This month’s discussion topic:
How do you motivate your students? How do you keep them coming back year after year? How do you keep them exciting about taking lessons? How do you keep them practicing? What have you found works for your students? Have some things worked better for some students, but not for others?
Please take a moment to contribute your thoughts and ideas!
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
Just added to the Printables > Worksheets page:
Scales & Primary Chords 2 (DAEBb) Worksheet
This worksheet is a continuation of set of worksheets that practice writing out scales and primary chords on the staff (click here to view the first one, which is for the keys C, G, D, and F).
Ideally, this worksheet is designed for the intermediate+ student who is already familiar with the scales and primary chords for the keys of D, A, E, and Bb major, and perhaps could use some review in writing them out on the staff. However, this worksheet could also be used during a group lesson while introducing these ideas for the first time.
Terms/concepts covered in the worksheet:
To download, visit the Printables > Worksheets page and scroll down to the S’s for “Scales & Primary Chords worksheet.”
Two more worksheets in this set are on the way!
Audacity is a piece of powerful sound editing software that is free to download. It is available both for both Mac and Windows computers.
This tutorial will discuss the uses of Audacity software in the piano studio, and explain how to use Audacity to make basic edits to audio files.
NOTE: The correct site for finding and downloading the free Audacity software is audacity.soundforge.net, NOT audacity.com as one may expect.
Uses for Audacity for Piano Teachers
“When people hear good music, it makes them homesick for something they never had, and never will have.“
— Edgar Watson Howe (1853-1937), American novelist and journalist
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.
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Here is the summary post for the July Monthly Forum: Discussing Method Books. Thanks to those of you who shared your thoughts!
Your Thoughts
Allow me to summarize some of the main points that were made in the comments:
Read all the comments for yourself here.
Your Favorites
You also shared some of your favorite piano methods in the comments. Here are the ones that were mentioned:
My Thoughts
My personal philosophy when it comes to piano methods is that there is no single piano method that is “the best” or that works for all students. Every student learns differently and every student has various goals, interests, and tastes in music. Therefore, the teacher must seek to find and use the piano method that will be best for each individual student. It is important for teachers to become familiar with the various piano methods available so that they can choose the proper method for each student.
Questions to Ask Yourself When Evaluating Piano Methods: Continue reading “SUMMARY | July Monthly Forum: Discussing Method Books”
“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.”
— Albert Einstein
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.
Just added to the Printables page: “The Listen & Sign Game.”
This printable corresponds to the game originally described in this post – a game I used in a Piano Mini-Camp held about a month ago. Continue reading “Just Added: “Listen & Sign” Game Printable”
Have you missed me? Due to some technological difficulties, I’ve been unable to post blog entries since late last week. I’m so relieved to finally have things worked out!
Due to the delay, however, our July monthly forum is being extended until (probably) Thursday – so if you’d still like to share your thoughts about piano method books, please do so now!
Meanwhile, here’s a peek into what’s coming up over the next few days/weeks:
“Musical compositions, it should be remembered, do not inhabit certain countries, certain museums, like paintings and statues. The Mozart Quintet is not shut up in Salzburg: I have it in my pocket.”
— Henri Rabaud (1873-1949), French conductor and composer
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.
Check out this series of 4 videos about Roland’s V-Piano. They claim: “This is the future of the piano.” Thoughts?
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUh21Eje56g&feature=related
In continuation of a description of the music theory activities at our Piano Mini-Camp a few weeks ago, here are more details concerning the activities we used:
Rhythm Dictation Game
This rhythm dictation game by Natalie was a real hit with the students! I printed off two sets of cards and put the students into groups of two so that they could work together. Here’s how the game works:
I tried to clap rhythms according to the approximate level of the groups of students I was teaching, and increased the difficulty of each rhythm as they became accustomed to the process. I also tried to vary the time signatures between 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4. I kept the rhythms to just 2 measures long, unless we were in 2/4 time or unless the students were more advanced.
I think it’s important to have the students be able to clap the rhythm back in its entirety before beginning to dictate it using the cards, because it helps increase their musical memory. Otherwise, they will dictate only 1 or 2 beats at a time, and constantly be asking you to “do it again!” If they can remember it themselves, they can then re-clap it to themselves as needed as they work on dictating it. Continue reading “Music Theory at our Piano Mini-Camp (3/3)”
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