For basic graphic design work, I highly recommend on website Canva.com. Using a free account and the huge variety of templates available, you can create graphics for just about anything. I’ve been using Canva as an inspirational starting point for many of my projects recently (Wednesday Words of Wisdom quotes, blog graphics, recital programs, etc) and I can’t say enough good about it!
Here is a screenshot:
Within the site, you can use a large selection of graphics at no cost. If you decide to use a piece of stock photograph/art within Canva, they each cost $1. Very affordable, and the output looks great.
App Review: Piano Maestro for *iPad only.* FREE and paid accounts available for teachers. Students who are connected to a teacher account have available to content for free.
I’ve been meaning to write this review for a long time. I wouldn’t surprise me if you’ve already heard all about the Piano Maestro app for iPad!
If you are not already familiar with Piano Maestro, here’s how I would sum it up: Piano Maestro is an app for iPad that provides music for the student to play, listens to the student’s acoustic piano using the iPad’s microphone (no wires required, although if you prefer to hook it up to a keyboard with headphones, you can), and evaluates the student’s playing based on note accuracy and rhythm accuracy. The student’s progress is saved over time and points are awarded, essentially “gamifying” the experience. The developer, JoyTunes, is a team dedicated to piano education and listening to feedback from teachers.
Watch this 30-second video to see Piano Maestro in action:
Piano Maestro has the potential to be a game-changer in your studio, depending on how you decide to incorporate it into your teaching. Let’s first talk about the kinds of pieces available for students to learn in Piano Maestro. Continue reading “iPad App Review: Piano Maestro”→
At the suggestion of a reader (thanks, Elaine!), I have created a new digital version.
Using an annotating app such as GoodNotes (my review here), you can upload the PDF to your iPad and have students complete the worksheets digitally. It’s a great way to coach students through a concept while saving paper.
The PDF contains 20 pages, each with 3 notes that must be matched to the keyboard.
The Nov/Dec 2014 issue marks the beginning of a series called “The Future of Piano Teaching.” In this issue, you’ll find twelve short musings written by various pedagogues about their thoughts on the future of piano teaching. These short musings will be followed by a series of longer, more in-depth articles in future issues.
I was proud to submit one of those short musings (you’ll find it on page 29) alongside my colleagues, including fellow bloggers Leila Viss, Mario Ajero, Jennifer Foxx, and Wendy Stevens. My longer, follow-up article will be published in a future issue.
Not subscribed to Clavier Companion? It is an outstanding, forward-thinking magazine for piano teachers. Tell your family you would like to receive a subscription as a Christmas gift. Request access to an issue free here.
Before I talk about the Google Hangouts, I want to update you about the last giveaway:
A couple of weeks ago, we had a giveaway for Jennifer Eklund’s Piano Pronto method and had a HUGE response of 138 entries! I loved reading all your responses about the Piano Pronto method, and I know Jennifer did, too. Here are the two randomly chosen winners: Lu and Anola. Congrats, winners! You will be hearing from Jennifer soon.
If you didn’t win, you can still get a great deal on the Piano Pronto books because Jennifer has extended her 20% off sale through the end of the month. Now is the time to stock up for the next school year! Visit PianoPronto.com and enter the “school20” promo code.
Last Friday, I held Google Hangout Episode #5 (I decided to start calling them episodes so I can keep them straight!), which was about choosing student repertoire. Jennifer Eklund was a guest in the discussion as was Dr. Jason Sifford. This discussion was so fun. The topic is so appropriate, too, as we prepare for the next school year.
Jason, by the way, is one of the teachers behind the University of Iowa Piano Pedagogy Project: a project to record over 9000 piece of piano literature for students following the Iowa Music Teachers Association’s repertoire list for their events. This project is so great because it provides teachers and students with a variety of excellent reference videos. You can view and subscribe to the Piano Pedagogy Project’s YouTube channel here and visit their Facebook page here.
Below, I’ve embedded the video recording of Episode #5.
I have scheduled Google Hangout Episode #6 for this Friday at 11am Eastern time. Check out the event page here on Google+ and add it to your calendar. Please join us live or watch the recording afterwards!
Here is a link to all of the Google Hangouts so far.
Over the weekend, I made a brief appearance at MTNA’s GP3 2014 conference via Skype. (Thanks to Courtney Crappel and Andrea McAlister for asking me to share my thoughts about using apps in the piano lesson!) GP3 is a conference geared towards group piano professors and piano pedagogy professors.
