Technology or Board Games?

I realize there is a place for iPads, apps, computers, technology in general.  The days of just teaching beside your acoustic piano are said to be fading away.  What do we hear?...You need to have a studio with technology!  You need to offer a computer lab!  You need to use GarageBand and record all your students!  You need to have an arsenal of apps and computer programs available so your students can learn!  You need to stay up on things like ever other teacher around you!

Hmmm...I didn't learn with ANY of that.  My teacher - the organist and choir director at my church growing up - sat beside the piano, gave me instruction, handed me a theory book to complete and expected me to practice during the week.  Period.  And yes, I learned to play the piano!  And every day now that I sit down at my piano, I am reminded of her commitment to help me learn to play.  It didn't hurt that I loved it and wanted to learn, but she still stuck with me through the highs and lows of my playing and motivation.

Why do I say this?  I've struggled at times feeling like I needed to make sure I offered technology as well!  And because I didn't grow up with computers (I used a manual typewriter with carbon paper in college!) technology has been something I had to teach myself.  So if I were to give myself a grade?...I'd probably need to repeat the class!   I've tried however to provide as much as possible - within my scope of understanding!  I do have a computer lab in place, but only have four students whose parents are willing to pay for it.  I do have an iPad with loads of apps - some free, some purchased that is available and yes, my students do use it and some like it.

But, ALL of my students LOVE a board game or activity they can do with me or with each other.   Hands down!   What does that tell me?  That technology is a tool - not a necessity!

I sit by the piano and give instruction.  We play games and do activities away from the bench to encourage learning and to have fun!  Learning to play the piano is work, so in my opinion, lessons should be fun.  I create incentive programs, build a games library, run summer camps, do group lessons - mostly without technology and guess what?!

My students learn to play the piano...and play it well!  I invest in them and like my own piano teacher, I help them find their motivation and stick with them through the highs and lows.  I'm committed to helping them learn to play so that they will enjoy this skill for life.

And that is why I'm not stressing about technology.  And why I'm committed to finding and creating games and activities that my students enjoy and that will help them learn to LOVE this magical world of music!  That doesn't mean I'm not trying to improve those areas, certainly, but I want to keep it in perspective.

Which is also why I put together the camps I currently have for sale in my store.

 Right now I have 15 kids signed up for one of my weeks of camps because they can't wait to come back after last year!  And there's still a month and a half left to sign up!  The revenue from the camps (for those outside my studio) normally covers the entire expense and helps fund instruments, resources, etc. for my studio.

So just as a reminder...there are only 8 more days for you to post a comment to win a free copy of any of the camps I have for sale!  Just post a comment under this blog entry!

Ear Training Blog

I recently found a great site that focuses on ear training and has many FREE printable games that would be excellent during lessons.  The site is Ear Training and Improv for Confident and Creative Kids.

There are some really fun and creative ideas!  I'm really looking forward to spending more time looking at this site.  You should check it out!

Great Articles to Read

In my latest peruse through the internet, I found a fabulous site - Pianocareer.com.  The author, Ilinca Vartic is a Russian pianist and teacher.  I read through her recent posting on the use of the piano pedals and then watched the videos.  She is wonderfully articulate and does a beautiful job of explaining the techniques and the mechanics of the pedal.   I immediately thought the videos would be a great addition to a group class for intermediate and advanced students.

She also has several other articles that I briefly looked and also seem well done.  I'm looking forward to checking her site more closely.  As an added bonus, if you subsribe to her site, she will send you a free download - "A New Perspective on Piano Phrasing: How to Transform a Boring Performance Into a Captivating One in 3 Creative Steps"! 

If you haven't seen it yet, I would encourage you to head on over and take a look!

LIVE Music Rocks!

Never under estimate the power of LIVE music!  My friend Joy brought her bassoon to my homeschool music class today and I think I could have sat down and watched her conduct the entire thing!  The kids LOVED it!  I almost hated to pull them away so that we could do the rest of the activities for the day!

Joy started out by taking her bassoon out of the bag piece by piece explaining what each piece was called and showing the kids how to put it all together.  She talked about the reed and how it vibrated and after playing silly things on the reed only, she played them the bassoon part from the Sorceror's Apprentice!

The kids loved it so much that I asked her to play it again!  Talk about a way to captivate!

