Last week, I held my last music camp of the summer! I called it “Music History Blast From the Past.” I had a smaller group of students this time — which was actually very nice for a subject like music history!
Tag: piano teaching
Music History Camp Peek
My Music History camp starts today! I think I’m ready for my campers to arrive!
Game Materials Organization
Yesterday, I posted a new Forum Q&A post about organization. If you are the kind of teacher who enjoys using games and props during lessons, it’s not easy to find a system for storing and organizing everything! I’m always on the look-out for better ways to stay organized.
Here’s a picture of my current system:
Forum Q&A | Organization for Games/Props
Our last Forum Q&A topic was about end-of-the-year tasks for piano teachers. I enjoyed reading your comments, as always!
Today, our new topic is all about organization. I wanna know:
How do you keep your game materials and props organized? Do you have a shelf, drawer, basket, folders, etc.? Are you able to find what you need when you need it? 🙂
Leave a comment below describing your system. Maybe we can get a turn-out as good as the giveaway last week…100+ replies would be awesome! 🙂 If you have your own blog, feel free to post a photo of your organizational system there and then leave a comment here with a link.
I’ll post my picture tomorrow. Here’s my photo! 🙂
“So, You Want To Be A Composer?” Camp – Now Available!
Hooray, the “So, You Want To Be A Composer?” camp has just been added to the Color In My Piano Shop!
- You’ve already seen the photos from our composition camp that was held a couple of weeks ago.
- Yesterday, I posted a sample student composition and a freebie from the lesson plans.
- Now, you can read the full description of the “So, You Want To Be A Composer?” camp by visiting the shop!
Now, it’s time for me to focus on my next camp: “Music History Blast From The Past.” Want a sneak peak? Okay, if you insist: 🙂
Music Camp Freebie from “So, You Want To Be A Composer?”
Good morning! The “So, You Want To Be A Composer?” camp is ready to be listed in the Color In My Piano shop……but I’m just waiting to hear back from one more student to get permission to share their composition in the lesson plan as an example. I will post it as soon as I hear from them! UPDATE: The lessons plans are posted now!
For today though, I thought I would share a peek at a composition by one of my other students, and also share a FREEBIE from the camp lessons plans! Read on.
During camp, we spent a lot of time discussing how composers make music SOUND like the title or the subject they are describing. This student appropriately chose a minor key for his dragon piece. I helped him very little, other than approving his first few measures and then encouraging him to add a B section. Not bad for a first composition, is it?! 🙂 Once he had it worked out on the piano, we together figured out how to notate the piece. Later, I transcribed his piece into Finale, printed it out, and then asked him to add an illustration.
As promised, I’d like to share a freebie from “So, You Want To Be A Composer?” camp….. a pdf containing TEN different sizes of staff paper! I hope you can put it to good use. 🙂 Visit the Printables > Other Resources page and scroll down to the S’s for “Sheet Music A-J.”
Staff Paper - A-J (180.5 KiB, 22,458 hits)
July 2012 Giveaway: Shhh…Your Piano Teacher Thinks This Is Practice
Andrea & Trevor Dow of Teach Piano Today have recently created a resource called, “Shhh…Your Piano Teacher Thinks This Is Practice.” She kindly sent me a copy to review, so I’m going to tell you about it — and give you a chance to win your own copy!
First, here is Andrea’s description of the pdf book:
The book contains 88 activities that are absolutely, positively, most definitely NOT BORING! and are designed to get students excited about spending time on the piano at home. They act as a companion to a piano students’ regular practice, and have been created to to be used with any level and any age for 88 days! Also, when teachers receive Shhhh… Your Piano Teacher Thinks This Is Practice they also receive a license to reproduce unlimited copies, as long as it is for use within their personal studio.
Each page of the book has a practice activity designed to encourage repetition during practice (without the student realizing it) and help them think about their piece in a different way (like asking them to find all the C’s in their piece, or practice the rhythm of the LH). Some of the activities also encourage students to share their music, by asking students to play a piece for a family member. Continue reading “July 2012 Giveaway: Shhh…Your Piano Teacher Thinks This Is Practice”
So, You Want To Be A Composer? – 2012 Summer Camp Details
Last week, I held my second summer music camp for my piano students! It was called, “So, You Want To Be A Composer?” I am so excited to share with you some details about our camp. We had a really great week!
Here’s where all the magic happened:
Continue reading “So, You Want To Be A Composer? – 2012 Summer Camp Details”
Teacher Feature: Jeff Wille
We are long overdue for another Teacher Feature! (Learn more about Teacher Feature posts here).
A big thank you to Jeff Willes for being willing to share with us today. Meet Jeff Wille from the JW Music Studio in Texas!
- Name: Jeff Wille
- Area: Savannah, TX
- Website: http://www.jwmstudio.com
Please tell us about your piano and/or teaching background:
I started playing piano when I was 9 and took lessons for about 5 years which were primarily classically based. After that I developed an interest in rock music and started to learn the guitar from a teacher that was classically trained but was in a rock band. I took lessons from him for about 2 years or so and then after that I just spent hours and hours listening and learning on my own. I then became involved in 2 bands, one as a keyboard player in an oldies band and then one as a lead guitar player in a classic rock band. I’ve been teaching now for about 2 and a half years. Continue reading “Teacher Feature: Jeff Wille”
Introducing…The Color In My Piano Shop!
Greetings!
I have a big announcement today: I have just added a “Shop” page to ColorInMyPiano.com, where I have listed a few items for sale! Don’t worry…I’ll always share lots of freebies too, but I have some bigger projects that I’d like to make available in the shop. 🙂 Right now, I’ve got two items listed:
Rhythm Cards – Level 1. These cards have simple two- or three- measure rhythm examples on them, perfect for using with beginner students.
Blickenstaff’s Performance Practice “Rules of Thumb”
Last October, well-loved pedagogue Marvin Blickenstaff appeared at the Ohio Music Teachers Conference I attended. I blogged a summary of my notes from a great session he gave called “Performance Practice Made Easy”, which was all about “Rules of Thumb” to give for students during group classes about playing musically. If you would like more details about Marvin’s wonderful “Rules of Thumb,” check out the recent July/August issue of Clavier Companion magazine! There’s an article on page 34 by Marvin with plenty of examples. Be sure to check it out!
P.S.: If you are not already subscribed to Clavier Companion, I HIGHLY recommend it! It’s my favorite magazine — I love getting inspired by all their great articles. It’s very affordable, too — especially their new digital-only subscription option!
Review: Road Trip USA! Camp by Sheryl Welles
My friend Sheryl Welles has just put her RoadTrip USA! camp lesson plans up for sale on her website! She very kindly sent me a copy to review, and so I’m going to tell you all about it. 🙂
RoadTrip USA! is a 159-page pdf that contains detailed descriptions with photos of the games and activities Sheryl does for her camp. Sheryl also includes detailed lists for the supplies you will need each day, as well as some advice about registration forms and setting tuition.
So, what is the camp like? Each day, campers travel to a different part of the United States to listen to different styles of music, learn about composers, and reinforce basic musical concepts, like rhythm and note reading. The five destinations are Washington D.C., New Orleans, the Wild West, New York City, and Hawaii. The activities throughout the day are themed around that day’s destination. I love the great variety of activities (indoors, outdoors, movement, listening, etc!) Sheryl uses for this camp, and your students will love it too! If you haven’t seen Sheryl’s blog before, I highly recommend you check out some of her posts about her music camps. Continue reading “Review: Road Trip USA! Camp by Sheryl Welles”