts about this year’s Michigan conference!

SOME TIPS FOR INCORPORATING TECHNOLOGY INTO YOUR STUDIO ~ by Martha Hilley

Today we will be covering a variety of technologies that teachers can incorporate into their studios.  Remember – if you aren’t already, you can consider charging a technology fee each year to help cover your technology expenses.

1. Powerpoint software (part of Microsoft Office 2010 Home & Student).  Powerpoint is a presentation software that can work well in class piano settings in order to project chord progressions or rhythms on the wall or screen for all to see.  Powerpoint allows you enter graphics and even sound files of percussion or accompaniment backgrounds that you can play while students are playing the chord progressions together.

2. Roland Edirol R-09.  This is one example of a digital recorder that you can use to record students playing (or yourself playing exercises/accompaniments/duet parts for them).  This model costs around $299.  (Note: I personally use the Zoom H2 recorder and have found it to be fairly easy to use.) Continue reading “2010 MMTA Conference (5): Technology Tips by Martha Hilley” →

Conferences, Group Classes, Music Camps, Reading Notation, Rhythm, Teaching Piano

2010 MMTA Conference (4): Functional Skills are Important by Martha Hilley

Joy Morin

What follows are the notes I took from a session with Martha Hilley at the 2010 Michigan Music Teachers Association conference.

FUNCTIONAL SKILLS ARE IMPORTANT TO EVERYONE ~ by Martha Hilley

“Functional skills” include skills such as harmonization, improvisation, transposition, rhythm, and theory.  There are many fun ways to incorporate functional skills into group/private settings.  Today we are going to try out some examples:

Rhythm Activities

Activity #1. Make up a series of patterns such as:

Tap   Clap    Tap    Clap
Tap   Clap  |___|  Clap
Tap  |___|   Tap   Clap
Tap  |___| |___| Clap

Put them on a transparency or write them on a whiteboard.  (The box is the quarter rest.)  Most students don’t have time for rests!  They want to keep going.  So give them something to do during the rests (e.g., saying “rest” aloud; or making some kind of movement during the rest).  This is a great activity for class piano or monthly group lessons. Continue reading “2010 MMTA Conference (4): Functional Skills are Important by Martha Hilley” →