Here they are…the rhythm value cards I mentioned in my post yesterday!
Continue reading “Rhythm Value Cards for Dictation and More”
Piano Party Success!
On Saturday, I held a Piano Party for my students. It was basically a group lesson and rehearsal for our Spring Recital which is coming up in a few weeks. Most of my students have never met each other, so this was a good opportunity for them to learn a little about each other and to share their pieces. I’d like to hold group lessons more regularly now that I have enough students to do so…..so this was a good start!
Here’s what we did:
- We started by introducing ourselves to each other. Then I expressed how excited I was for them all to be here. (My philosophy is that if you want your students to be excited about being there, than you’d better show some enthusiasm yourself too!) 🙂
- Together, we completed the Performing at the Piano worksheet which discusses performance etiquette and more. Continue reading “Piano Party Success!”
Music Worksheet: Identifying Space & Line Notes on the Staff
Here’s a new free music worksheet that I just added to the Printables page:
This worksheet introduces the idea of identifying the space notes on the staff using the mnemonics FACE and All Cows Eat Grass. These are the only two mnemonics I use. I don’t teach separate mnemonics for the line notes anymore (like Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge or Great Big Dogs Fight Animals) because it’s simply too much to try to keep 4 different mnemonics straight! I have found that it’s easier for students to remember just two mnemonics and then learn to jump up a step from the nearest space note to identify a line note.
To download, visit the Printables > Worksheets page and scroll down to the I’s for “Identifying Space & Line Notes on the Staff.” Enjoy!
Identifying Space & Line Notes on the Staff worksheets (170.6 KiB, 57,452 hits)
Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom
“Were it not for music, we might in these days say, the beautiful is dead.”
— Benjamin Disraeli
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 an email off to admin[at]colorinmypiano.com.
Forum Q&A | Attending Conferences
The last Forum Q&A post was about assignment notebooks/pages for students. It was wonderful to read all the great responses! Click here to read the comments, and click here to read my follow-up where I share my method of tracking assignments.
Being able to attend state and national-level conferences is one of the many benefits of being a member of MTNA (Music Teachers National Association) and other professional music organizations. I am a firm believer in the importance of ongoing professional development for piano teachers (and any teachers, for that matter). So, today’s Forum Q&A is all about conferences!
To you, what is the most valuable part of attending conferences? What tips do you have for making conference attendance more affordable and feasible? If you haven’t attended conferences regularly/before, what’s holding you back?
Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below!
MTNA 2012 Conference | Wrap-Up Post
Whew! After that blast of posts today, I am finished posting my conference notes from the recent MTNA National Conference in NYC!
During the conference, I ate lunch a few times with Natalie Wickham and her friends, as well as with Sheryl Welles and her friend Becky, and Jennifer Fink too! I also had the pleasure of meeting Jennifer Foxx, Chad Twedt, and Shauna Leavitt (who I interviewed for a Teacher Feature in this post!). I saw some other friends too, who aren’t bloggers. 🙂 (You know who you are!) It was so wonderful to re-connect with all these wonderful folks, and to meet new people too.
Here’s a picture of my roommate Hazel, composer Carolyn Setliff, and I, after a fun evening at Carnegie Hall for the live radio broadcast of “From The Top!”
I came home with a heavy bag filled with free music worth about $175! Here’s a picture of the loot:
It was a wonderful conference. I’m already looking forward to the next one!
MTNA 2012 Conference | Session on Composition Camps
The last session of the conference I attended was a wonderful one! It was called:
Get Out of That Musical Box: Teach Students How To Compose!
Dianne Higgins gave a delightful presentation about the summer composition camps she holds each year. It has been a great success even since the first year she tried it!
The first year, Dianne emailed her students and friends to ask for donations of keyboards, headphones, computers, and other equipment she would need. She was surprised with the response she received, and only had a few things left to purchase. Over the years, she has upgraded her equipment and now has 5 computer stations with small MIDI keyboards, and some keyboard/headphone stations too. She has a separate room in her house for these stations. Continue reading “MTNA 2012 Conference | Session on Composition Camps”
MTNA 2012 Conference | Session on Ethics for Music Teachers
Wednesday morning of the conference, I attended a session called “it’s More Than Just Being Nice” by Kathy Strickland, the Washington State Ethics Chair with help from Amy Grinsteiner.
Kathy covered a variety of topics about our responsibility as teachers. Here’s some of her points:
- Treat students with respect. Don’t accept just the talented students.
- Teach concert etiquette to parents and students.
- Do not copy music! It’s legal in the case of a one-time educational session (after which the copies should be destroyed). But in most other cases, it is illegal. And when teachers pass on illegal copies to students, we make them complacent in the crime. Continue reading “MTNA 2012 Conference | Session on Ethics for Music Teachers”
MTNA 2012 Conference | Steinway Factory Tour
On Tuesday during the conference, I went on a tour of the Steinway Factory!
Getting off the bus.
Continue reading “MTNA 2012 Conference | Steinway Factory Tour”
MTNA 2012 Conference | Local Associations Forum Meeting
Monday afternoon at the conference, I attended a wonderful session on teaching students with disabilities. Click here to view Natalie’s thorough notes!
After that, I attended an open forum for discussing ideas and solutions for local associations. To start, a representative from the Fox Valley Association of Wisconsin told us the story of how they applied — and won! — to become the MTNA Local Association of the Year.
There are three criteria for being MTNA Local Association of the Year:
- Active in community.
- Professional growth for teachers.
- Big projects/goals.
Click here to view the application form for the MTNA Local Association of the Year award.
After the Fox Valley Association told us about their success, a discussion was begun among the attendees about the sharing of ideas and problems of various local associations. Here’s a few comments that people made that I jotted down: Continue reading “MTNA 2012 Conference | Local Associations Forum Meeting”
MTNA 2012 Conference | Getting Started With Online Marketing
On Monday of the conference, I attended the Faber Exhibitor Showcase and the Keynote Address given by the wonderful Benjamin Zander! Natalie has already posted notes on these sessions that are very similar to mine, so I’ll let you read her summaries here and here.
The next session I attended was given by the MTNA Collegiate Chapter at Butler University called:
Getting Started With Online Marketing
The presenters began by stating: “First impressions are everything!” Nowadays, that first impression is often online. We need a good first impression so that it will turn into a phone call. Continue reading “MTNA 2012 Conference | Getting Started With Online Marketing”
MTNA 2012 Conference | WSU’s Adopt-A-Composer Program
On Sunday morning of the conference, I attended the Alfred Exhibitor Showcase and the Keynote Presentation given by Norman Horowitz and Melvin Stecher. My notes are very similar to Natalie’s from Music Matters Blog, so I will let you read her summaries here and here! (We somehow attended a lot of the same sessions…great minds think alike!) 🙂
After that, I attended a session given by the MTNA Collegiate Chapter at Washington State University (WSU) called:
Composition and Creativity: Collaboration With Living Composers In The Private Studio
This session was about the annual Adopt-A-Composer Program that that WSU uses for their Piano Lab School (where piano majors teach students in a supervised setting). A year in advance, they choose and approach a composer, explain the components of the program, and negotiate terms. If the budget allows, some years they commission a work or two. Continue reading “MTNA 2012 Conference | WSU’s Adopt-A-Composer Program”