From there, Joy talked about how an orchestra tunes to the oboe.  As a fun way to help the kids visualize this, we had a tuner handy.  We asked one of the kids to hold it facing everyone and as Joy played a note, the kids had to use their arms to point left or right to let her know if she was playing sharp or flat!

They really loved this and watched those red/green lights carefullly!  After that, she played them the part of the grandfather from Peter and the Wolf and then we showed them a portion of the cartoon on YouTube.  They wanted to watch the entire video but due to time constraints that wasn't possible.  I gave the link to their parents at the end of class so they could watch it at home. 

At this point, it was hard to convince them that we had "other" fun things to do!  Joy did a great job and I could tell they were all itching to try a bassoon.

I realize that I'm a piano teacher, but I also strongly believe my role is to foster a love for all types of music - even if it means teaching them to love bassoon!

Camp Themes

It may seem far away, but summer is coming and so are my studio camps!  Running camps in the summer is one of my favorite things!  I love to see the kids get excited to be with friends and to work together to practice and learn musical concepts.  And since I am a big kid at heart...

I recently came across a website that had loads of camp ideas and included a list of 100 Summer Camp Themes.  A great list!  So if you're thinking about having a camp or camps and need some ideas, this is a great place to start.  The site also has some other camp ideas which might trigger some creative ideas! 

If you've never done a camp, you should consider it.  It's a lot of work, but it's well worth it!  I'm planning on running 3 camps this year - 2 camps that I've done in the past and a new one I'm working on right now.  I'll be sure to share more on this as it gets closer to summer!  In the meantime, I hope you're own planning goes well and that you'll check back and share what you're doing!

Another New Blog!

If you have visited Anne's Piano Discoveries site, you've already know what wonderful resources she has put together including teaching tools, an online piano method, and theory tutorials.  Well, she has just also launched her first blog, Pianoantics!  You can access it right on her website.

Though she is just getting started, there are already some wonderful ideas!  Love the ladybugs!  I hope you will check it out and perhaps even leave her an encouraging comment.  Great job, Anne!

Musical Notes

I discovered a fun game to test note identification.  This is an on-line game - great for your computer lab, regular lessons or an assignment for students at home.  Students match the note on the staff to a one octave keyboard by simply clicking the correct key as the notes on the staff scroll by.  Points continue to add up if they correctly identify the note and click the correct key before the note on the staff  drops off the screen.  It also automatically continues up a level as the student continually gives correct answers. The game ends when too many of the notes on the staff drop off the screen - I believe they can get 4-5 wrong before it ends.

This looks like a great resource and another option to drill those notes on the staff.  It also incorporates sharps and flats as the levels increase so this is a good way to improve quick recognition of those half steps.  The only downside for me was that the keyboard is only one octave and the staff uses the full range of both treble and bass so the topography of a full range piano isn't an option, but I think if your student is experienced enough, this game is still a viable tool in your studio.

Give it a try and see if it might be helpful.  Do you have other free on-line games you use in your studio?  I would love to hear what works for your students.

Amazing Music Activities

I recently ordered this book from Amazon.com and I am very pleased with it. 

The book is full of worksheets and activities covering concepts in basic music, ear training, music styles and famous composers.  Along with the composer biographies, there are piano parts for each composer highlighting some of their pieces.  These would make great sight-reading exercises. 

All of the pages are reproducible and the book is spiral bound  making for easy copying. There are riddles, match-ups, puzzles, stories that require naming the notes on the staff to complete some of the words, crosswords,etc.

In the back of the book there are also piano exercises in all of the different styles of music discussed.   Again, greatsight-reading exercies to match examples of  minuets, waltzes, polkas, marches, ragtime, blues, jazz ballads, etc. for individual or group lessons.

The book is a bit pricey at $29.95, but I think you will find it well worth the expense - not only for the reproducible pages, but for the quality of the material.

Marimba Ponies

Maybe many of you have already seen this, but I just came across this YouTube video and loved it!  It reminded me to always keep in mind that kids have more ability then we sometimes give them credit for - we just need to make opportunities available to them and not hold back because we think they're too young or too immature to handle it (Just look at the little guy who can barely see over the top!)!  Amazing!

Records now in MP3 form

Happy Valentine's Day!  I'm sorry for the lack of posts lately - I've been sick the past week so I've only been doing what's absolutely necessary! Hopefully I'll have more energy soon!

I recently found a wonderful resource of old records (anyone remember those?) that date back to the 1950's and 1960's.  The resource is Arts Reformation  and it has a bunch of wonderful records that have been turned into MP3s and ready for your listening!  You can also view the actual original covers of the records such as this one.

