“The word ‘listen’ contains the same letters as the word ‘silent’.”
— Alfred Brendel
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.
Did you know that the authors of the Piano Adventures method, Nancy and Randall Faber, live in Ann Arbor, Michigan? Did you know that the Faber Piano Institute in Ann Arbor is only an hour away from where I live?!
My local MTNA chapter, the Wood-Ottawa Counties OhioMTA, organized a field trip for us to visit the Faber Piano Institute last Friday. We had a fantastic time. The Fabers and their staff were most welcoming and hospitable.
The Faber Piano Institute is located in a building that previously was a library. They created smaller rooms for teaching studios in one half of the building. There are around seven teachers who give lessons at the Faber Piano Institute. Continue reading “Field Trip to the Faber Piano Institute”
A few piano teachers have sent me photos of their piano valentines. It is so fun to see the creative variations that each teacher came up with!
Photo from Leia Sharma:
Photo from Barrymond. She says: “I cut and pasted a top flight poster board on a paper to provide a firm base. Then I used black and pink sharpie to make it a bit colorful. I had a lot of fun making it!”
Photo from Tracy Capps Selle:
Photo from Susanne Gavel. It looks like she printed on both pink and red paper.
Photo from Jennifer Lorys. She gave chocolate to the kids and wine to the adult students!
Happy Valentine’s Day, all!
One of the questions that arose during the presentation about music games (see the handout here) that I gave last week for the Summit County OMTA chapter and at the 2014 MusicEdConnect.com conference was…
How do you organize your games?
You may remember some months back when I blogged about finding this little filing cabinet at a second-hand store. Here is how I decided to use all those wonderful drawers:
Those drawers contain materials for games that can be played during private lessons with students. It sits next to me where I teach at the piano. The six drawers are currently categorized:
You’ll notice that these categories align with the concepts listed in the handout. Games are most effective when we are choosing them in terms of the concepts they teach our students.
Here is the Props/Improv drawer:
In the little black drawstring bag, I have a set of Scrabble tiles containing only the letters of the musical alphabet. I bought my Scrabble game used at Goodwill. I use the tiles as another way for students to randomly choose a letter of the musical alphabet (we sometimes use a spinner instead). They work great for The Amazing Keyboard Race, for example. Students can also sort the tiles onto the piano keys.
In the drawers across the room, I store my floor staff and the games that work only for group classes.
Please feel free to share in the comments about your organizational system!
P.S.: The live sessions may be over, but it’s not too late to register for the 2014 MusicEdConnect.com conference and have the opportunity to watch the session videos on your own time. Visit their website for more info.
I recently gave presentations about music games to the Summit County OhioMTA and the MusicEdConnect.com conference. I thought perhaps some of you might be interested in seeing the handout, which I have posted here on my personal website, joymorin.com. The links in the handout all lead directly to the games and printables being discussed. Enjoy!
Preview:
Building Musicianship Through Games & Activities
by Joy Morin
INTRODUCTION:
* * * * *
PART I: Considering the facets and goals of a teacher’s Teaching Philosophy.
The Teaching Philosophy states (1) the teacher’s GOALS for him-/her-self and the students, as well as, (2) HOW the teacher will lead students to achieve those goals.
Comprehensive musicianship involves:
PART II: Examples of games and activities that will help you accomplish the goals in your Teaching Philosophy.
Concept: MUSICAL ALPHABET
Concept: KEYBOARD TOPOGRAPHY
Read the rest here!
My suitcase from my vacation in Puerto Rico is still not unpacked…but I am SO ready for my session with MusicEdConnect.com today at 12:30am EST! I have all my games out and ready for demonstration, as you can see.
Maybe I’ll see some of you there! 🙂
For Christmas, my husband gave me this handy little speaker: the Oontz Angle Wireless Bluetooth Speaker
In the past, I always plugged a pair of old computer speakers into my iPhone, iPad Mini, or computer when I wanted to play music during lessons, group classes, or while cleaning the house. 🙂 They worked okay, but I found that if I turned the sound up too loud, the sound became distorted.
I am so pleased with this handy little speaker because I can turn the sound as loud as I need too without hearing distortion. I’m very pleased with the quality of the speaker!
And, of course, it is handy that it is wireless. It connects via a bluetooth connection. Pairing the speakers to a device only takes a minute. Plus, it remembers what device you paired it with last and will automatically connect to that same device if both are turned on. I’ve owned bluetooth devices in the past and they did not connect this easily. Technology has certainly improved.
It comes with a USB cable so that you can recharge the battery by plugging it into your computer. The battery can last for up to 10 hours of playing time.
Just thought I’d share about this fun little gadget! Did you receive any Christmas gifts that have been useful for piano teaching? If so, please share about it in the comments!
My husband and I have just returned from a lovely, week-long vacation to Puerto Rico! It was such a blast. This was the first major vacation we have ever taken together. We enjoyed the culture, food, beach, and history of the island. The warm weather was such a welcome break from the freezing temperatures here in Ohio. 🙂 But I’m happy to be back!
As promised, here is the promo code for the February 20% off sale, in celebration of the 5-year blogiversary of ColorInMyPiano. You will need to enter the following code during check-out in order to receive the sale price. This sale won’t be back until next year, so plan ahead for your summer camps! Copy the code below and then click here to visit the shop.
The code will expire at the end of the month.
In other news: This week, I will be presenting at the MusicEdConnect.com online conference. Have you registered? My session, called “Building Musicianship Through Games & Activities,” will occur Thursday at 12:30pm EST. Hope to see you then!
On Friday, I will be traveling to Akron, Ohio to give a presentation for the Summit County OhioMTA chapter of MTNA. This presentation will be on the same topic — using games to develop complete musicianship in students. If any of you live near Akron and are interested in attending or are already planning to attend, let me know! You can send me an email message here.
Looking forward to a great week!
“Every great work of art has two faces: one toward its own time, and one toward the future, toward eternity.”
— Daniel Barenboim
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.
Guess what! February 28 marks the 5 year anniversary of this blog. How awesome is that?!
In celebration of the upcoming blogiversary, I wanted to announce that I will be holding a sale for the month of February: 20% off the items in the shop (ends February 28, 2014)! Stay tuned for the details. Perhaps you will want to start planning ahead for your summer camps so you can purchase some material while it is on sale. 🙂
February also brings Valentine’s Day. I thought I’d remind you that I have a couple of free piano-related Valentine printables available.
This is the valentine I designed last year. It is quick and easy to cut these out for your piano students. Click here to learn more.
The valentine pictured below requires a little more assembly, but they are very cute. 🙂 Click here to learn more.
Since moving to my current town, I have been using a hard wooden chair (a $5 find at Goodwill) when I teach piano lessons.
Two-and-a-half-years later, I decided it was high time I bought something more comfortable. On wheels. And less creaky. 🙂
The space next to the piano is tight, so I knew I needed a compact chair. A friend who also teaches piano in my town found this great little chair at IKEA and I ended up buying the same one. But not before trying out all of the other wheeled chairs at IKEA. 🙂 This one is a gem:
Don’t you just love finding just the right things for your everyday use? This chair is comfortable and perfect for my small space.
Check it out at IKEA: Gregor swivel chair.
“Playing lifts you out of yourself into a delirious place.”
— Jacqueline du Pré
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.
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