“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.”
— Margaret Mead
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Music Mapping with Piano Students
With nearly every piece I teach, the student and I analyze and label the form: Q&A phrases, AB form, ABA form, sonata form, etc.. Understanding the structure of a piece helps the student learn the piece more thoroughly and make well-based decisions relating to the interpretation of a piece.
Back in early March, a student of mine demonstrated he had his piece memorized all the way through but found he was “fuzzy” on the details in certain places and could not always remember what came next between phrases without taking time for thought. In a moment of inspiration (or perhaps desperation!), we decided to construct a visual map of the piece — an activity I have found to be beneficial in the past with certain students. I took a blank sheet of paper from my printer and handed my student a few colored pencils. Taking a few minutes to turn our analysis into a simple, visual graphic proved to strengthen and clarify his memory of the piece.
During my college years, I was exposed to this kind of music mapping thanks to a book I found in the university library: Mapping Music: For Faster Learning and Secure Memory, by Rebecca Payne Shockley. She shares many examples in her book to learn from, but emphasizes that music mapping is a very personal thing: the map must primarily make sense to the person who makes it.
As you can see from the image above, we used boxes to represent the 4-bar phrases as well as the larger A and B sections. Within each box, my student drew lines or shapes to represent the melodic contour of the phrases. We also added a few chord symbols to help mentally clarify the B section and the ending.
As a final step, we added dynamic markings in pink and green shading to represent pedaling.
After completing the music map, I asked my student to play the piece by memory again. It was not a perfect performance, but it was definitely better because his memory of the piece’s structure was stronger and more clear.
After creating a map, it should not be necessary to have the student read from the music map while playing, although that is an option. The point of the exercise is to be able to rely on a strong, mental picture of the piece during performance. In my student’s own words: “It’s the process of creating the map that is beneficial; not the finished map itself.”
Have you ever created a music map with a student?
[Note: In case you are interested, the piece my student was learning is called “A Quiet Lagoon” by Dennis Alexander and Martha Mier. We were using a sampler piece of sheet music I received during a conference, but the piece is readily available in the Technique Book Level 2B of the Alfred Premier Piano Course.]
Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom
“Teaching creates all other professions.”
— anonymous
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Upcoming 2015 Sessions from Piano Teacher Institute
This information was just sent out to those on the email list for the Piano Teacher Institute with Joy Morin. I’m blogging it here as well, just for your interest!
Greetings!
A year ago, I began writing the coursework for my online course, Introduction to Piano Teaching. I’ve now offered the course three times: Summer 2014, Fall 2014, and Winter 2015. I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed designing the course and interacting with the teachers who have enrolled each time! I believe this course fills an important need for teachers who have a desire to increase or refresh their current knowledge to gain further education in piano pedagogy, i.e., the art of teaching piano.
I’m preparing to offer two more sessions this year, so I asked the most recent registrants if they would be willing to write testimonials to help others decide if my online course is right for them. Here is what they had to say:
“This course was excellent! For several months, I had been looking for some kind of training for piano teachers. There are many university level, longer term programs available, but I needed something I could do from home. This course was exactly what I needed. I am a new teacher, and this course really helped steer my efforts toward the most important things that I should be focusing on–including the business side of teaching and the actual teaching. Ms. Morin was prompt about both responding to my questions and leaving feedback for my assignments. I also appreciated being able to interact with the other members of the class. Their ideas and experience were wonderful! I feel I am more organized and have clearer direction as a teacher because of this course.”
— Michelle Marchant, piano teacher in Utah
I HIGHLY (*****) recommend Piano Teacher Institute by Joy Morin. This class was fantastic for me! My formal education came many years ago and I have taught many students over the years. But with a relocation of my studio to another state, I felt it was a great time to update my piano pedagogy skills and to enroll in the course. Ms. Morin did an EXCELLENT job with the design of the course as well as conducting the one hour weekly chat sessions with the other enrolled students. … She is a very professional instructor but at the same time is very personal and insightful in helping each student in their piano teaching journey. The materials from the course will be an excellent resource for future usage. If you are looking for a great piano teacher class, I would encourage you to enroll in Piano Teacher Institute.
— Phyllis Bowers, piano teacher in Alabama
Dear Joy, Observing the way you take such pride in your role as an educator has made a huge impact on me. You have truly helped me to look at what I do in a dramatically different way. You have helped me to treat my job more like a career. The changes I have made in my business approach have been exciting, but I’m even more enthusiastic about the way I FEEL about the piano. Watching you love music has helped me rekindle my love of the piano! I’m playing again and actually enjoying it! Thank you for being a great mentor and for being a new friend!
—Susan Honey, teacher in North Carolina
You can read the rest of the testimonials here. Introduction to Piano Teaching is an intensive course that lasts for six weeks, with each week dedicated to a certain topic (business topics, piano methods, technique, etc.). The ideal registrant is an individual with a passion for learning, a dedication to teaching, and the time and energy to spend 10-15 hours each week reading and completing the assignments.
