Games, Group Classes, Music Camps, Music Theory, Printables

Music Theory at our Piano Mini-Camp (2/3)

Joy Morin

In continuation of the series about music theory at our piano mini-camp, here are the descriptions of a few more of the activities we did:

Music Adventures Board Game

In my music theory classes, one of my goals was to cover as many areas within the broad scope of “music theory” as I could.  The gem stones activity covered 5FPs/scales/key signatures; the rhythm dictation game covered rhythm and ear training, and the Hear & Sign game covered more ear training.  This game, called “Music Adventures,” focuses mostly on music terminology, but also on note reading and identifying intervals.

You may recognize this game from the picture on the right: I created this piano-bench-sized board game earlier this year, and it is available for download on the Printables > Other Resources page.

To prepare for this game, we first quickly reviewed some music terms on the chalkboard.  Then I set the students loose in teams of 2 to play this music board game.  You can vary the length of this game by using either one die or two dice.  I had lots of things I wanted to do in my 30-minute classes, so I gave each team two dice.  We played this game one time, on the second day of camp.

Susan Paradis’ Music Bingo

I used Susan’s Music Bingo game at a group lesson about a year ago and it was a huge hit, and I thought this was a good opportunity to use it again!  I used this game on the last day of camp, and it was quite a fun way to end the day.

To cover the spaces on the Bingo sheet, instead of using the red markers picture on the right we used the same colored glass stones that we used for the gem notes on keyboard & staff activity.  One less thing to haul along from home with me to camp.  =)

Stay tuned – there is one more post about our music theory activities coming soon!

Games, Group Classes, Music Camps, Music Theory

Music Theory at our Piano Mini-Camp (1/3)

Joy Morin

As promised, here’s more about the Music Theory classes at our Piano Mini-Camp a few weeks ago.  I didn’t create formal lesson plans per-se, but the next three posts will serve as a general outline of the activities we did over each of the three camp days.

Gem Notes on the Keyboard & Staff

Using Susan Paradis’ wonderful resources, I created an activity for teaching 5-finger patterns (5FPs) and scales.  We used colorful glass stones (from the dollar store) to build 5FPS/scales on her table-top keyboard printable and one of her grand staff printables.  After printing everything out on cardstock, I cut out the table-top keyboard so that the students each had one long keyboard and then put each grand staff in a sheet protector.

The students really enjoyed using the colorful “gems.”  One little student kept asking me, “Are they REAL GEMS?!”  =)

With the younger students, we learned just about 5FPs: how to build them (WWHW) in various keys, and how to make them minor (lower the 3rd).  With the more advanced students, we learned about the entire scale (WWHWWWH) in various keys, and how to make them minor (lower the 3rd, 6th, and 7th for natural minor).

We first created the 5FP/scale first on the keyboard (pictured above), and then created it on the staff.  The reason I had the student do both is because I think students sometimes fail to make the connection from the keyboard to the staff and vice versa.  I intended this activity to be a way to build their understanding of the connection between their playing and what they see on the staff when it comes to 5FP/scales.

In order to notate a sharp or flat on the staff, we used different shaped gem stones (which I also found at the dollar store): an oblong shape.  I’m sure you could also just use the different colors to represent the notes with accidentals.

We spent about 10-15 minutes each day on this activity.  Each day, we reviewed what was covered the previous day and then added something new to the process (like learning about minor) or tried out other key signatures.

Make A Keyboard Activity

On the first day of camp, I started each theory class with another Susan Paradis activity: Make A Keyboard.  I strongly recommend printing this printable onto cardstock paper so it will last longer.

I chose this activity mostly as a warmup activity to get their minds working before moving on to more complex activities.  But it’s a good activity to see whether the students remember how the keyboard is laid out without looking.  One student had all her black keys in groups of two at first, and couldn’t figure out why she had extra black keys!

I handed each student a small zipper bag with all the piano key pieces inside and told them to “make a keyboard.”  This activity took less than 5 minutes to complete.  It worked very well as an opening activity!

Stay tuned – more music theory activities from our mini-camp are coming soon!  Meanwhile, check out the recent responses to the July Forum topic about piano method books and be sure to contribute your thoughts!

Printables, Studio Business

Just Added: Piano Lessons Flyer Template

Joy Morin

New printable just added:

Piano Lessons Flyer Template (.doc)

Advertise for new piano students by filling in this free Piano Lessons Flyer Template!  Just edit and print in Microsoft Word (.doc) and you’ll be ready to post your flyers all over town.

Directions

  1. Download the Piano Lessons Flyer Template from the Printables > Studio Business page.
  2. Open the file in Microsoft Word and edit the file so that your own information is entered.
  3. Print the file.  Using a pair of scissors, cut vertical lines from the bottom of the page (as marked) so that interested students/parents can rip off a tab with your name and contact information.
  4. You are ready to post your flyers all over town!