The main message I shared was this: Apps are just another helpful teaching tool for our toolkit. In order to be able to use the tools properly and effectively, we have to first figure out exactly what that tool can accomplish for us and what role we want it to play in our lessons with our students. Some apps make my life easier as a teacher, some apps are useful during the lessons, and other apps are strictly for students’ at-home use.
On Friday, I’m hosting another Google Hangout at 10am Eastern. This time, the topic is choosing repertoire for students. As usual, you can feel free to watch it LIVE or afterwards on YouTube. I’ve embedded the player below.
I’m looking for another teacher interested in participating in the video chat — if you are interested, please contact me directly!
Here is a link to all of the previous Google Hangouts so far.
There is another (now past) Google Hangout (not sponsored by me) that you may be interested in watching: Irina Gorin (if you haven’t seen her YouTube channel‘s teaching videos, you HAVE to check it out) gave a presentation as part of conference held by Michigan State University and the Capital Area Music Teachers Association in Lansing, Michigan. Here is the link.
Whew! I feel like I have so much to share, but not enough time to share it! 😉
Last week, I held a summer camp for my piano students called “Practice Tips & Tricks.” It was a fun week. For my birthday last month, my husband gave me a projector. (Yes, I’m a techno-geek!) It was wonderful to be able to have a large visual to use during camp! I hope to share more details about all this later.
On Friday, I held another Google Hangout this time talking about piano methods. You can watch the video here. We did encounter some technical difficulties unfortunately — I apologize about that! Thanks for bearing with us during this experiment. 🙂
I have another Google Hangout scheduled for this Friday at 11am Eastern time. Please visit the event page here to get all the details and feel free to submit questions for us to discuss in advance.
This app was created by Sonya (a friend of mine) and her sister Elizabeth Schumann. Piano Carnival is an interactive eBook that contains delightful illustrations, reads the poetry aloud to the view, and plays videos of the Schumann sisters playing Saint-Saens’ music “Carnival of the Animals.”
Here is a quick video that demonstrates what this delightful app can do:
This trailer video gives some background into the app’s creation. Sonya and Elizabeth have also created a companion page on their website that contains lesson plans and more resources related to Carnival of the Animals. Be sure to take a look at all of the resources offered there!
It is exciting to see more apps released that take advantage of the full capabilities of the iPad!
In the past, I always plugged a pair of old computer speakers into my iPhone, iPad Mini, or computer when I wanted to play music during lessons, group classes, or while cleaning the house. 🙂 They worked okay, but I found that if I turned the sound up too loud, the sound became distorted.
I am so pleased with this handy little speaker because I can turn the sound as loud as I need too without hearing distortion. I’m very pleased with the quality of the speaker!
And, of course, it is handy that it is wireless. It connects via a bluetooth connection. Pairing the speakers to a device only takes a minute. Plus, it remembers what device you paired it with last and will automatically connect to that same device if both are turned on. I’ve owned bluetooth devices in the past and they did not connect this easily. Technology has certainly improved.
It comes with a USB cable so that you can recharge the battery by plugging it into your computer. The battery can last for up to 10 hours of playing time.
Just thought I’d share about this fun little gadget! Did you receive any Christmas gifts that have been useful for piano teaching? If so, please share about it in the comments!
Here is a peek at the project that has been occupying my spare time for the last two months:
In November, I got the idea to record myself playing some classical pieces that I were my favorite to learn as I was growing up. I thought it would make a nice Christmas gift for my family, friends, and piano students. The project turned out to take MUCH more time than I had originally anticipated, but I am very pleased with the outcome! Continue reading “My CD Project: Favorite Piano Classics for Students”→
Google Drive – only basic functionality, but is cloud-based. There are Google apps you can apply to Google Drive, too (Simplebooklet looks cool. Also, Concept Board — which lets you collaborate visually in the cloud.)
2. Music Notation Software
Alternatives to Finale or Sibelius:
Musescore (top pick) – everybody should download this free software. It is excellent.
LibraryThing – online-based catalogue, free up to 200 books. Designed to allow you to keep track of the books in your library. You can even “check out” books when you want to loan them to students.
Treble Cat & Bass Cat ($2.99 each for the iPhone versions and $3.99 each for the HD iPad versions)
These two apps are excellent for students to practice identifying notes on the staff. It is a great pair of apps to recommend to parents/students to use at home. I love how simple the concept of the game is — even young piano students will be able to independently use this app.
In each level, the player is given sixty seconds to find all of a given note(s) as a variety of different notes scroll across the screen. If the player misses more than 3 notes, they must re-try that level.
Have you seen the latest issue of 
A couple of weeks ago, we had a 
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Technology on a Budget, by Andy Villemez and Dr. Michelle Conda
