“Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons. You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body.”
— Oliver Wendell Holmes
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.
The International Chopin Competition, held in Warsaw every five years, is currently going on now and you can watch the contestants play online!
Click here to view the list of performers and pieces, and click here to view the online broadcasting.
Check it out!
Just added to the Printables > Worksheets page:
Musical Terms Worksheet #2
This worksheet is intended for elementary level students who have learned basic note values and musical terms. The first section of the worksheet, which is Fill In The Blank, reviews the 10 terms which were introduced in Musical Terms Worksheet #1. The second section, Matching, introduces seven new terms: crescendo, decrescendo, ritardando, barline, double barline, repeat sign, and time signature.
Complete list of covered in this worksheet:
Stay tuned – more muscial terms worksheets are to come in the upcoming weeks!
Lately, I’ve been thinking about ways to keep students focused on the sound they are creating when they play and preventing them from becoming overly sight-oriented. Being a good musician is so much more than accurately executing what is written in the score, after all. Students should be learning to use their ears and listen to what sounds they are making too!
Here are somes thoughts I had for keeping focus on the sound during the piano lesson:
Continue reading “Go For the Sound”
“Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”
— Berthold Auerbach
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.
For any fellow teachers in Michigan:
The Michigan Music Teachers Association (MMTA) State Conference is to take place Sunday, October 17 – Tuesday, October 19 at the Detroit Novi Sheraton (21111 Haggerty Rd., Novi). Click here to for more information (including a link to the conference schedule), and click here to register.
Martha Hilley is this year’s Conference Clinician and Leon Bates is the Conference Artist. There are many other sessions that look like very promising as well! I am so excited for the conference to get here!
Not a member of MTNA (Music Teachers National Association) or your state association?
Just a few quick reasons to consider joining a professional organization such as MTNA:
Read more about joining MTNA and your state association here.
Just added to the Printables > Worksheets page:
Musical Terms Worksheet #1
This worksheet is intended for beginner/early elementary students who have learned basic note values and musical terms. The student is instructed to match the musical symbol pictured on the left to each corresponding term on the right. Terms covered include: treble clef and bass clef, basic rhythms (quarter note through whole note), and dynamics (piano through forte).
Complete list of covered in this worksheet:
Stay tuned – another muscial terms worksheet is to come in the upcoming weeks!
Why do we learn and practice scales? Have you (or your students) ever asked this question? Is it just for tradition’s sake that piano teachers assign scales to work on? I think it’s important not only for we teachers to know the WHY behind scales, but also for our students to know! Continue reading “Top 5 Reasons to Learn Scales”
“It is cruel, you know, that music should be so beautiful. It has the beauty of loneliness of pain: of strength and freedom. The beauty of disappointment and never-satisfied love. The cruel beauty of nature and everlasting beauty of monotony.”
— Benjamin Britten
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, I came across a very interesting article about how your business cards are a representation of your business. The article features a number of examples of memorable and creative business cards, including the “piano repair” business cards pictured on the right.
Click here to read the article for yourself: 15+ Business Cards Visualizing the Business.
This article got me thinking:
Stepping up unlocks significant opportunities to scale your business, but it can also mean stepping into areas that you are not used to, and this means that you may need to get professional help. From looking to hire your first team members to preparing your business to export for the first time, there can be plenty of new experiences that lay ahead for founders that are stepping up.
Food for thought! =)
Just added to the page of free Printables:
Five-Finger Pattern Review (b’s) worksheet
This worksheet is intended as a review of all the major five-finger patterns (5FPs) with flats; however, using the “WWHW” pattern template, students can easily figure out any 5FPs that they might not already be familiar with. This worksheet will help students become more familiar with the accidentals needed for each FFP and what each FFP looks like when played on the keyboard.
A worksheet such as this works well in group lessons, or as an extra theory assignment for the private lesson.
To download, visit the Printables > Worksheets page and scroll down the F’s for the “Five-Finger Pattern Review worksheet.”
This worksheet corresponds to previously posted Five-Finger Pattern Review worksheet for FFPs with #’s.
This week, I received an friendly email from a piano teacher in Texas who is looking for ways to professionalize her studio. I already sent her a reply via email but I was thinking that you readers may have some suggestions and advice for her too — so here are some of her questions!
So please – share! What advice do you have for this teacher?
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