Here are the dates for the two upcoming sessions:
- Summer 2015: May 25 through July 12. (I’ve allowed seven weeks instead of the usual six, to help both you and I accommodate any summer travel plans.)
- Fall 2015: August 25 through October 4.
Registration for the Summer 2015 session will open at 9AM EST on Tuesday, May 5 and will appear on this page of the website. Registration will automatically close after the first 10 teachers have registered. Last time, registration filled within two hours — so if you are interested in taking the course, I recommend that you mark your calendar!
Read more about the course or sign up for the email list (I promise to send no more than 10 email updates each year) on the website here. If you still have questions, please feel free to send me a message.
Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom
“The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.”
— Mark Van Doren
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Easter Egg Matching Music Game
Earlier this week, I blogged about my April 2015 studio class “Piano Party.” We concluded our Piano Party with a new game, which I created based on a teacher’s idea posted in the Piano Teacher FunMakers group on facebook.
The game is simple: buy a package of plastic easter eggs and draw music symbols and terms on each half with a paint pen (permanent marker will rub off over time). Students are supposed to mix up and then match together the halves.
I did not have any plastic easter eggs in the house, so I asked my husband to buy some on clearance when he went to the grocery store. He came home with these really interesting ones from Meijer that break into three sections…!
At first, I wasn’t sure if they were going to work well for my game, but then I realized that having three separate parts for each egg could work out to my advantage. On each part of the egg, I wrote a music symbol, the meaning, and the Italian music term.
Having three parts to match into an egg makes the game more challenging. My students enjoyed working together for this game at my Piano Party.
I’m going to leave this game out in my waiting room for awhile. When students arrive, they will enjoy matching a few eggs before their lessons.
Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom
“Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.”
— Will Durant
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Lesson Plan: The History of Audio Formats
As blogged yesterday, my husband and I recently acquired a 1929 Victor Victrola gramophone. Researching our new “toy” inspired me to create a lesson plan about the history of audio formats for this month’s group class “Piano Party” for my piano students. The lesson plan, craft activity, and slides are available as a single PDF freebie…so continue reading!
Continue reading “Lesson Plan: The History of Audio Formats”
My New Victor Victrola Gramophone
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!
Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom
“Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.”
— Daniel J. Boorstin
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Updated Post: Incentive Programs for Piano Students
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!
MTNA 2015 (5): W March 25
The last day of the MTNA conference was Wednesday, March 25.
8:00–9:00 a.m.: Elementary Imagination, by Wynn-Anne Rossi
In the morning, I attended part of the Elementary Imagination session by Wynn-Anna Rossi. Because I slipped into the room late, I did not hear the entire session but I did pick up a few ideas for when composing with students. By the way, Wynn-Anne is the author of the Creative Composition Toolbox series published by Alfred Music. I haven’t tried these books with a student yet, but they look excellent!
9:15–10:15 a.m.: Rachmaninoff The Teacher, by Robin James Hancock, NCTM
This was one of my favorite sessions from the conference. Robin Hancock gave a fascinating talk about Rachmaninoff’s life: his mentors, his teaching, and his legacy. It was fascinating to hear about Rachmaninoff’s background and interactions as well as to hear about the cornerstones of Rachmaninoff’s legacy: (1) his recordings, (2) the live first-person interviews he gave for Etude magazine, (3) the music he composed, and (4) the accounts from students and pianists who took lessons or coaching with him. Robin has done a great deal of research about Rachmaninoff and was able to share about Rachmaninoff in a compelling, story-telling way.
After the last session, I spent some time sitting outdoors and reading a great book (I hope to write a review soon!) as I waited for my husband’s flight to arrive. Once he arrived, we spent a few more days in Las Vegas enjoying the sights, restaurants, and sunshine. I love this selfie we took near the famous Las Vegas sign.
I always return from conferences feeling re-inspired about teaching. And it is wonderful to connect with new and familiar faces. Here is a photo in the exhibit hall with Susan Paradis (finally got to meet her in person after many online communications!) and my friend Becky Baker from Indiana.
And here is a photo with some of the JoyTunes team: Marta Mozes, David Love, and Becki Tapia Laurent:
Here is a photo taken at lunch with new and old friends: Melissa Marie from New York, Becky Baker, Susan’s friend Frederica from Texas, Susan Paradis, and Deborah Miles from Canada.
In the exhibit hall, I bumped into Jennifer Foxx!
If you have never attended a national-level conference before, I hope you will consider setting aside some money each month for the purpose of going someday. It is well worth it! The 2016 MTNA conference will be held April 2-6 in San Antonio, Texas.
By the way, there is a different national-level conference happening this summer: the National Conference of Keyboard Pedagogy (sponsored by the Frances Clark Center) from July 29 through August 1, 2015. The NCKP is held every-other year, always in Lombard, Illinois (outside of Chicago). It is always a fantastic conference. I hope to see you there!
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