“After playing Chopin, I feel as if I had been weeping over sins that I had never committed, and mourning over tragedies that were not my own.”
— Oscar Wilde
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.
The T-shirts for my summer music camps arrived yesterday! I’m very excited about this year’s design:
I ordered my shirts from CustomInk.com again this year. I was happy with the quality of the shirts last year, but more importantly — I love that CustomInk has an artist check your design before it gets printed. My design required slight adjusting to make it work properly for both adult and child T-shirt sizes — so it was a good thing they checked everything over before the shirts were printed.
I chose the piano tie design from among the many music graphic options available on CustomInk’s website. All I had to do was add the text on the side! I hope this year’s T-shirt design will be a big hit. 🙂
I haven’t shared much about my summer music camps yet — and they are coming up soon!
Like last year, I’m holding one camp each month. They run Monday through Thursday from 10am-12pm. I chose a different topic for each month:
“I’ve Got Rhythm!” – (June)
During this camp, students will benefit from focusing on arguably the most essential element of music: rhythm! There will be lots of opportunities for group music-making, using body percussion (clapping, snapping, tongue clucking, etc.) and hand-held percussion instruments. Throughout the week, we will also complete workbook about various aspects of rhythm (pulse, time signatures, rhythm values, etc). For students ages 6-14.
“Music History Blast From The Past” – (July)
Back by popular demand, this camp will give students a glimpse into the lives of the four different great classical composers. As we study the composers we will be not only listening to the music of each time period, but also looking at the instruments, clothes, and art of each time period in order to make the past come alive. Each day, we will focus on a time period from music history and create a scrapbook page of pictures/notes to take home. It will be similar to last year’s music history camp, but we will cover four different composers this year. Campers will be sure experience the thrill of a blast from the past during this music history camp! For students ages 6-14.
“Music of the World” – (August)
Join us for a journey around to world to study the music of different cultures! Campers will travel to four different countries to learn about each culture, music style, and musical instruments. Students will complete a workbook and craft their own musical instrument each day. Join us for this adventure! For students ages 6-14.
Are you planning any summer music camps this year? If so, please share about your camp plans in the comments below!
I am a big fan of games, and because of that I am inspired to create a game. I wanted to create a note-naming game for my waiting room area, and this is what I came up with: the Keyboard Rollin’ Game.
There are two game boards to choose from, depending on if you would like to practice treble clef notes or bass clef notes.
A couple of weeks ago, I came across a wonderful little online shop called The Practice Shoppe.
Leslie, the owner, is a Suzuki violin teacher/mom. She sells a variety of fun things in her shop to help make lessons and practice fun for students.
I ordered a few of her wonderful music dice, which are just begging to be used for some music games! I’ll be sharing about a new game tomorrow.
Continue reading “Music Dice & More from ThePracticeShoppe.com”
“Rhythm is something you either have or don’t have, but when you have it, you have it all over.”
— Elvis Presley
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.
My friend Susan Hong from Texas recently sent me a few photos, showing how she is using the Intervals Ice cream game in her studio.
Susan affixed adhesive magnets to the back of each card, so they can be used on a dry erase magnet board. She also punched holes on the side of each card, so she can organize the intervals on binder rings. For example, younger students can use the ring holding the Unison through 3rd scoops.
When students arrive early for their lessons, Susan’s students practice matching the intervals to the correct ice cream cone.
What a fun learning station, perfect for the waiting room area! Thanks for your inspiration today, Susan!
A few weeks ago, I added a new game to my Shop called the Ice Cream Interval game. In that post, I briefly mentioned the importance of being able to read intervalically when reading music and I’d like to discuss this further today.
While it is important for students to be able to identify the names of notes quickly, it is equally important for them to read intervals as early as possible in their studies. While I am a big believer in drilling note-naming flashcards, I am an even bigger believer in drilling intervals. Continue reading “The Role of Intervalic Reading when Reading Music”
Piano Dust Buster by JoyTunes — FREE, but in-app purchases are required to attain additional song sets.
There are two games within this app: “Germ Attack” and “Staff Master.” Each game has two playing modes: using your own real piano or using the on-screen keyboard. If you use your piano, the app will “hear” the frequency of the sounds you play through the mic to check if you are playing correctly (so cool!).
Each game also allows you to choose between a “Practice” mode (accurate rhythms are only loosely enforced) and a “Showtime” mode (the app will not wait for you to play correct rhythms). Continue reading “App Review: Piano Dust Buster”
I just wanted to let you know that I’ve added a new page to my website, where you can find a list of different music apps for piano teachers/students. The apps are organized by category and contain links to the full reviews I’ve written.
I will be adding more apps to this list in the future, so stay tuned! Let me know if you have any suggestions for apps to add to the list.
Click here to view the brand new “Music Apps” page!
P.S.: Here is the direct link to my article about rhythm which was published in the 3-D Piano Method’s “Soundpoint #12” Newsletter yesterday!
“In order to communicate to a young person the essence of the problem of performance, of projecting a musical work, it is not sufficient simply to say to the young person, this is the way it goes. Do likewise. Imitation is an obsolete method of teaching.”
— Irwin Freundlich
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.
I’ve recently written an article which will be published in the latest newsletter of the 3-D Piano Method, which should be sent out later today or tomorrow!
If you would like to read my article, you can sign up to receive the 3-D Piano Method’s newsletters (which are published no more than once-a-month) in your email inbox. Visit 3-dpiano.com and enter your email address in the upper right-hand corner.
While you are on their website, take a moment to read more about 3-D Piano and browse the video previews. I first heard about 3-D Piano DVD’s at an MTNA Convention, where I heard that it had won the MTNA Francis Clark Keyboard Pedagogy Award. It looks like a great resource, particularly if you teach many advanced students — it’s something I’d definitely like to invest in someday.
UPDATE: Here is a direct link to where you can find the Soundpoint #12 newsletter, which contains my article about rhythm!
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