View the flyer template large below:

  Piano Lessons Flyer Template (32.5 KiB, 26,678 hits)

Announcements, Games, Group Classes, Music Camps

Opening Piano Mini-Camp Activities

Joy Morin

Each day at our piano mini-camp, we opened the day with an opening activity that involved all 11 of the campers together before sending them off in their individual groups to their first class.

On the first day, the opening activity was to create name tags to wear.  My colleague found foam sheets that she cut to size and attached ribbon to.  Each student wrote their name with marker and decorated their name tag with stickers.  They turned out very cute!  And they are definitely more durable than cardstock paper.  (Mine is pictured on the right. Although I am married, I had the students address me as “Miss Joy” because it is easier to say.)

The second day, we played a rhythm name game to help the students learn each other’s names.  Here is the link to the game we played.  We found that it was a little bit complicated to be doing complicated body percussion while chanting, so I would recommend simply clapping or tapping one’s thighs to the beat.

On the final day, we made egg shakers which the students could decorate and take home.  We filled plastic easter eggs halfway with rice (or however much the student desired to create the sound they wanted) and taped them closed with colored electrical tape (strongly recommended over glue).  The students then added stickers.  My egg shaker is pictured at right.

I was able to incorporate the egg shakers into my Music Theory class during a dictation game so they could put them to good use!  More information about the activities we did in my Music Theory classes coming soon!

Questions, repertoire / methods

The July Forum: Discussing Method Books

Joy Morin

This month’s discussion topic is about using method books (i.e., Alfred, Faber, Bastien, etc.) in the piano studio:

What do you look for in a method book?  What features are most important to you?  Do you use the same method series for all your students, or do you use a variety?  If you use a variety of different method books in your studio, how do you decide which one is right for each student?  Do you use a method series all the way through the final level, or do you take them out at some point?

Post away!  =)

Photo credit: ragingtornado | CC 2.0

Announcements, improving as a teacher, Music Camps

Summer Piano Mini-Camp

Joy Morin

Last week, a colleague of mine and I held a summer piano mini-camp with the help of our piano professor.  Here’s what we did:

  • We planned to hold the camp on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 12:30 – 2:30pm.
  • Application forms were sent to all the piano teachers who are members of our local chapter of MTNA and Michigan MTA.
  • We charged a fairly low rate, to encourage more participants.
  • Location: my piano professor’s church, where there are a number of nice pianos and plenty of rooms for us to use — at no cost to us.

We received applications from 11 students.  The students ranged in age from 7 years to 13 years old.

We planned a rotating schedule, where the students were divided by age into 3 groups (which we named A, B, and C) and rotated from class to class.  My colleague taught Music History class, I taught Music Theory class, and my piano professor taught Performance Class.  Here’s how we divided our time:

12:30 – 12:45  Opening activities (all campers).
12:45 – 1:15  1st class
1:15 – 1:45  2nd class
1:45 – 2:00  Snack time
2:00 – 2:30  3rd class

The snack each day was different, consisting of items such as pretzels, fruit snacks, goldfish crackers, and juice packs.  Nothing too sugary or expensive!  We were very careful to keep our expenses low.  Snacks were our largest expense; the rest were simply a few craft supplies needed for games/activities.

The camp was quite a success!  Our campers had a great time.  A few of the parents even asked if we would be holding camp again next year.

Stay tuned — I’ll be sharing more about the opening activities we used and more about my Music Theory class soon!

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Composition, improving as a teacher, Teaching Piano

Improvisation Yields Creativity and Musical Understanding

Joy Morin

I haven’t talked about improvisation lately, and in the past I’ve only spoken of the value and benefits of improvisation in the piano lesson in a rather academic-y way — and so today I’d like to discuss some specific benefits I’ve seen develop in a particular student of mine as a direct result of our improvisation activities.

Some background on my student: she (let’s call her K.) is just a beginner, having started lessons in January of this year.  K. is seven years old, and is now nearing the end of the Primer level of the Faber Piano Adventures.

Here’s what I’ve seen in K. so far:

  • The freedom to explore and be creative. She is learning by exploration. She enjoys figuring out how to play tunes by ear, without any assignment or direction from me.  She’ll say, “Look! I figured out how to play Mary Had A Little Lamb!”
  • She is discovering musical concepts on her own. She has already figured out — all on her own — that when she plays tunes in certain keys, she needs to use the black keys for them to sound right.  It’s astonishing when you think about it — she has actually discovered the reason behind key signatures and how transposition works, all by herself!  I expect that when we actually start talking about these concepts together, she will find these ideas easy to absorb because she already “gets it.”
  • Her ear is developing in a way that is far more efficient and practical than me drilling her with intervals (for example) over and over.  She knows what the interval of a 3rd should sound like when she sees it on the page, and her fingers then know what to do.
  • We’re having fun! Improvisation is a great way to end a lesson.  She is always excited to improvise on the black keys.

