As promised, here is a slideshow of photos from my student’s recent Christmas recital/party. Enjoy!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O2V5khQ-4A
Click here to read about the three games we played after the recital.
Tag: piano teaching
Christmas Gift for Piano Students
Here’s what I gave my students for Christmas this year:
A Symphony chocolate bar, and a personalized glass ornament.
I found the glass ornaments at a craft store (Hobby Lobby). On each ornament, I wrote the student’s name and “2011” on the ornament using a paint pen. I put colorful confetti and pieces of old sheet music inside each ornament. I thought they turned out cute!
For my adult students, I bought music dictionaries. The A to Z of Foreign Musical Terms
Christmas Recital/Party Success! – Games
Well, my students’ Christmas party/recital was a success! What a great way to finish off the year.
The recital took place in my home. Whenever my college music history textbooks mentioned Schubertiads, I used to dream about the idea of having informal music performance parties in my home. Since my studio is still small, I thought having our Christmas recital in my home would be so fun! About 25 people attended, which is probably close the max that I can fit. Next year I’ll have to find another location, or hold the party with just the students. But it was nice and cozy this year!
We kicked off the party with the recital portion, and then we played three music games:
Christmas Carol Rhythm Matchups — This game from Jennifer Fink’s Pianimation blog was a great hit with students! Students worked together in a huddle on the floor to match the rhythms to the Christmas song lyrics. They were able to successfully complete all three levels of difficulty! Even the youngest beginners were able to match a few. I ended up with three students who played “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas” during the recital because I have so many little beginners right now. They were definitely able to help match that pair! 🙂
Make Me A Rhythm! game — This is a game I found on a forum and shared about a few weeks ago. This game wasn’t a total success, I’ll admit. My students were very, very shy about asking other students to be note values as they composed a rhythm. After all, this is the first time they’ve met each other. Next time I use this game, I’ll use it with a smaller group (maybe in a setting where students are present without their parents), or with a group of people who know each other better. It wasn’t a total flop though. It’s a great game for visual learners. The “composer” had to think about how many beats they had left in their measure. Once each rhythm was composed, we clapped it together to see how the composers’ rhythm sounded. It was fun, it just went slowly since students took a long time to choose.
Music Bingo — I LOVE Susan Paradis’ version of Music Bingo. You won’t find a nicer version of Music Bingo anywhere! I’ve used Susan’s version of Music Bingo in previous years for other events (see some photos here). Both the students and parents really enjoyed playing this game!
I’m putting together a slideshow of some photo highlights from the recital, which I hope to share with you later this week! Stay tuned.
Just Added: Musical Flashcard Sorting game
This is a simple game to play with groups of students that makes note-naming flashcards a bit more interesting. It involves sorting the flashcards onto alphabet letter signs on the floor, as pictured on the right (the “A” flashcards would go in the blank space on the right side of the page).
The game is pretty flexible, because beforehand you can sort out exactly which flashcards you want to focus on with your students. This also allows you to control how long you wish the game to continue.
You can also use different flashcards. With my Homeschool Music Class this week, we used my Piano Key naming flashcards (they came with the MiniMusic set I purchased earlier this year). With my Piano Readiness Class, we’ve been doing on-staff work so we used regular staff-note-naming flashcards (I use this set from Faber & Faber
Another tip with this game: if you are using the note-naming flashcards, arrange the musical alphabet signs on the floor in a column, so that A is at the bottom and G is at the top. I recommend this because this arrangement resembles the staff, where the musical alphabet progresses vertically. If you are using piano-key-naming flashcards, I would arrange the signs on the floor horizontally, just like the keyboard.
Download the pdf of the alphabet signs and detailed gameplay instructions by visiting the Printables > Games page. Scroll down to the M’s for “Musical Flashcard Sorting game.”
Musical Flashcard Sorting game (1.2 MiB, 13,106 hits)
Studio Christmas Party Update – Food!
My apologies for being MIA from the blog the last few weeks! At the beginning of the semester, I put up posters around the music building of the university in my town for freelancing as a collaborative pianist. A few music majors contacted me rather last minute to ask if I’d accompany them for their end-of-the-semester juries as well as a concerto competition. Learning their music and scheduling rehearsals has kept me very busy the last few weeks! But I’m grateful for the extra money, especially after finishing all my Christmas shopping. 🙂 Anyway, I’m back now! Juries are today, and this week will be much less hectic than the previous few weeks.
Now I’m focusing on the last stages of planning for my Studio Christmas Party on Saturday. A couple of parents have volunteered to bring goodies, so I just need to make a few things. I found some great food ideas on Pinterest. (I love Pinterest! Are any of you on Pinterest? Feel free to follow me, and I’ll be sure to follow you back!) Continue reading “Studio Christmas Party Update – Food!”
Christmas Rhythm Learning Moments
As I’m sure is currently the case with many of you, my students are working on Christmas pieces along with their usual assignments. As usual, a few of them have encountered rhythmic “simplifications” in their arrangements (Away in a Manger and Go Tell it on the Mountain come to mind). After pointing it out the difference between what they played and what is on the page, together we made the executive decision to play the rhythm as it is normally heard. We also took a moment to discover what is the actual rhythmic notation of the tune and then marked it in the score above the staff. For a more complete discussion of this issue, check out this Forum Q&A post regarding rhythmic simplification in arrangements.
A few of my students in particular are really thriving on these Christmas pieces! Once again, I am reminded of the value of learning familiar tunes. I find that it gives students an extra boost in learning their pieces, since they can depend more on their ear for pitches/rhythms rather than their eyes. This means they will learn the pieces quickly and more accurately. I also find that playing familiar tunes is a huge motivator for students. They love to be able to play tunes they know!
