I haven’t done one of these in awhile! Here’s a roundup of some great blogs you may not have seen before:
The Plucky Pianista – Melody Payne has started a great blog and has already shared some fabulous worksheets!
Tag: piano teaching
The Amazing Keyboard Race
I had a wonderful extended weekend in Michigan, giving my presentations and spending time with my family! Now I’m busy back at work, playing catch-up. 🙂 However, I do have a little game I’d like to share with you today.
I am not the original inventor of this game, I’m sure — but in case you haven’t seen it before, here’s how to play this keyboard game with your beginner students!
My Assignment Notebook Method
Last Thursday, we started a Forum Q&A discussion about assignment notebooks/pages for students. Today, I thought I’d share my own method of tracking assignments — and, of course, also announce the winner of the giveaway!
The winner of the sheet music decorative balls is commenter #5… LaDona! Congrats!! (By the way, if you haven’t seen LaDona’s wonderful blog before, you can check it out here.)
My method of tracking assignments is very similar to what many of you do: I write in a journal-sized notebook.
I always start with the date and then I outline any warmup/technique exercises (5-finger patterns, arpeggios, scales, etc). The photos in this post show a made-up but typical assignment page: Continue reading “My Assignment Notebook Method”
Referral Thank You Gift
I recently had a current student refer a new student to me for piano lessons. The best kind of marketing is word-of-mouth, so I am always happy when parents/students are willing to tell others about my services! So I decided to give a little gift as a token of my appreciation:
I created this T-shirt at printfection.com, and accompanied it with a thank you card. 🙂
Also: I wanted to use this post to announce the winner of the candle giveaway: It’s commenter #12, Pauline! Congrats! Please check your inbox for an email from me.
The winners of the other giveaways will be announced over the next few days.
Just Added: Treble & Bass Clef Worksheet
Today, a new worksheet was added to the Printables page, all about the treble clef and bass clef!
This worksheet uses dotted lines to teach the student how to draw the treble clef and bass clef. I also included a couple of illustrations in this worksheet showing the development of the clefs over the centuries. Our modern clefs still bear some resemblance to the letters G and F, which can be a helpful tool for students for remembering those landmark notes. Students will find this bit of history interesting and memorable as they learn about the clefs!
To download this worksheet, please visit the Printables > Worksheets page and scroll down to the T’s for “Treble & Bass Clef Worksheet.” Enjoy!
P.S.: Don’t forget to enter the giveaways from last week if you haven’t already. Winners are going to be announced this week starting tomorrow!
Forum Q&A: Assignment Notebook/Pages for Students
Today’s post brings a new Forum Q&A topic, and another GIVEAWAY!
Our last Forum Q&A discussion was about perfectionism. It’s never too late to add your thoughts to the comments, so feel free to hop over there and join in the conversation! I plan to follow up with an article on perfectionism to discuss this topic further at some point, but haven’t gotten to it yet! So many ideas, so little time… 🙂
Today’s new Q&A topic is about assignment notebooks. I’m curious –
What is your method of writing down assignments for students? Do you use a notebook (if so, any particular size/type?) or do you have a custom-made sheet you designed on the computer? What kinds of things are usually included on a typical assignment?
Today’s giveaway is a pair of decorative balls, decoupaged by hand with vintage sheet music: Continue reading “Forum Q&A: Assignment Notebook/Pages for Students”
Just Added: Music Staff Paper for Stickers of all Sizes
Guess what! Tomorrow is Color In My Piano’s THREE YEAR anniversary! Woohoo! I’ve got a few fun posts and giveaways planned for later this week in honor of our anniversary. But today, I thought I’d share this new printable:
Continue reading “Just Added: Music Staff Paper for Stickers of all Sizes”
Just Added: Piano Finger Twister game
I have a new game to share today: Piano Finger Twister!
Sample Studio Newsletter
A reader asked if I could share a sample of a studio newsletter, so here’s a few screenshots! Click the thumbnails below to view each page larger:
For most newsletters, I also include a list of music events going on in the community. I think it’s great for students and their families to hear and be inspired by good performances! Here’s a post with other ideas for what to include in studio newsletters.
I created this newsletter using a template in Microsoft Word.
Just Added: “Gallery of Music” Symbol Drawing Worksheets
Happy Valentine’s Day! I have a free printable to share today…
This is a set of simple worksheets for having students learn to draw various music symbols. The worksheets can be used singly or in groups, depending on what concepts your students are currently learning. I would encourage students to use colorful crayons to draw the symbols.
Here are the symbols covered on each page:
- Quarter, half, dotted-quarter, and whole notes.
- Quarter, half, dotted-quarter, and whole rests.
- Single eighth note, beamed eighth notes, eighth rest, and dotted quarter note.
- Treble clef, bass clef, staff, and grand staff.
- Barline, double barline, repeat sign, and time signature.
- Forte, piano, mezzo forte, and mezzo piano.
- Sharp, flat, natural, quarter note with flat.
- Slur, tie, staccato, accent.
If you have suggestions for more symbols to include in additional worksheets, let me know!
To download this set of worksheets, visit the Printables > Worksheets page and scroll down to the G’s for “Gallery of Music – Symbol Drawing Worksheets.”
P.S.: I received an email yesterday from the MTNA Collegiate Chapter at Butler University, asking if I’d send a link to the survey they created about online marketing for piano teachers. They are looking for responses to help them with a session they will be presenting at the MTNA National Conference in NYC next month. Please take a minute of your time to help them out! http://tinyurl.com/butlersurvey2012
P.S.S.: Today is the last day to sign up to attend the MTNA National Conference at the early registration discount! Visit mtna.org to learn more. Hope to see you in NYC!
Teaching Tip: Achieving Fluency
Have you ever had a student play a piece with frequent hesitations throughout, even though you know they can play much better than that? This phenomenon can occur with all ages/levels of students. Why does this happen? What is going on when this happens? This article will examine possible causes of and solutions for a lack of fluency.
A lack of fluency could be caused by a number of things:
- A lack of the proper technique required for the executing the piece;
- A lack of familiarity of the notes of the piece;
- A tempo that is too fast for the student’s ability at that moment; or,
- A lack of mentally “chunking” the information on the page properly. The analogy I use to refer to Number 4 is that the students feels like they are wearing horse blinders, or are mentally experiencing tunnel vision.
A Hello Song & Goodbye Song for Group Classes
When I shared about my method of lesson planning for groups classes a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned a Hello Song and Goodbye Song that I use with my young students. Someone asked which ones I use, so I thought I would let you hear them in this quick video:
httpvh://youtu.be/s3M0_kThFIQ
HELLO SONG
Hello, it’s time,
For music class today.
Let’s have, some fun,
With ____, _____, and ______. (Fill in blanks with students’ names.)
GOODBYE SONG
Goodbye everybody, yes indeed,
Yes indeed, yes indeed.
Let’s make music again next week,
Yes indeed my friends.
Goodbye ____. (Fill in with student’s name. Repeat this line as needed, then sing the first 4 lines again.)
There are lots of different Hello and Goodbye Songs out there to choose from – just google it and you’ll see! These were just two that I liked that I found somewhere online.