“The woods would be very silent if the only birds that sang were those who sang best…”
— Henry David Thoreau
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.
Our last Forum Q&A from two weeks ago (due to the conference) was all about dealing with rhythmic “simplification” of familiar tunes with students. If you haven’t read all the great responses yet, be sure to do so by clicking here! As always, it’s never to late to contribute your own thoughts if you haven’t already.
This week, I’d like to start a discussion about professional organizations (such as MTNA for the U.S. — international teachers, please tell us about what your country offers!).
Are you a member of a professional organization? If so, for how long have you been a member? Is it worth it? What is your favorite thing about being a member of MTNA or any other professional music teachers association? What other benefits can you list? Why do you consider it important to be a member?
If you are not currently a member of a professional organization, would you like to be in the future? What questions do you have about becoming a member?
Comment away!
Thanks to everyone who pointed out the bad link to the new Introduction To The Staff worksheet I posted about this morning! It has now been fixed. Sorry about the confusion, and enjoy the worksheet! =)
A new worksheet has just been added to the Printables > Worksheets page called:
Introduction To The Staff Worksheet
This worksheet is appropriate for beginners who are ready to be introduced to staff notation. It is appropriate for use in both private and group settings.
Terms used in this worksheet:
Students are instructed to draw the items from the list above onto the staff provided. This worksheet is great for use especially with visual and tactile learners, who benefit from drawing and seeing each symbol on paper.
To download the worksheet, click the link above and scroll down to the I’s.
Introduction To The Staff Worksheet (28.6 KiB, 37,673 hits)
Enjoy!
Congratulations to…
Kathy! You are the winner of the Blank Board Game giveaway! Congratulations!!
Thanks to all who entered and left comments – I enjoyed reading them very much, as usual. If you are interested in buying your own Blank Board Game from Keri and Carolyn, click here to visit their store.
Happy weekend!
Have you heard the news about the new 2nd Editions of the Faber Piano Adventures? They’ve completed a revision of the Primer and Level 1 books, and will be doing Level 2 (and beyond?) at a later date.
At the MTNA conference, I had the opportunity to look at the new books at the Hal Leonard booth in the Exhibit Hall (and even take home a free copy of the Primer Level Performance book!).
You can visit their website to read about all the updates made in the new 2nd Editions, but below are a few highlights:
The Piano Adventures method is one of my favorites to use with students (although I deliberately do my best to use a variety of methods with my students), and these updates look great to me! What do you think?
Hello all,
I am currently in Milwaukee at the MTNA National Conference and I have to say I am THRILLED to be here! I am learning so much, meeting new people, and getting so tons of free teaching materials (which is already adding up to almost entirely cover my expenses of attending the conference)!
I am so excited to share more about the conference soon – but for now, I just wanted to send a reminder to enter the giveaway for Keri & Carolyn’s Blank Board Game before time runs out! Don’t forget to leave your comment(s) before midnight of March 31!
More later!
Joy
I am so excited to be attending the MTNA National Conference for the first time ever! Because I have to accompany for a recital this weekend, I will only be there for about 24 hours but I am just thrilled to be able to go at all.
In preparation, I’ve been reading up on what other more experienced conference-goers advise to bring along. Check it out!
What tips can you offer a first-time national conference goer? =D
I frequently receive emails from readers who are curious to know more about how to go about setting up a blog. I’ve been meaning to write a blog post about this for a while to help answer those questions, and finally, here it is: a guide to the logistics of setting up a blog!
There are two things you need in order to have a website:
Both of these things are available free, or you can pay for them.
Domain Names
You can get a free domain name with a free blogging service such as Blogger.com or WordPress.com — but it will have their name also tagged onto the end of it (e.g., colorinmypiano.wordpress.com). If you would rather have the whole name yourself, you can buy annual rights to a domain name at a site such as Name.com (owned by Google). This makes it a little easier for followers of your blog to remember your url.
If you decide to purchase your own domain name, try to choose something that is not too long and is easy to remember in connection to your blog’s name and topic.
Sometimes I get asked about which free blogging service is best, after all, there are so many and they all basically do the same thing. Most people use Blogger or WordPress. I personally prefer WordPress because I think it’s more user friendly, but you can try them all out for free so there’s no reason not to. Continue reading “More About the Logistics of Setting Up A Blog”
“Bach opens a vista to the universe. After experiencing him, people feel there is meaning to life after all.”
— Helmut Walcha
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.
Announcing a new giveaway, from the ladies from Piano Stars! You’ve read all about Keri & Carolyn in yesterday’s interview, and now you have a chance to win one of their teaching materials: a Blank Board Game that allows you to customize the game each time you use it!
Continue reading “March 2011 Giveaway: Blank Board Game by Piano Stars”
Meet Keri and Carolyn. They are two cousins and piano teachers out of Canada who teamed up to establish their successful piano studio, Piano Stars. They also sell some unique and original piano teaching materials on their website (click here) and on Etsy. When I stumbled across their Etsy shop one day, I just had to order a couple of their wonderful music spinners (pictured below)! Once I contacted Keri and Carolyn, they kindly agreed to be interviewed and featured here at Color In My Piano. Read on!
* * * * *
Joy: Please tell us about your piano backgrounds!
Keri & Carolyn: We both started piano lessons when we were 7, but due to our age difference Carolyn was actually my (Keri’s) piano teacher growing up! Carolyn has her ARCT in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music and I am working on my Grade 10 with the Royal Conservatory of Music.
How long have you been running your piano studio together?
We have been working together since 2003 for our summer camps, composing and creating games & teacher resources. However, we both have our own home studios for private lessons and teach about 60 students each.
Even though we teach out of our own homes we plan all of our piano events together. We have the same incentive programs and we combine our students together for recitals, halloween parties, pizza parties, pool parties, etc… Continue reading “Interview: Keri & Carolyn from Piano Stars”
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