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” →

improving as a teacher, Technique

Bench Height: Try Little Pillows for Little Students

Joy Morin

Just thought I’d share my recent find.  One again, I’ll admit, I found another treasure at the dollar store.  (Does anyone else love dollar stores as much as I do?)

It might not seem like much, but I see great potential in these little blue travel sized pillows.  My little student won’t have to sit on a stack of piano books any longer in order to attain the correct height at the piano!

When I first picked up the pillow, I expected the stuffing to be cheap and light stuffing which would do nothing for the student’s height once they’d sit on it, but actually it is stuffed pretty well with some kind of heavier material.  And for a dollar, the price can’t be beat.

If you aren’t convinced on the importance of playing with the proper bench height at the piano, check out the revealing pictures at the Well-Balanced Pianist website.

My hand is awkwardly sticking out in this picture to give you a better idea of the size of the pillow.  It’s just the right size for students under age 8 or so.

If you are interested in getting one of these pillows, check if there is a Dollar Tree store in your area.  I looked for the listing of this pillow on the Dollar Tree website, but was unable to find it (if anyone finds it, please let me know).  The tag on the pillow just said “Decorative Pillow.”  The pillow also comes in green.

I’ve heard of some teachers using those interlocking foam square pieces for getting students to the right height.  The nice thing about using those foam squares is that you can choose how many of them to stack on top of each other in order to reach just the perfect height.

What have you found to work well for attaining proper height at the piano?

Words of Wisdom

Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom

Joy Morin

“I’ve never known a musician who regretted being one. Whatever deceptions life may have in store for you, music itself is not going to let you down.“

— Virgil Thomson

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.

Printables, Studio Business

Record of Lesson Attendance & Payment

Joy Morin

Just added to the page of free Printables > Studio Business:

> Lesson & Payment Record Chart 2010-2011 (3 page pdf)

Summertime is a great time to do some planning for the next academic year of teaching!  As you can see, I’ve been keeping busy…..  This chart is designed for the 2010-2011 year in mind, starting in September.

What this chart records:

This chart provides a simple way to track student attendance/absences for lessons and tuition payments.

How to use this chart:

In the first column, enter your students’ names.  At each lesson, enter the lesson date (e.g., 9/14) corresponding with that week of lessons.  If the student misses a lesson for some reason, that box may be marked with a slash, or left blank so that the make-up lesson date may be later written in.  Any lessons that are paid for should be marked with a checkmark in each little circle.  Please see the up-close picture below for an example.

The 3 pages of this chart can be easily 3-hole punched and placed in a 3 ring binder, for maximum convenience when teaching.

I hope some of you find my chart useful!

improving as a teacher, Music Theory

Teaching Music Theory: Our Responsibility

Joy Morin

I was talking to a parent after teaching a lesson yesterday, and she told me that her older daughter (who plays a few different band instruments, but is not currently taking piano lessons) is attending a band camp for high schoolers this week.  Upon arrival, the camp gave her daughter a theory placement test, and she scored a 2B (I’m not sure what leveling system they were using, but her mother had expected her to score higher).  Her mother was a little perturbed because she has paid for many years of lessons for her daughter, but only a few of her daughter’s past teachers taught theory as component of taking private lessons.  She wondered, shouldn’t my daughter have gotten more theory training than this?  What have I been paying all this money and time for?

This conversation got me thinking about our responsibility as teachers.  A basic definition of music theory is the study of how music works. A student having little understanding of theory is missing a huge piece of the pie.   Continue reading “Teaching Music Theory: Our Responsibility” →