“My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary.”
— Martin Luther
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.
I recently started to do some in-depth planning for the summer camps I plan to offer this summer! My studio policies provide students with two options for the summer months (June-August):
Because I have such a range of ages/levels in my studio, I decided to make my camps very flexible so that students of a wide range of musical backgrounds (even those with no music background) can attend camp. When my studio is larger, I will probably design camps for certain ages/levels. For this year, I think it’s best to be flexible. I’m encouraging my students to invite their friends to attend camp and I’ll put posters around town too. I’m hoping for a turnout of about 4-8 students attending each camp.
Below are the descriptions I came up with for each camp. What do you think — do they sound like fun?! 🙂 Continue reading “My Summer Camp Plans for 2012!”
I’ve been wanting a floor staff for a long time. Now I finally have one!
Susan Johannessen shared this cute variation of the Piano Valentine idea I shared on Monday on the ColorInMyPiano facebook page…
Love this!!
If you have photos of the valentines you’d made, please send them to me at admin[AT]colorinmypiano.com. I would love see your creativity!
I recently added a new page to the Color In My Piano website — a “Start Here” page. This page is intended for anyone who is a recent subscriber to the blog, and might be interested in viewing some of the most popular posts from the archives from the last couple of years.
Click here to visit the new Start Here page now!
“It is a funny thing, but when I am making music, all the answers I seek for in life seem to be there, in the music. Or rather, I should say, when I am making music, there are no questions and no need for answers.”
— Gustav Mahler
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.
My Homeschool Class and my Piano Readiness Class both recently finished their Musical Instruments Workbooks. We usually complete just two pages each class, so it took us awhile to get through it!
Now that we’ve finished it, we’ve been playing a fun little sorting/quizzing game using the deck of instrument cards that came with my MiniMusic kit. This competitive game has been quite a hit!
Continue reading “Musical Instruments Quizzing/Sorting game”
Today, I have a fun little printable and tutorial to share just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Continue reading “Piano Valentine Craft (Printable & Tutorial)”
“As a great democratic society, we have a special responsibility to the arts. For art is the great democrat, calling forth creative genius from every sector of society, disregarding race or religion or wealth or color. What freedom alone can bring is the liberation of the human mind and a spirit which finds its greatest flowering in the free society. I see of little more importance to the future of our country and our civilization than the full recognition of the place of the artist.”
— John F. Kennedy
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.
Last week, our Forum Q&A discussion was about saying goodbye to piano students before moving away. Today, I’d love to hear your thoughts about students who are perfectionists. We’ve all had them! Sometimes they are so hard on themselves when it comes to making mistakes that they stop having fun. They may even stop making progress in their piano study as a result of their intense fear of making mistakes.
On the other hand, as a professor at my alma mater once said, music is one of the few professions where perfection is not only expected, but it is considered the norm. We have to admit, our goal is perfection in a way.
And so, I think a balance is necessary.
What are your thoughts? What can we do about students who become too hard on themselves? How do you help the perfectionist student become “okay” with making mistakes? How do we help students achieve a balance when it comes to reaching perfection?
Here in Ohio, the winter snow is finally upon us! We were spoiled with an extraordinarily mild December, and only recently have have had a few inches of snow actually staying on the ground for more than a few days without melting.
The snowy weather outside means, of course, that the air gets very dry indoors. The old radiators in our home are running almost constantly! As a recent first-time piano owner, last week I decided I should buy a hygrometer to see just how low the humidity is getting in our home, for the sake of my piano. I ordered this hygrometer from Amazon
I’ve had a few requests lately from readers regarding more info about what kind of activities I do with my Homeschool Music Classes and Piano Readiness classes, so I thought it might first be a good idea to first give you a peek into how I lesson plan for group classes. Although I don’t lesson plan for teaching private lessons, I do always make a plan for group classes.
At each class, we begin and end with a “Hello Song” and “Goodbye Song.” Students like having this routine, and they are very good at reminding me about the songs if I forget about them! I have the students tap the beat on their knees (as we sit cross-legged on our carpet squares) while we sing. That way, I can tell if they are engaged even if they aren’t singing all the lyrics for one reason or another.
When I lesson plan the evening before the next day’s class, I try to include the following things: Continue reading “How I Lesson Plan for Group Classes”
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