This particular record, for example. plays the music of the composer while telling his life story.  They were wonderfully done and I love having the opportunity to use them now in my studio!  This record in particular would work well at a group lesson or a camp dedicated to composers.

There are many more including titles such as, "A Child's Introduction to the Orchestra", "A Child's Instroduction to the Nutcracker Suite", Introductions to Jazz and Folk Songs, as well as many familiar Fairy Tales.  It's a wonderful resource.  I hope you take the time to listen to some of them. 

It will take you back...

A Want or A Need?

I've been wanting one of these:

It's not in the budget right now, but I still love to dream so I've taken a look at all of the music apps available (I want to be ready, just in case, right?).  There are SO many and I was excited to see loads of options.

We all know that "page turning" can be tough for pianists!  With a little help from a product called, Music Reader, that just may be a thing of the past.  Designed to work with tablet PCs like the ipad, it boasts that page turning is a thing of the past!  (Wouldn't you agree that now my desire for an ipad has turned from a want to a need?) It also claims to hold your entire music library.  Can you imagine the storage space we could save?

I'm curious to know if any of you have an ipad and if you use one in your studio or as an alternative to music books.  And if you have seen Music Reader, do you consider it a viable option?

Musical Charms

I stumbled on the site, Fitness Finders and found these wonderful and inexpensive charms.

My first thought was how wonderful they would work with an incentive program or some sort of reward system where my students try to collect all of the colors.
If they were put on a metal jump ring, they could easily attach to the 3-ring binders I use for student notebooks. 

If you use recorders in your studio, you can also attach them to the recorders using a 1" metal ring as your students master levels.  They would look so cute hanging on the end!

I'm sure you can think of lots of ways to use them!  This site has all kinds of adorable charms!  I also looked at a few that were "award" related - thumbs up charms, star charms, smiley faces, etc.  Wouldn't it be fun to give each student a metal ring at the beginning of the year where they collect music charms as well as other charms for specific acheivements or levels of accomplishments?  For example, a charm for learning all of the 5 finger major scales, another charm of a different color for the minor scales, maybe a charm for completing a composer study, or for naming all the notes on the staff under one minute, etc. 

So cute!  I know how much kids love to collect things so I think they would be extremely excited.  It could lead to a very motivating year!

AND...they are Made in America and offer free samples!

Loads of Resources!

If you've never taken a look at Squidoo, you may want to jump over to this page and take a look at the information I found on Music Lapbooks.  There are loads of wonderful links to help you as you plan for group lessons, composer studies, or just want some information to help you share the study of the symphony orchestra.  Much of the information generates wonderful ideas for your summer camps if you are starting to think in that direction! 

There are entire unit studies on composers already put together for you such as this one done for Handel.  All of the links, worksheets, etc. are all right there...just point, click and print!  If you are looking for something in particular, just type it in the search.  It will bring up more information than you can imagine!

Disclaimer:  Beware!  Once you get started, plan to be "surfing" for awhile as there are loads of wonderful links to follow with lots of great stuff!

A Fun Resource

I recently came across this website which is loaded with all kinds of printables, games, crafts, puzzles, kids jokes, etc.  A great storehouse of ideas and creative worksheets all ready to print out!  If you type the word "music" into the google search at the top of the page, you will find some fun music related items, but the entire site is also loaded with ideas and printables for holidays (Valentine's Day is just around the corner!) and for themed events.  If you are planning a studio theme or just like to decorate or put together a bulletin board, this is a great site to check out.  There are over 50 themes with all kinds of games, activities, puzzles, worksheets, and ideas. 

I saw some adorable valentine bookmarks with kids jokes on them - A really fun idea to give to your students around Valentines Day or go to the Kid's jokes section and print out some kid's valentines jokes for some fun during lessons!

Just another resource for your studio!  I hope you can find lots of great ideas to use with your students!

Free Piano Hymn Arrangements!

I recently came across the website, Koerts Music which has some really wonderful free arrangements of hymns and even an arrangement of "Joy to the World".  I printed a couple of them, sat down at the piano to play through them and then went back and printed them all! 

Each arrangement is really enjoyable to play and I can think of several ways to use them in Sunday morning services both for my students and for myself.  I would say they fall under, "Late Intermediate or Early Advanced".  I encourage you to take a look and try them for yourself! 

Have a wonderful weekend!