Hurrah for Christmas music! 🙂
For a listing of free Christmas music arrangements on the internet, check out this post.
Photo Credit: woodleywonderworks | CC 2.0
Make Me A Rhythm! game
I was recently browsing some forums online and found a description of this game by a music educator. It sounds like a great game to use with large groups of students — perhaps for group lessons or summer camps. I asked the music educator if I could post about the game on my blog, and she kindly agreed. In her own words: “You certainly have my permission to share the game. I made it up, but someone else probably has, too. We all get ideas from one another and put them together in different ways.” I love her attitude and generosity! We teachers have so much we can share and learn from each other.
This composing/rhythm game is appropriate for groups of about 8 or more students. All you need are 4 pieces of paper with the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 written on them. These sheets serve to mark the beats of the measure, spaced out on the floor. One student is chosen as the Composer, who must select students and make them into quarter notes/half notes/whatever. Once the measure is complete, everyone claps the rhythm and the teacher records the rhythm onto a whiteboard to save it. A new Composer is chosen to compose the next measure. In the end, everyone claps the entire rhythmic composition to see what it sounds like.
I haven’t tried out this game yet, but it sounds fun! And it’s not always easy to find games that work for large groups of students. I just might try out this game at my studio Christmas party coming up. 🙂
Complete game instructions can be printed by downloading the pdf on the Printables > Games page. I thought the game needed a more specific title, so I came up with “Make Me A Rhythm!”
“Musical Hopscotch” game
About year ago, Sheryl Welles posted on her blog about a “Twister Hopscotch” game that she modified into a wonderful music game. Basically, all you have to do is use Avery circle stickers of some kind to make the spinner into a music spinner with rhythmic note values.
Christmas Events
I finally started my Christmas shopping this past weekend, and this morning I sightread some Christmas duets with a piano teacher friend of mine. 🙂 Now I’m really starting to feel in the Christmas spirit!
This December, I’m planning a studio Christmas Party for my students. I’ve never done anything like this before, but I am excited about it. My goal is to plan some music games, make some desserts with cheese and crackers, and hold an informal recital portion too. Each student will play one or two Christmas pieces for each other. I’m hoping to include some piano duets too, and I will probably play a Christmas arrangement myself at the end. Another idea I had was to have each student research the history of their carol and verbally introduce their piece.
I’m so excited for the Christmas season!
Photo Credit: allison.hare | CC 2.0
Google+ Update
Have any of you been hanging out on Google+ (pronounced “Google plus”) much lately? (If you aren’t familiar with what Google+ is, check out this post on social networking.) Google+ hasn’t risen in popularity as quickly as I had hoped. The features, layout, and user-friendliness of Google+ is so much better than Facebook (IMO). And yet, everyone seems to still be hanging out on Facebook.
Fortunately, Google+ just announced this week that anyone can create a Google+ page for their business/organization. Maybe this will help make Google+ a thriving place to be! I’ve created a page for Color In My Piano which I’d love to have you all join (click here). Wendy Stevens has also created a page for her ComposeCreate blog, which you can view by clicking here. If you haven’t added me to your circles yet, I’d love to connect with you. My profile page is here.
Google+ pages offer a variety of features, including “Hangouts” that allow individuals to group chat (like Skype). Someday, I’d love to organize LIVE round-table discussions about various piano teaching topics! Wouldn’t that be fun?!
So, head on over to Google+. We need more action over there!
Just Added: Musical Leaves Matchup game
This is a short music game I created as a way to reinforce the names of the piano keys with young beginners. It only takes a few minutes to play, but my students seemed to enjoy it. It gives them a break from the usual drill I do, where I have them find 3 different C’s on the piano, etc. 🙂
Here’s how it works:
You’ll need to buy fabric or foam leaves and mark each with a letter from the musical alphabet using a marker or felt tip pen. The student is instructed to match each leaf to it’s spot on the tree, until the whole tree is filled. The game only takes a few minutes, so it’s a great game to do on the piano bench at the beginning or end of a piano lesson.
Any leftover fabric leaves can be used to decorate your Thanksgiving day table in a few weeks. 🙂
To Download: go to the Printables > Games page and scroll down to “Musical Leaves Matchup game.”
Forum Q&A: Lesson Planning for Private Lessons
It’s been a while since we had a Forum Q&A! Sometimes I run out of ideas for discussion topics, so if you ever have a question you’d like to see addressed here to get other teachers’ input, please let me know. 🙂
Last time, we discussed the role of the parent in private lessons. We received some well-thought responses, so thanks for that! Click here to read them, and remember, it’s never too late to add your thoughts.
Here’s today’s discussion topic: Lesson planning! Here’s a few questions to get you thinking:
Do you create lesson plans for the private piano lessons you teach? Why or why not? If you do create lesson plans, what is your process? How much time do you spend lesson planning each week? Is your method feasible for even if you full studio of say, 20+ students?
Although I’ve been teaching privately for over 6 years now, I still don’t feel I have a good system for lesson planning. Fortunately, I have a pretty good memory for knowing where in their books my students are at any given time. However, I have a feeling that eventually if I get over 20 students to keep track of, this would be become much more difficult. I need to keep better records so I can be more effective in preparing to introduce new concepts to my students before the method book does! I’d love to hear any thoughts you have on this topic. 🙂
Photo Credit: Bright Meadow | CC 2.0