To sum it up, improvising regularly with my student has helped her realize the freedom that comes with the art of music, rather than placing a limit herself to play only “what’s on the page.”  And this is causing her to understand how music works all the better.

Creativity At Work

K. surprised me last week with a little composition she wrote.  And she created her own kind of shorthand for notating her composition onto a sheet of paper.  It looked something like this:  CDECCDEEFGGEDDDDEDC.  She informed me that the long notes were notated by having two of the same letter in a row.   Continue reading “Improvisation Yields Creativity and Musical Understanding” →

Resources, Studio Business

Piano as a way to build community

Joy Morin

Check out this fascinating news story:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6LeEKX1mLE

It’s great to see the great potential music (especially the piano) has to connect members of a community in a unique way!  This story really got me thinking: what are some ways we as teachers of music can use our skills to connect and benefit the community?  We tend to set our focus on just our studios, and admittedly we sometimes get overly competitive with other teachers in the area.  Wouldn’t it be great to join forces as teachers/musicians in a particular community and find ways serve the greater community?  (Ideas, anyone?)  =)

For more:

Visit artist Luke Jerram’s “Play Me, I’m Yours” website to view video uploads of various pianists playing on the pianos in cities all over the world.

improving as a teacher, Motivation, Questions, Studio Business

SUMMARY | The June Forum: Making Your Vocation A Vacation

Joy Morin

The Way to Paradise June is over (summer is going by so quickly!!), and so is the June Forum: Making Your Vocation A Vacation topic.  Thanks for all the thought-provoking comments, all!  Here’s a summary of your comments, along with some thoughts of my own mixed in:

  • Teach only when you want to. Don’t overdo it.  Only schedule yourself what you can easily handle each day/week.  If needed, schedule yourself an occasional 15-minute break so you can chill out for a bit and perhaps get a bite to eat.
  • Teach only who you want to. Whenever possible, accept only the students who are motivated and hardworking.  I’d like to also add: only teach the levels/ages you are comfortable with.  For example, if teaching adult students isn’t your forte, don’t feel as if you have to accept them into your studio.  Recognize the areas where you shine and make those your focus!  Same goes with styles of music: if you aren’t comfortable teaching jazz, recommend those students to another teacher who is comfortable doing so.
  • Be firm on your business procedures. As teachers and musicians, we often don’t like to think about the financial side of things.  We like to focus on passing our passion for music on to our students.  The reality is, there will always be parents/students who show up late, don’t show up at all, don’t pay on time, etc..  Everyone handles these situations differently, but I would recommend never allowing yourself to be stepped over.  It will stress you out.  (I know from experience!)  Write up some Studio Policies and stick to them.  (This is an area I personally need to work on — so I’ve been brainstorming some ways to make “the business end of things” run more smoothly and efficiently.)
  • Keep it fun and fresh by varying up each lesson, and tailoring lessons to each individual student.  Be on the lookout for new music books or games to try with students.  Try to discover each student’s interests, strengths, and weaknesses so you can personalize their lessons to their individual needs.  Attend local/state/national music teaching conferences so you can continue your own education as well as network and exchange ideas with other teachers.
  • Find ways to make sure your students are making progress. When students are making progress, students are having fun, and when students are having fun, the teacher is having fun!  Decorate your studio, create an incentive program, keep communication open with parents to keep them involved, have a practice requirement — in short, find ways to keep students engaged and motivated to develop their skills at the piano and excited about lessons!

All these ideas above are part of being an effective, successful teacher — and that’s when teaching becomes a vacation rather than a vocation.  Great thoughts, everyone!

Stay tuned for the introduction of the July Forum topic, coming later this week!

Photo credit: nattu | CC 2.0

Printables, Studio Business

Printables updated: Student Info form, and Student Interview forms

Joy Morin

As part of my preparation for the upcoming academic year of teaching piano, I working updating all of my studio business forms.  The following three forms have just completed renovation, and are available on the Printables page:

  • Student Information form (for all incoming students to fill out)
  • Beginner Student Interview form (to be used while interviewing beginner students)
  • Transfer Student Interview form (to be used while interviewing new non-beginner students)

Questions have been clarified, more space has been given between lines so that there is more room to write in the blanks, and the overall format has been given a makeover in order to get a cleaner look.  In addition, the wording of some questions on the forms (the Beginner Student Interview form and the Student Information form, especially) have been adjusted to better accommodate adult students who might be filling out the forms / being interviewed.

Side note: Don’t let the word “interview” scare you if you don’t already do something like this in your studio!  These forms are simply designed to help with evaluating the student’s playing level at the first lesson.  Personally, I’ve found that taking notes helps me immensely when I’m trying to decide what repertoire and method books to use with a new student, whether it’s a beginner student or not.  Give it a try!

Scroll down for a BIGGER look!

Continue reading “Printables updated: Student Info form, and Student Interview forms” →