“Some people think music education is a privilege, but I think it’s essential to being human.”
— Jewel
(Thanks to Mykal for sending in this quote!)
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.
At our last Forum Q&A, I asked about what piano books you studied from as a child. It was so fun reading all the responses! Read the comments here on the blog and here on the facebook page.
I must be feeling nostalgic again… 🙂 For our new Forum Q&A, I want to know:
What kind of piano was the family piano you remember learning on as a child? What brand? Upright or grand? Was the type of piano you had a factor in your success as a student? Did your parents upgrade that piano at some point? Is you childhood piano still around?
Leave your comments below!
I just wanted to wish safe travels to those who are heading to the 2013 MTNA conference in Anaheim, CA! I wish I were going this year — but I’ll definitely be going next year when it is in Chicago! 🙂
There are a few bloggers who are planning to live-blog or later share their notes from the conference sessions. Keep on eye on these blogs:
(Remember, this summer there is another great conference coming up: the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy [NCKP]. Take a moment to check it out and consider attending — it’s a wonderful conference!)
“Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.”
— Wayne Dyer
(Special thanks to Mykal O. for sending me this quote!)
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.
Last Saturday was another monthly Piano Party day for my students!
As we waited for everyone to arrive, the students competed two worksheets: a lines vs. spaces worksheet from Fun & Learn Music, and an intervals worksheet from my Printables page.
I always have students go around the room to introduce themselves, just in case they’ve forgotten each other’s names and so they can learn the names of any new students. I like to have them share fun facts about themselves along with their name, so it doesn’t get too serious. 🙂 This time, I had them share their favorite flavor of ice cream.
Our first game was called, “Floor Staff Race.” It is based on this game I read about at pianimation.com, but instead of using “Step/Skip” and “Up/Down” cards, I decided to make dice. Here’s how the game works:
Each student chooses a beanie animal. The goal is to race from the bottom of the staff to the top of the staff. On their turn, they roll the dice and follow the directions to go either up/down by a 2nd/3rd. Whoever reaches to top of the staff first is the winner!
I was recently contacted by Carlos Fontiveros, creator of the brand new Moosic Studio app, which is designed to help manage the business side of running a teaching studio. You can best read about it in his own words:
Moosic Studio was created for my wife, Margaret, and her piano & voice studio. I started off creating a solution for her to manage her business using combination of Bento and Excel on her laptop. It worked well and did the job. But she was always switching back & forth between applications entering lesson information while at the same time duplicating her lesson notes in her student’s assignment journals. On top of all this juggling, when she wanted to record audio or video of a student playing, she would have to get her audio recorder or iPhone. Witnessing this chaos for several months, came the idea for Moosic Studio on the iPad.
Carlos kindly sent me a promo code so that I could review the app. (As always, I was not obligated to write a positive review. This review contains only my honest opinions!) I don’t have my own iPad yet, but I was able to test it out on my husband’s iPad. (Eventually, the app will work on the iPhone, too.) The Moosic Studio app truly looks like a handy solution for the independent music teacher. Let me tell you about it! Continue reading “App Review: Moosic Studio”
It’s March, and I have already had a couple of my piano students inquire whether I will be doing summer music camps again this year. The answer is YES, I have started thinking about them. 🙂
One of the camps from last year that I will definitely be repeating this summer is Music History Blast From The Past. I plan to use the same format as last year, but I will be focusing on different composers.
In case you are considering the possibility of offering a summer music camp or two, I thought I would share more about how I planned my music history camp last year.
Continue reading “Planning A Music History Camp Using My Lapbook Curriculum”
Today marks the four-year anniversary of Color In My Piano! HOORAY! It’s been such an exciting year. THANK YOU all for your support and for making this blog such a fun place to share resources and ideas with each other. I can hardly believe Color In My Piano has been online for four years.
The four randomly-chosen winners of last week’s lapbook giveaway are below:
Congrats, winners! Check your inbox for an email from me.
If you didn’t win the giveaway, now is a great time to purchase what you need from the Color In My Piano shop. As promised, I am holding a first-ever sale: 20% off everything in the store. If you plan to hold any summer camps this year, now is a great time to get your music history lapbooks, or the composition camp “So, You Want To Be A Composer?” To receive 20% off, use the coupon code YAY4YEARS good through Thursday, March 14, 2013.
In case you are interested, below is a run-down of the history of the Color In My Piano blog over the past four years. Continue reading “Celebrating 4 Years!”
This has got to be one of the most-used DIY projects I’ve ever made!
Music whiteboards cost a pretty penny in music catalogues, so I decided to make my own. I bought this 8.5×11” frame from IKEA for under $3. I chose one that had plexiglass instead of glass, so that I won’t have to worry about it breaking if it gets dropped. The frame is a sturdy plastic.
On my computer, I designed the staff and keyboard pictures on a horizontal piece of paper, printed it, and inserted it into the frame. Easy! Continue reading “Easy DIY Music Whiteboard”
Guess what! Next week, Color In My Piano will be 4 years old. How fun!
In celebration, I would like to host a giveaway. FOUR lucky winners will have their choice of one of the composer lapbooks from the Color In My Piano shop. Here are the details:
P.S.: After the giveaway is over next week, I will be holding a sale in the Color In My Piano shop! (This will be a great time to purchase materials for summer camps, if you plan to hold any this year!)
“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”
— Vince Lombardi
(Special thanks to Donna McLain for sending me this great quote!)
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.
Every teacher approaches technique exercises a little bit differently. I usually start teaching students 5-finger patterns (aka pentascales) during the first month or two of study. I start by assigning the C Major 5-finger pattern (5FP) and sometimes G Major along with it. Every week or every-other-week, I add a new 5FP to their list, following the Circle of 5ths.
Personally, I don’t teach the theory behind the major 5FP’s until a little bit later (i.e., the pattern of whole and half steps: WWHW). To introduce each 5FP, I let the student figure out what black keys are needed — using their ear. I say: “Today we are going to add the D 5-finger pattern. There is a black key in this 5FP. Do you think you can figure out where the black key needs to be?” The student first plays the 5FP with all white keys, and we discuss that it doesn’t sound right — it doesn’t match the sound of the C and G 5FPs. The student then uses his/her ear and trial-and-error to discover that the 3rd note should be a black key. Now it matches! Leading the student through this kind of discovery makes the learning moment memorable.
The beauty of this approach also is that the student inherently learns the concept of transposition through this moment! The concept of being “in a key” and the concept of transposition between keys is such an integral part of the way music works, but is so often it is neglected until students begin playing scales and learning key signatures. However, after learning just two or three 5FPs, the teacher can easily ask the student to play a few familiar folk tunes by ear in different keys. (See my printable from a couple years back, “Melodies to Play by Ear and Harmonize.”) The student will understand that depending on what note the tune begins, they will need certain black keys in order for the tune to sound “right.” Continue reading “Teaching 5-Finger Patterns (with a Free Worksheet)”
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